How to set up bank payments for your business

Bank payments have come a long way since 1997, when online banking was first made available in the UK. Thanks to continued innovation, bank payments are now one of the most flexible and efficient payment methods. For small businesses, setting up bank payments is a key way to ensure you get paid on time and minimise the extra time, admin and cost of collecting payments..

Whether you’re new to payments or looking to streamline your processes, we’re here to help you navigate the process of accepting bank payments, including setting up bank payments via open banking and accepting international bank payments. Let’s explore how you can get started.

Understanding bank payments in the UK

Before you begin, it’s helpful to understand what bank payments are and how they work. They’re transactions that move money directly between bank accounts, removing the need for card networks or third parties. Some bank payments are done manually, like bank transfers or standing orders, with the payer responsible for entering the payment details and sending the money out of their account each time. Some bank payments can be automated, like Direct Debit, which means the pre-agreed amount is pulled out of the payer’s account regularly.

There are also bank payments powered by an innovation called open banking. Open banking moves money directly from one bank account to another as normal, but behind the scenes, the money can move faster and even more securely, with added verification checks. Examples of open banking payments from GoCardless include Instant Bank Pay and Instant Bank Pay for Recurring Payments.

Establishing bank payments for your business

Establishing bank payments so that your customers can use them to pay you involves a few straightforward steps.

1. Register your business: Make sure your business is registered with a UK bank account to receive payments. This can be a personal or business bank account.

2. Choose a payment provider: While you can use a high street bank to send and receive bank payments, specialist payment providers can offer you extra tools and reporting features all in one place. For example, GoCardless is a bank payments provider that enables you to set Direct Debit mandates, accept international bank payments, create subscription templates and access customer payment reports. It means you can manage more aspects of your payments in just one place.

3. Set up a digital infrastructure: In simple terms, this means integrating your chosen payment provider into your website or app, making it easy for customers to know how to pay you when placing an order.

4. Test your setup: Before going live, run test transactions to ensure everything works smoothly and your customers can make bank payments easily, and that your business is receiving bank payments as needed.

How your customers can make bank payments

Once you’ve set up a business bank account and chosen a payment provider, it’s simple for your customers to make bank payments to you.

Customers can set up Direct Debit mandates

Direct Debit is ideal for recurring payments, such as subscriptions and memberships, as they can be set up once and then continue to pull the money from your customer’s account until cancelled. Your customer will initially need to fill in a Direct Debit mandate form to permit you to collect the payment automatically, but then you can essentially set and forget.

Customers can pay you with an instant bank payment

Customers can pay instantly via secure links or QR codes. These are quick, convenient, and ideal for one-off payments; all your customer needs is access to online or mobile banking. An instant bank payment is verified in seconds, but because it sends money directly from a bank account, there are no slow intermediaries or added charges that can come with one-off card payments. That means escaping high credit card fees.

Setting up bank payments online

We’ve created a full guide to setting up payments online, but we’ve also created a snapshot of how simple the different online bank payment methods are to set up below.

How to set up instant bank payments with GoCardless

Instant Bank Pay is available to all UK businesses and can be set up in just a few steps. Once you’ve created your GoCardless account, you have the option to enable Instant Bank Pay in your dashboard. You can then add a fixed one-off amount to your online checkout, for example, if you have a fixed joining fee, or you can choose to create a unique payment link with an amount specific to a customer or order.

Once a customer clicks the payment link, they’re connected to their banking app to instantly authorise the bank payment. Once this is done, you both receive a payment confirmation within seconds. Watch a demo of the payer experience.

Setting up bank payments via open banking

Open banking is transforming how businesses and customers manage payments, and you can use it for instant one-off payments or faster, more secure recurring payments. At the moment, recurring payments via open banking are limited to specific use cases, like savings and lending, where two accounts are owned by the same person or business. Whilst this is due to broaden by the end of 2025, right now the most common way to set up and use open banking payments is through instant bank payments, like Instant Bank Pay.

Accepting international bank payments online

Expanding globally? Here are the key considerations you need to think of before accepting international bank payments:

• Support multiple currencies: Choose a provider that allows payments in various currencies, making it easier for international customers.

• Understand transfer fees: Be aware of costs associated with receiving international payments to manage your margins.

• Implement cross-border solutions: Use tools that comply with international regulations and simplify the process.

• Offer local payment options: Incorporate popular methods like SEPA transfers to improve the customer experience.

• Monitor transactions: Use reporting tools to track international payments, fees, and customer behaviour for better decision-making.