Faction Icon Rejected

They won't take my icon unless it's 24-bit. Problem is, if you save a bmp with an alpha channel as 24-bit it removes the alpha channel. Here is what the instructions are on the icon submission page but the instructions contradict itself. They are saying it has to be 24 bit but then talk about adding an alpha channel. Almost as if they edited these instructions recently and just changed the 32 to a 24 in the text. I am really at a loss here, I dont want some big ugly white square.

Faction Icon Submission
Please make sure that when you are submitting your faction icon for review, it is more likely that we will approve your submission if they adhere to the following guidelines:
1) The image must be sent in as a 24 bit BMP format and must be 16*16 pixels with a RGB color mode.
2) If you would like it as a transparent back ground please make sure your Alpha Channel (Transparency Control Channel) is correct.
Add an Alpha-channel to your image (using Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel)
Select the Eraser-tool Eraser Tool and erase what you'd like to get rid of or use the magic wand.
3) If you had recently submitted a logo, please wait for a few hours before trying again as the system may need some time to process the previous request.

If anyone is having issues with PWI accepting their transparent icons, please speak up. I believe the GM handling my issue lied to me and said their system won't accept 32-bit icons.