Direct Debit is a payment method where you set up a payment agreement between our payment processor (GoCardless) and your bank. It enables us to withdraw funds directly from the bank account set up to use Direct Debit. Scandinavian customers might know it as Autogiro, and Eurozone customers might know it as SEPA.
In the Scandinavian countries this is traditionally used for payments from a person to a company, for utility bills, phone bills and so on.
There are no reasons not to use Direct Debit for B2B payments too. For many Eurozone customers, especially Dutch customers, this is the preferred way to do B2B payments.
Main reason to use Direct Debit
Here are the main reasons to use Direct Debit over manual bank transfers.
Direct Debit customers are eligible for credit
All Direct Debit customers can, after a brief check of credit score, receive a credit from us, reducing the amount of invoices. This means that if you order an upgrade mid-term, make a new Bolt or similar we will hold the charge until your next regular invoice date and consolidate all charges to one invoice.
Get in touch with us to discuss enabling credit on your account.
No payment fees
Manual bank transfer payments require a large amount of work done on both sides. Direct Debit can be done automatically, without human interaction. Therefore we do not enforce any manual payment processing fees for Direct Debit payments.
Correct amount, to the correct bank account
Direct Debit ensures that the payment is done correctly, with the correct amount, to the correct receiving bank account. No need to copy and paste from the invoice, with the risk of getting the amount of receiving account number wrong.
Reduce accounting costs
With consolidated invoicing and a credit from us, you can reduce the number of invoices to 1 yearly or 12 monthly invoices. Fewer invoices means less stress finding receipts, and saves costs in your accounting department.
Regular bank transfers have no protection
To get the payment right is your responsibility, and if it is in any way wrong this is on you. Once the payment is made, it’s final. If you send send your payment to the wrong account belonging to a completely different account holder than us, you have no way to guarantee that the payment will be returned.
Shave off time spent paying invoices
Direct Debit needs no manual processing from your(the payer’s) side, shaving off time spent on administration leaving more time for you to do what you do best.
Notification on failed payments.
The problem with bank transfer is that you won’t receive any notification about failed payments, and you’ll need to manually find these failed payments during reconciliation at the end of the month. This means your subscription with us can be of risk of cancellation.
Invoices directly to your invoice e-mail
We can send a copy of all your invoices, to your invoice email for automatic import to your accounting software. These invoices will be marked as paid, and as soon as they are imported to your accounting software, the job is done.
You can cancel a Direct Debit agreement at any time
You can cancel a Direct Debit agreement/mandate at any time. You can cancel a Direct Debit mandate at any time either by informing us directly or through your bank. This makes it as secure, and sometimes more secure, than using a Credit Card.
Who can use Direct Debit as payment method?
We currently support Direct Debit in the Eurozone (SEPA) and Sweden (Autogiro).
How to enable Direct Debit
To enable Direct Debit go to the billing portal and click payment sources, or go directly by clicking here. Then click to add a new payment source. If Direct Debit is available in your country and currency, you will be able to add a direct debit agreement.
For more information get in touch with us or check out GoCardless FAQ for customers paying via Direct Debit
