Make safe, efficient one-off payments the norm at your club with GoCardless
Last editedJun 20262 min read
Discover how Direct Debit and Pay by Bank can streamline your club's fee collection, slash failed payments, and cut admin time.
If you’re familiar with the demands of grassroots football club admin regularly, you’ll know the ability to take one-off and recurring payments securely and swiftly is essential. The good news is GoCardless is an online payment processing solution designed to enable you to do just that.
As a proud supporter of 18 County FAs and more than 1,500 clubs across England, we help reduce admin for club treasurers, saving clubs like yours from the admin headaches that all too often come with payment collection - giving you more time to focus on what happens on the pitch.
Payment options that are flexible to you
We currently offer clubs two core ways to collect payments. The first is the old faithful of cardless payments, Direct Debit. Direct Debit’s a convenient payment method that allows you to automatically withdraw funds directly from your members’ and customers’ bank accounts.
It's popular across sports clubs because it's cost-effective, versatile for different types of payments, and easy to automate. Plus, it’s typically considered to be the safest way to get paid.
Did you know? 97.3% of Direct Debit payments made through GoCardless are collected successfully at the first attempt. In comparison, card payments fail at a rate of between 10-15%, making Direct Debit the far more dependable option for your club.
Direct Debit is great for collecting both one-off and recurring payments. For any football club treasurer, it’s the best way to collect club membership fees without the manual stress.
Introducing Pay by Bank
The second option is new - and it’s set to change the payments landscape for all our customers, football clubs and beyond. It’s called Pay by Bank, and it works by generating a paylink or QR code for a payment amount of your choosing, which you then send directly to your members either via email, text, or even WhatsApp - whichever suits your club structure best.
Once a member receives the link, they can review the payment, and once they’re happy to continue, we’ll bring them to a checkout page where they can log in securely to their mobile banking app. They can then choose which of their accounts they wish to pay with, and authorise the payment. Both the member and the club get confirmation of payment within seconds.
There are no card details involved with Pay by Bank, and members can manage all their fees directly via their bank account, making it easy for them to see their outgoings. Meanwhile, you get swift confirmation once payment is complete and can enjoy peace of mind that the funds are on the way. And because you’re bypassing card networks, you’ll typically pay lower fees compared to traditional card payment methods.
Pay by Bank is perfect if you need to collect match fees from a team, or one-off payments for things like new team kit, training gear, or for events such as one-day tournaments and presentation nights.
Could Pay by Bank work for your club?
There’s a lot to like about Pay by Bank - and it offers multiple key benefits to help keep your club running smoothly:
Speed: Transactions are completed within seconds, eliminating the inevitable delays associated with chasing members individually for traditional bank transfers or cash in hand.
Accessibility: With Pay by Bank being fully digitised and compatible across digital platforms and mobile apps, clubs can initiate payments anytime, anywhere - even from the touchline if needs be.
Cash flow management: Whether you’re running a Sunday league team or a larger setup, we know cash flow can be a massive concern. Pay by Bank provides instant availability of funds, which is crucial for managing your cash flow effectively, especially for time-sensitive payments.
Get the ball rolling with GoCardless today
Our sports club payment collection software can help your football club get paid faster and easier - and take that manual admin burden away from your hardest working volunteers.
Collect instant one-off payments and automate your subs collection. You’ll get paid more consistently, on time, and typically pay lower fees than if you collect by card.
