[Richard iSparkle]

Does anyone use Direct debits for their business and if so who do you use and what are the charges like?

Ive just spoken to Smart Debit who charge a one off setup of £250, £50 per month and then 43p per direct debit.

doe's anybody know something better?

[richard jagger]

They would not see me at that price.

[andyjm1]

Go Cardless - 1% transaction fee and no other charges. Especially useful for bad payers or isolated jobs you don't want to collect from.

[Nathanael Jones]

Go Cardless - 1% transaction fee and no other charges. Especially useful for bad payers or isolated jobs you don't want to collect from.

Gocardless looks brilliant. I can't wait till they roll out the service in Ireland. 

[Richard iSparkle]

Go Cardless - 1% transaction fee and no other charges. Especially useful for bad payers or isolated jobs you don't want to collect from.

Go cardless look great BUT they told me you have to email the customer the link, and the customer needs to then follow the link and full in some details.  Customer also gets emailed every time you take a payment.  Neither of these are ideal in my eyes.

I want a DD that we can setup over the phone, whilst the customer is on the phone, and is then up and running without the customer needing to do anything else, AND the payments just showing up on their bank statement (if they think to check).

Unfortunately go cardless can't do either if these things.  They can set up an account if your client doesn't have an email account either...

[dave0123]

go cardless just email your customer an invoice once you take payment thats why they email the customer its a law requirement.

i find it ok, you can just put it into your website so customers can log on to your website and fill there details in.

you could do it over the phone tbh if you set it up on behalf of your customers by using your own email address lol

[SimonMoore]

The customer can set up a direct debit for free , by calling their bank or using internet banking

[dave0123]

The customer can set up a direct debit for free , by calling their bank or using internet banking

thats not a direct debit thats a standing order, and the customer has complete control over this payment.

a direct debit is an instruction from the bank to pay the company asking for payment.. the is a lot more control over the company asking for payment than a standing order.

[SimonMoore]

standing order sorry

it works for me anyway

[dave0123]

what if your late? you end up owing the customer money.

Direct debit like go cardless uses variable direct debit so you only take payment each time the windows are cleaned.. if there in when you turn up and they say il pay cash then you don't take any money through direct debit.. but next month after they may be out so you take direct debit.

[Richard iSparkle]

go cardless just email your customer an invoice once you take payment thats why they email the customer its a law requirement.

i find it ok, you can just put it into your website so customers can log on to your website and fill there details in.

you could do it over the phone tbh if you set it up on behalf of your customers by using your own email address lol

hey dave,

it's only law that that you need to contact the customer to confirm it's been setup, and to warn them of any price increases.

Gocardless email the customer EVERYTIME you take a payment, which is not a legal requirement.

we give our clients due dates, and we charge them monthly, so we arent ever late so it's not an issue for us, the way we are setup.

i think GoCardless looks great, and will be a great solution for lots of companies.

however, because of these small but important issues it's unfortunately not ideal for me, and not a big enough improvement on standing orders (that we use already).

i want something that we can setup over the phone, without the customer requiring an opt in email or letter (though of course they will receive a setup confirmation email/letter)

[dave0123]

yes go cardless email your customers each time payment is taken actully 5 days before because its a legal requirement when you use the variable direct debit system.. this is because you can take any amount at any time you have to give them notice of a few days.. trust me look it up online.. my previous job involved taking variable direct debits and they had to be invoiced every month before payment.

However if you are just setting up a monthly direct order to be taken on the same date every month this may not be needed for obvious reasons. However go cardless will probably email the customers anyway.

Theres a few out there like easypay or something that you can use i duno what the chargers are tho.

[andyjm1]

I don't see the problem with the customer getting an email informing them how much will be taken from their account and when. 

This is 2013, I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't have an email account.

[Richard iSparkle]

yes go cardless email your customers each time payment is taken actully 5 days before because its a legal requirement when you use the variable direct debit system.. this is because you can take any amount at any time you have to give them notice of a few days.. trust me look it up online.. my previous job involved taking variable direct debits and they had to be invoiced every month before payment.

However if you are just setting up a monthly direct order to be taken on the same date every month this may not be needed for obvious reasons. However go cardless will probably email the customers anyway.

Theres a few out there like easypay or something that you can use i duno what the chargers are tho.

thanks for the info Dave.

that makes sense i suppose if it's a variable DD, that the cusomter should be informed