I'm not going to be much help here, but......

I did this promo last Fall. I did the first month's bill payment online directly from my Citi checking account, only to learn subsequently that my payment did not qualify for this promo. As such, I lost a month in my quest for the Thank You points

For the balance of the promo, I called in to Customer Service, had them look up the promo rules, and then had them make the payment in such a manner that it qualified. I don't know what I did wrong, or what CS did differently. I only learned that Customer Service will make a "qualified" bill pay for you....and you should just let them handle it.