Citibank SEPA XML Requirements: What CitiConnect Expects from Your Payment File

For the CitiConnect profile, the rejection-prone field is the end-to-end reference. A payment can otherwise look ordinary, but a non-permitted character in EndToEndId produces a profile failure before Citi can use the reference for reconciliation.

What the CitiConnect profile expects

The common rejection: an invalid EndToEndId

The validator identifies this as CITI_002: Reference Character Set (EndToEndId). Characters outside the configured legacy clearing-system set can trigger a failure. The safest repair is not to delete the reference: normalize it into the permitted set while retaining a stable invoice or payroll identifier.

Rejected source reference:
INV-2026-08-001 | R&D € payment

Safe pattern:
INV-2026-08-001 / RD PAYMENT

Prepare Excel for CitiConnect

1. Create a dedicated reference column for EndToEndId; do not use a free-text memo as the payment identifier.
2. Restrict the column to the profile's permitted letters, digits, space, and punctuation. In particular, remove currency symbols and other special characters not in that set.
3. Map recipient name, IBAN, amount, and end-to-end reference as separate fields. This makes it possible to fix one failed reference without changing the payment amount or beneficiary.
4. Generate with the CitiConnect profile. The converter supplies TRF for a credit transfer and applies the configured batch booking and grouping behavior.

Do not transplant Citi Trade rules

The stored Citi rulebook source is explicitly documented as a different product shape. Only the rules encoded in the CitiConnect profile, including the reference-character constraint, should be treated as automatic behavior for this output. If your bank portal labels the product Citi Trade or Supplier Finance, confirm its specific file guide instead of assuming this XML profile applies.