How to Create a Citibank Positive Pay File

Citibank runs check positive pay under two different platforms depending on the size of your relationship. Smaller business accounts use CitiBusiness Online, where the service is branded ARP Positive Pay (ARP stands for Account Reconciliation Positive Pay). Larger commercial and treasury clients use CitiDirect. The fraud-prevention idea is the same on both: you send Citi a list of the checks you have issued, Citi compares every check presented for payment against that list, and anything that does not match becomes an exception you review and decide to pay or return.

This page explains the general Citi workflow, where to get the exact file specification, and how to produce a file that matches whatever layout your account is set up for. We will not print a field-by-field record layout for Citi here, because Citi does not publish one consistent public spec and the format your account uses can be customized when ARP is enabled. Inventing positions would be worse than useless. Instead, get the spec from Citi and match it precisely.

How Citi positive pay actually works

The core mechanic, confirmed in Citi's own ARP material, is straightforward. Checks presented for payment are compared to your check issuance details, including dollar amount, check number, and check date. Unmatched items are surfaced on CitiBusiness Online as exceptions, and you decide whether to pay or return each one. To make that comparison possible, Citi needs your issued-check list. You can either upload a file or enter checks manually in the portal. When you upload a file, item number (the check number) and item amount are the required fields. You can include more information than that, such as issue date and payee, but those two are the minimum Citi needs to match.

One detail worth knowing: a full issuance file is not strictly required for partial ARP service, where reconciliation is lighter. But if you want true positive pay matching that catches altered or counterfeit checks before they clear, you submit the issue file. Paid-check reporting back to you is available through CitiBusiness Online or Citi's secure file transfer, depending on whether you are enrolled in full or partial ARP.

Get the exact spec from Citi before you build anything

The layout your account expects, fixed-width versus delimited, which columns appear and in what order, the date format, how amounts are written (cents included, decimal or no decimal, leading zeros), is determined when your service is configured. Do not guess at it. Ask Citi for the file specification document for your specific setup. Good ways to get it:

If Citi gives you a sample file, keep it. Matching a known-good sample byte for byte is the fastest path to a clean first upload.

Build the file with a free browser tool

Once you know what Citi wants, you need to turn your check register into that exact format. QuickBooks does not export a positive pay file on its own, and most accounting systems give you a generic register export at best. That leaves a reformatting step between your books and Citi.

PositivePayMaker handles that step in your browser, for free. You upload your check register as CSV or Excel, map your columns to the fields Citi requires, and download a file in the layout your bank expects. Because Citi's exact ARP layout is account-specific, use the custom format builder to recreate it: set the field order, choose fixed-width or delimited, set the date and amount formatting, add any header or trailer line Citi specified, and save it as a reusable preset. Next month you reuse the preset and the job takes a minute.

Everything runs client-side. Your check data, the account numbers, payee names, and amounts, never leaves your computer or gets uploaded to any server. There is no account to create and nothing to install.

Validate, then confirm with Citi

A positive pay file that is one column off or formats the date wrong gets rejected, and a rejected upload means your checks are not protected. Run your file through the file format reference and the built-in validator to catch obvious structural problems before you send it. Then do the part no tool can do for you: upload your first real file to CitiBusiness Online or CitiDirect and confirm Citi accepted it and matched it against a test check. Treat the first cycle as a dress rehearsal. After Citi confirms the format is clean, you have a repeatable process.

When a paid tool might fit better

PositivePayMaker covers the common case well: one or a few accounts, a register you can export, a layout you can match once and reuse. If your situation is heavier, a paid desktop product may earn its cost. Treasury Software's Bank Positive Pay ships with 350+ prebuilt bank layouts and runs roughly $29.95 to $89.95 per month as installed Windows software, which can save setup time if you would rather pick a Citi preset than build one. Big Red Consulting's Positive Pay File Creator is about $119 the first year then $99 per year, Windows-only, and its QuickBooks edition needs Excel installed. MoneyThumb and ProperSoft also sell paid desktop converters. For high-volume shops or many accounts on different banks, those tools can be worth it. For a single Citi account, the free browser route usually does the job.

Quick checklist

  1. Confirm whether your account uses CitiBusiness Online (ARP) or CitiDirect.
  2. Get the exact issue file specification (or a sample file) from Citi in writing.
  3. Export your check register from QuickBooks or your accounting system as CSV or Excel.
  4. Rebuild Citi's layout in the custom format builder and save it as a preset.
  5. Validate the file, upload it, and confirm Citi accepted and matched it before you rely on it.

The exact field positions belong to Citi. The job of turning your register into that format is what this tool removes. Get the spec, match it once, verify it with Citi, and keep the preset.

Create your positive pay file