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Coutts Bankline frequently asked questions
General
- What is Coutts Bankline?
- At what times is the service available?
- Where can I access Coutts Bankline?
- What on-site training is available?
- What equipment do I need to run Coutts Bankline?
- Who should I contact if I need further help or information with my registration?
- Why does the system time out after ten minutes?
- How many people in my business can access the service?
- Can I print out information, such as statements?
- Can I set up a default debit account?
- Is it possible to restrict Users from viewing certain batches of payments?
- Can payment template batches be set-up under dual control for set-up?
System Administrator Role
- What is the System Administrator responsible for?
- How many System Administrators should we have?
- Can Coutts Bankline be changed from single to dual control or vice versa?
- Do all administration functions have to be under dual control if dual control is selected?
User Access Profiles
Accounts
- How do I add new accounts to Coutts Bankline?
- Can I view my personal accounts on Coutts Bankline and, if so, will further paperwork be required to achieve this?
Payments
- What options are available for setting payment limits within Coutts Bankline?
- How far ahead can I forward date a payment?
- Can I create a remitter's advice?
Account Information
Security and Signing Processes
Exporting Data
Importing Data
Historic Information
- How much historic information is available on Coutts Bankline?
- How much outward payment information will be available on Coutts Bankline?
Support and Documentation
General
Coutts Bankline is our web-based electronic banking service for commercial clients. It will enable you to securely access your sterling account information, real time day and night, from anywhere in the world as well as provide details of your currency account balances and transactions as at close of business last night. You can also initiate payments to third parties and transfer funds between your accounts held with Coutts. Direct debit and standing order information is available for you to view or delete and you have the ability to import payment files and export both payment and account information.
At what times is the service available?Coutts Bankline is available day and night, seven days a week, 365 days a year (subject to the Bankline terms) and is supported by our Bankline Support Team throughout that time.
Where can I access Coutts Bankline?
As long as you have access to an internet connection and a computer with a suitable web browser, you can access Coutts Bankline from anywhere in the world. For further information please refer to the System Requirements document which is available from the Coutts Bankline website.
What on-site training is available?
An interactive training tool is available from the Coutts Bankline website and the service has a comprehensive help facility. As such most clients will not need training to be delivered on-site. However training can be provided on-site if required.
What equipment do I need to run Coutts Bankline?
As long as you have access to an internet connection and a computer with a suitable web browser, you can access Coutts Bankline from anywhere in the world. We also recommend Adobe Acrobat Reader® 5.0 or above. This free software is needed to view some of the forms relating to the Coutts Bankline service. If you do not have the Reader installed already it is available as a download from Adobe’s website. Please refer to our System Requirements document, which is available from the Coutts Bankline website, for full details.
Who should I contact if I need further help or information with my registration?
Our Bankline Support Team, available 24x7, will assist you with your registration and they can be contacted on 020 7770 0004. Calls may be recorded.
Why does the system time out after ten minutes?
For your security, the system times out if the screen is left inactive for ten minutes but a warning box will appear prior to this happening.
How many people in my business can access the service?
There is no limit to the number of Users that you can set up to use Coutts Bankline.
Can I print out information, such as statements?
Yes, there is a 'Print' option on the screens within Coutts Bankline.
Can I set up a default debit account?
Yes you can. The chosen account will show automatically as the debit account on payments and transfers but you can select a different account if required at any time.
Is it possible to restrict Users from viewing certain batches of payments?
Yes, batches of payments (eg payroll) can be marked as confidential and your administrator can then allocate the privilege to a User to enable them to view or not view confidential batches.
Can payment template batches be set-up under dual control for set-up?
Yes, you can set the system so that all templates and bulk lists have to be checked before they are available for use.
System Administrator Role
What is the System Administrator responsible for?
The System Administrator has many responsibilities within Coutts Bankline including the creation of all Users and the functions that they can perform such as signing payments. They are also responsible for setting and amending payment limits on the system. Coutts Bankline can be set up as a dual administration system so that certain functions and Users have to be authorised by two Administrators who should be someone senior within your organisation.
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How many System Administrators should we have?
We would recommend a minimum of three System Administrators, especially if the dual administration option is chosen.
Can Coutts Bankline be changed from single to dual control or vice versa?
Coutts Bankline can be amended from single to dual administration and vice versa, although to move from dual to single would require secondary authorisation.
Do all administration functions have to be under dual control if dual control is selected?
No, the System Administrators can decide which functions, if any, require dual authorisation.
User Access Profiles
Is it possible to restrict viewing rights to sensitive accounts for individual Users?
It is possible to mark accounts as confidential, so that only the Users with the necessary privileges are able to view them and also to restrict Users from viewing certain accounts by the creation of individual roles and privileges. It is also possible to exclude accounts from being shown on Coutts Bankline.
Accounts
How do I add new accounts to Coutts Bankline?
At registration only the main sterling account is listed on the Coutts Bankline Registration Mandate. All sterling accounts that are linked to the same legal entity as the main account will be available for the Administrator to add to Coutts Bankline once the service has been activated. Once live, any additional accounts can then be added via Coutts Bankline at any time. Currency accounts will require listing individually using the sortcode 18.00.91 and quoting the currency of the account.
Can I view my personal accounts on Coutts Bankline and, if so, will further paperwork be required to achieve this?
It is possible to view personal accounts on Coutts Bankline. If the accounts are a separate legal entity, they will be treated as Third Party Accounts and a Third Party Mandate will have to be completed accordingly.
Payments
What options are available for setting payment limits within Coutts Bankline?
The following limits are available to set within Coutts Bankline:
- Payment Limit - maximum amount of any payment that can be sent.
- Dual Authorisation Limit - amount over which two Users must authorise a payment, if it is set to zero then all payments must be dual signed.
- Template Limit - maximum amount of any payment that can be sent to this beneficiary. This limit can also be set as a warning, which would allow payments to exceed the limit to be made but with a warning showing in the authorisation queue. This limit must be also under the Payment Limit.
- User Limit – maximum amount of any payment that an individual can authorise.
Coutts Bankline will only allow Users to submit payments up to the value of any cleared funds in the account, together with any balances in linked accounts and any agreed overdraft. If submitting a payment would cause these available funds to be exceeded then the payment would be held 'awaiting funds'.
Therefore, it is important to remember that funds must be transferred into the account the payment is originating from, prior to the payment being made.
How far ahead can I forward date a payment?
Payments can be forward dated up to 180 days in advance – although you can set your preferred choice between zero and 180 in predefined gaps. Future dated payments are held on the system until the date specified and then released against that day’s available funds.
Can I create a remitter's advice?
Coutts Bankline has the functionality to allow you to generate a remitter’s advice on your company headed notepaper, which can then be sent to the beneficiary.
Account Information
What balances are available on Coutts Bankline?The balances listed below are available within Coutts Bankline.
- Last night's ledger
- Last night's cleared
- Today’s ledger
- Today’s cleared
- Start of day cleared
- Start of day ledger
Within the system you can chose which balances you would like displayed as a default.
Security and Signing Processes
Coutts Bankline uses a smartcard and a smartcard reader. Users that can sign payments will be allocated a smartcard but the reader can be shared between multiple Users.
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Can Users authorise transfers but not funds leaving the Bank?
Roles can be allocated to Users to allow them to authorise transfers but not payments leaving the Bank. An inter account transfer smartcard trigger value can also be set to determine the value at which a transfer requires smartcard authorisation with the maximum being set at £100,000. If the User is to sign transfers over £100,000 then they will require a smartcard.
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Exporting Data
What data can be exported from Coutts Bankline?
Coutts Bankline will allow you to export Account Balance Summary, Account Set Summary Balance, Group Account Constituent Balances, Supplementary List, Statements, Search Transactions Results, and Outward Payment Records. Also, the ability to export a list of system Users is also available. This includes the User name, User ID, and the assigned roles and privileges. Further information regarding exporting can be found in our Export File Layout User Guide which is available from the Coutts Bankline website.
Importing Data
Can data be imported into Coutts Bankline?
Single and bulked payment and template data in a .CSV text file format can be imported into Coutts Bankline. Further information regarding importing can be found in our Import File Layout User Guide which is available from the Coutts Bankline website.
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How many payments can be imported in a single file?
Up to 4000 payments can be in an import file.
Historic Information
How much historic information is available on Coutts Bankline ?
Historic balance and transaction data will initially be available on Coutts Bankline for the past six months, increasing to 15 months. It is advisable to export or print this information regularly, as after 15 months the data will be archived from the Bank’s system.
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How much outward payment information will be available on Coutts Bankline?
Outward payment information will accumulate from when you begin to use the system until six month’s data becomes available, with the exceptions of:
• incomplete, cancelled, expired or invalid payments which are held for 30 days;
• deleted payments which are held for one day;
• fulfilled and rejected import files which are held for seven days.
It is advisable to export or print this information regularly as after 6 months the data will be archived from the Bank’s system. After the data has been removed from Coutts Bankline, it will be held by the Bank for a further seven years and will be available on request if required.
Who should I contact if I need further help or information with Coutts Bankline?
Our Bankline Support Team, available 24x7, will assist you with your registration and they can be contacted on 020 7770 0004. Calls may be recorded.
