Get more than you bargained for with Direct Debit

When it comes to collecting payments, you want the process for both you and your customers to be as hassle-free and cost-effective as possible. Direct Debit is one of the most used and preferred types of payment for collecting recurring payments (like subscriptions, instalments or invoices) precisely for those reasons.

In recent research with YouGov, we found that the most popular reasons for customers to choose a payment method were the fact it's secure, fast and easy to use and 89% chose Direct Debit as their most trusted payment method. With over 53% of people choosing Direct Debit to pay for household bills and traditional and digital subscriptions, by using Direct Debit you’re already set up for success. 

Are you benefitting by offering Direct Debit as a way to pay?

Other payment methods, like credit cards or bank transfers, have their drawbacks. From expensive fees and manual reconciliation to a higher likelihood of payments failing and customers churning as a result. These don’t only mean time wasted for you but poorer experiences for your customers.

By choosing and promoting Direct Debit as your main payment method and encouraging your customers to pay with Direct Debit, you stand to benefit from:

• Getting paid on time and keeping cash flowing Automatically pull payments from your customer's bank accounts and get paid 47% faster and with fewer late or incorrect payments.

• No more chasing your customers  According to Sage, Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) spend 5 days a year and nearly $5000 chasing late payments, only to have to write off 7% of them as bad debt. Remove the need for awkward conversations about money with your customers and spend less time chasing payments.

• Spending less time on payment admin Normally, as much as two-thirds of the cost of accepting recurring payments comes from admin time, not processing fees. But by using GoCardless Direct Debit, businesses spend 59% less time managing payments.

• Reducing the cost of taking payments  Some payment methods are costly, such as cards and digital wallets. GoCardless Direct Debit has reduced the cost of taking payments by up to 56% for customers.

• Removing the stress out of payment collection Almost 8 out of 10* GoCardless customers agree that moving more payments to Direct Debit has reduced their stress levels significantly. That’s payment peace of mind.

How to collect Direct Debit payments with GoCardless

1. Easily set up & schedule Direct Debit payments via payment pages on your website checkout or secure payment links.

2. From now on you'll get paid on time, every time, as GoCardless automatically collects payment on the scheduled date. Simple.

Payments that exceed expectation

“Previously for refunds, we had to chase up the customer, get a BSBN account number, and then do a manual transaction through internet banking, which was an absolute nightmare for us and the customer. Now, we can hit refund on any transaction directly in the GoCardless platform, and we can either choose to do a partial refund or a full refund.”Jonathan Quieros, Owner, Dukes gym.

Ready to start collecting more payments?

If you’re a GoCardless customer, head over to your dashboard to start adding customers to your subscriptions.

If you’d like to know more about GoCardless, speak to our payments experts about how Direct Debit could give your business a competitive edge.

*GoCardless Customer Survey, 2021