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Frequently Asked Questions
Use the following link to locate your A/OPC.
Established in 1998, the governmentwide GSA SmartPay® program master contracts provide agencies with commercial charge card services to be used for official purchase, travel and fleet needs. DOI’s task order under the master contract is with Citibank.
When you receive your new Citibank charge card you should:
- Verify that your name is correct.
- Call the number on the sticker on the front of the card to confirm that you have received your charge card. As a security measure, in addition to your 16-digit account number, you will be asked to provide the last four digits of your social security number. This is a requirement under the Patriot Act.
- If during the automated telephone card verification process, you elect to speak with a Citibank customer service representative, you will be asked to provide additional account information to verity your identity; e.g. date of birth.
- Remove the sticker from the front of the charge card and sign the bank of the charge card.
- You should also access cardactivation.citi.com to create your CitiManager user name and password used to reach your card account online.
- Retain your card in a secure location
If you have ATM authority, when you call Citibank to activate your card, you will have the option to set up a PIN at that time.
If you believe your card has been lost or stolen, inform your A/OPC and supervisor immediately. The A/OPC can arrange for a replacement card account and can even request expedited processing and delivery of the new card to an alternate address. Alternatively, you can contact the bank at the customer service number at 1 (800) 790-7206, 24/7.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and GSA’s SmartPay3 master contract require the use of multi-factor authentication for Citibank’s Electronic Access System (EAS). This process requires the use of not only a user ID and password, but also the entry of a one-time passcode (OTP) for all users during each login session. Users will be prompted to select a mobile or office telephone number to receive the OTP, either by text message or direct phone call. When setting up your user profile for CitiManager, be sure to include your office telephone number as the primary, and any Government-issued or personal mobile number where you want to be able to receive the OTP. Use of personal mobile numbers is not required but is an option that is available if you want. In all cases, the Government e-mail and telephone number must be the primary listed in your profile.
Neither JPMorgan nor Citibank will ever send you an unsolicited email requiring you provide information in response. If you have been a recipient of suspicious emails or phishing from someone claiming to be from Citibank, report it to: 1-888-285-9696 (related to Citibank); and your Agency/Organization Program Coordinator A/OPC.
Contact your Agency/Organization Program Coordinator (A/OPC). Your A/OPC will need to provide documentation of the change. This can often be the official SF-50 documenting the update.
Initially, cardholders will have separate login credential for each business line, but cardholders will be able to merge both accounts and create a single set of login credentials (username and password) for all accounts and roles you may have.
No. DOI is transitioning to a paperless system where Citibank will have a copy of your monthly statement online. You can view your statement online or you can download and print it as needed. The billing cycle and closing date is the 19th of each month.
At the time of application, your supervisor will need to complete a document specifying the business lines needed and the credit limits that should be applied. If after time, changes to authority are needed, the supervisor will need to contact the A/OPC.
Originally, you will create a username and password for each of the cards in CitiManager. The usernames must be different. Once they are created, select "merge accounts" on the profile page to merge the accounts with one username and password.
Citibank normally uses the two-day FedEx option to ship cards. If the card request is submitted before 3:00 pm Eastern, the card will be created the next day, and mailed the day after. So, plan on a five-day process from the time of order to delivery. Cards delivered this way must be signed for. Cardholders will receive an email like the below email. There is a $25 service charge for expedited cards.
Non-expedited cards take about 7-10 business days to process.
Your Citi® Commercial Card is On Its Way
Account ending 0095
Dear JOHN DOE,
Thank you for your Citi® Commercial Card request. Your request received on 11/28/2018 has been processed and your new card has been mailed. The FEDEX tracking number is 7816307085. Please allow 24 hours for the carrier to update the delivery status. If you or your employer did not request a Citi® Commercial Card, please contacts us at 800-248-4553 and reference this email.
Kind Regards,
Citi® Commercial Cards Team
Reach out to your A/OPC for a password reset or contact Citi Customer Service at 1(800) 790-7206.
If you are retiring or leaving IBC, let your A/OPC know so that your account can be reviewed for any outstanding balance, any forwarding address information, and your account closed. Your card should be destroyed. If you are transferring to another office within the Departmental Offices or Office of the Secretary, the card can be retained, but your hierarchy and FBMS Line of Accounting will need to be updated. Please work with the A/OPC to let them know the dates of your transfer, your new supervisor, and the name of the new office.
Purchase and fleet card statements must be signed and dated by both the cardholder and approving official (supervisor), with all receipts and supporting documentation attached, within 30 days of receipt of the statement.
For travel statements, the Travel Management System, Concur, is the system of record. All review and receipts are handled in that system.
For purchase statements, all statements and supporting documentation must be reviewed and approved by your Approving Official (usually you supervisor) within 30 days of the statement date.
The review and approve requirements can be conducted using paper or digital (e.g. Adobe PDF files) statements and supporting documentation. If a paper process is used, the final approved statement and supporting documentation can be filed as paper documents or the documents can be scanned and maintained electronically. Additionally, signed Statements and supporting documentation can be uploaded in to the CitiManager Transaction Management System (CTMS). Electronic documents are the best practice to comply with OMB Managing Government Records Directive M-12-18. Regardless of the way statements and supporting documentation are maintained, they should be easily retrieved for audit or bureau review purposes. Your supervisor should always be able to access your records.
See the links below:
Yes, training is available in DOI Talent. Card applicants must complete training and provide DOI Talent proof of training to the A/OPC prior to the processing of a card application. There is a separate training that must be completed for each business line. The DOI Talent training will link the end user to the GSA training site where they must create an account (set up a username and password), complete the training, and download the completion certificate. Training will not be complete until all steps in DOI Talent have been completed. The training completion certificate from the GSA training must be uploaded to DOI Talent. DOI-specific training to include information on DOI charge card policies and card business line information may be developed in the future.
Please see this link for specific training instructions.
Bureau cardholders and approving officials who have taken the GSA travel card training on or after January 1, 2020 will not be required to take the refresher travel card training in 2020. Subsequent refresher training will be required every three years, e.g., 2023, 2026, etc., after the initial refresher training. However, if you have completed the training at the GSA site but not uploaded your completion certificate to DOI Talent, and completed the self-certification, then those steps will need to be completed.
In the GSA training, one certificate is issued for both the cardholder and the approving official roles. Taking the training once will suffice, but you will need to complete the Approving Official and Cardholder trainings separately in DOI Talent by uploading the certificate for each and, in addition, also agreeing to the certification for each.
Yes, in addition to the GSA SmartPay 3 training, Citi will offer online training, user guides and videos in CitiManager for all cardholders/approving officials. We highly recommend that cardholders utilize these training tools to understand an navigate the CitiManager system, including setting up alerts and mobile technology.
Citibank ATM terminals do not charge an ATM terminal or access fee when using their card. Non-Citibank ATMs will usually charge a terminal fee. In the event you need to use an ATM that charges a terminal fee, Citibank will assess a 2.75% per cash advance fee, which can be claimed on your travel voucher.
Employees in the Washington, DC, metro area may also use their Citibank cards for cash advances at the DOI Federal Credit Union ATMs located in the Main Interior Building and the USGS Headquarters in Reston, VA. The DOI Federal Credit Union does not charge terminal access fees, but the 2.75% per cash advance fee from Citibank will still apply.
The short answer is yes, if the use of these services is more advantageous to the Government compared to other traditional counterparts (e.g. car rental). However, travelers are responsible for ensuring these services are used during non-peak periods to avoid premium surcharges. Be sure, if you use an Uber, Lyft, or another similar service for personal use that your Government card is not associated with the transaction/charge.
No, travel cards may only be used for expenses related to official travel. If your card has a decline, you should contact you’re a/OPC or Citibank to resolve the issue.
- Late Fee – If your account has been cancelled, a 2.5% late fee of the balance due will be charged for any payment not received within 96 calendar days past the closing date on the statement of account in which the charge first appeared.
- Travel Card Cash Advance Fee/ATM – The travel card cash advance fee is 2.75% of the amount of each cash advance transaction. In some cases, an additional surcharge may be imposed by ATM operators.
- Returned/Rejected Payment Fee – If your check or electronic payment is not honored, or if Citibank must return it to you because it cannot be processed, then you will be charged a returned/rejected fee of $10.00. In most cases the merchant’s bank will impose additional fees and Citibank will pass those on to the cardholder.
- Collection Fees – If Citibank refers your account to an attorney for collection, you will be responsible for any attorney’s fees, if any, not to exceed one third of recovered amount plus actual court costs, except where prohibited by law.
- Expedited Card Fee – The expedited card fee is fixed at $25.00 per request for expediting a card via courier to the cardholder or a company location.
- Foreign Transaction Fees – For transactions made with a foreign merchant in foreign currently or the account billing currency, fees established by the Card Association and levied to Citi will be passed on, plus a fee of 1.5%
Other than the cash advance, expedited card fees, and foreign transaction fees, these fees cannot be paid or reimbursed by the government.
There are three ways to make payment at no charge:
- Mail in your payment with the coupon from your monthly statement;
- On-line in CitiManager at www.citimanager.com/login; or,
- By telephone at 800-790-7206 (within the United States); or 904-954-7850 (collect calls from outside the United States).
Payment cannot be made at Citibank branch offices.
Look for the balance due amount. Those are individually billed items. Centrally billed items will be on the memo statement section of the statement. Individually billed transactions will appear in a separate section at the top of the statement.
To determine whether the travel account is a CBA, IBA, or Tax Advantage Travel Account, refer to the 6th digit of the account number.
Federal government travelers using GSA SmartPay Travel Accounts may be exempt from state taxes in select states. In addition, state tax exemption forms, official business travel documentation or a Federal Government ID may be required to receive state tax exemption. Visit this link to find out the details for each state.
Best Practices
- Visit the US State Tax Map to determine if the state you are traveling to exempts taxes.
- If the state exempts taxes, determine what additional information is required (tax exemption form, official travel documentation or a Federal Government ID) out and bring it with you on travel
- When traveling to a tax-exempt state, contact the hotel before you travel to verify that taxes will not be charged to your GSA SmartPay Travel Account
- If the hotel does not recognize tax exemption status, please refer hotel representatives to the GSA SmartPay website or the state’s taxation authority to verify tax exemption
- Maintain copies of all receipts in order to verify taxes assessed; receipts should be maintained for6 years and 3 months in the bank’s EAS or ConcurGov.
- In accordance with the Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 (PL 105-264), please use the GSA SmartPay Travel Account when you are on official federal government travel. States will not exempt taxes on personal accounts and your agency will not have the ability to earn important refunds.
See GSA’s SmartPay3 website for more information.
All purchase cards were enabled with cash in the background to allow for convenience checks to the added to the account if the Bureau finds a need. Convenience checks are a type of cash group at Citibank, and so an amount has been established for each purchase account in the background. This cash is not part of the authorization group on your card and will not allow you to get cash at an ATM with your purchase card.
The use of convenience checks should be minimized as much as possible. Each convenience check will be assessed a fixed fee of $3.00 per check.
Yes, you may use a government charge card to pay a vendor through a third-party payment processor (e.g. PayPal, Square). However, be sure to have a receipt/supporting documentation that meets the requirements for receipts and supporting documentation. Additionally, make sure the payment processor does not save your charge card information.
If you have incorrectly used your purchase card, never attempt to correct the mistake by paying the bank directly. Your Bureau has already been charged and paid for this transaction. Always contact your A/OPC for further instruction.
General speaking, the micro-purchase thresholds are $2,00 for construction services, $2,500 for other services, and $10,000 for supplies.
Fleet charge cards are generally assigned to a vehicle or equipment rather than an individual. Therefore, there is a green diagonal stripe across the signature block, because no signature is required.
No. The Citibank fleet charge card may only be used for DOI-owned vehicles or equipment. Typically, GSA leases include payment for fuel, scheduled maintenance and repairs; therefore, the assigned GSA fleet charge card must be used.
The fleet charge card shall not be used to fuel privately-owned vehicles (POV) or rental cars. Fuel reimbursement is included in the mileage reimbursement rate.
Please contact your bureau Fleet Agency/Organization Program Coordinator (A/OPC).
You should only purchase regular unleaded, regular diesel or alternative fuel (as specified by the motor vehicle manufacturer).
The Citibank fleet charge card can only be used for official purposes to purchase fuel, maintenance and repair services. The fleet charge card can be used for emergency repairs and services, for example towing services or tire repair or replacement, but shall not exceed the micro-purchase threshold, unless otherwise specified by DOI Charge Card Policy. The fleet charge card shall not be used for unofficial purposes or personal expenses, e.g., beverages, snacks, etc.
The Citibank Visa fleet card does not require any data collection prompts, e.g., odometer readings. However, there is an industry standard for security prompts. Typically, you may be asked for the zip code in which case you must use the billing statement zip code. You may also need to provide the account PIN. Consult your fleet manager for this information.
The GSA fleet charge card for GSA vehicles only have data collection prompts. Please consult your fleet manager for specific instructions.
Fleet cards have the same micro-purchase limits as purchase cards ($10,000 for goods and $2,500 for services).
Those traveling to an incident or emergency will need to use their GSA Tax Advantage travel card for travel expenses to and from the incident. Any meals and incidentals purchased during travel to and from the incident will be charged (individually billed) to the cardholder on the GSA Tax Advantage travel card. Any travel/transportation such as airfare will be charged (centrally billed) to the Bureau. Once at the incident, the responder much switch and use the Fire/Emergency card for incident-related purchases, including meals for a crew and other miscellaneous purchases for the incident.
With the Citibank Fire/Emergency card, there is not a way to move a centrally billed transaction to individually billed. The remedy for erroneous purchase transactions that should be charged to the cardholder will be to initiate a Bill for Collection within the Bureau. Please contact the A/OPC.