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How to Access Direct Debit: A 60 Second Guide

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As Global Head of Content Marketing, Chris oversees all of the content requirements for our organic, growth marketing, and demand generation campaigns. This requires a fundamental understanding of the pain points our customers are experiencing and a thorough comprehension of the ways those customers consume and engage with content. A growth marketing expert in the tech space, Chris has worked with complex global businesses such as Google, AWS, Microsoft, SAP, Adobe, Dell and Oracle to grow their most valuable customers, increase revenue and speed up deal cycles. He has also led on customer lifecycle management programs and account-based marketing strategies for BlackRock, EY, Grant Thornton and UBS. ConnectSee full bio

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As Director of Global Payment Partnerships at GoCardless, Paul and his team manage global relationships with the organisations that make payments work. His expertise was instrumental in building GoCardless' ACH payment product, enabling the company to enter the North American market successfully. Paul sits on the UK Finance Working Group on Open Banking and holds the Chartered Banker, MCIBS qualification. The Chartered Banker Diploma is the highest level qualification awarded by the Chartered Banker Institute, recognised and supported by major financial services organisations across the globe. ConnectSee full bio

Last editedApr 20231 min read

There are three options you can use to access Direct Debit - also known as ACH Debit, or bank debit. This guide will walk you through each, to help you decide which is best option for you.

1) Direct access via a bank

You can access the ACH scheme directly through your bank, however, the bank's requirements can be steep. This is best for big businesses with experienced staff who have the resources to meet direct access requirements.

Learn more in our guide to direct access to ACH.

How to collect Direct Debit payments with GoCardless

1.

Create your free GoCardless account, access your user-friendly payments dashboard & connect your accounting software (if you use one).

2.

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

3.

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

Get started in minutes Learn more

2) Indirect access via a third-party payments processor (TPPP)

If you can't meet the bank's requirements for direct access, there are a number of third-parties that can help you acquire indirect access. Effectively, the TPPP acts as an additional intermediary linking you and the ACH network.

TPPPs can be credit card payment processors, accounting software providers, and more. So you may already have a relationship with one already.

Learn more in our guide to indirect access to ACH.

3) GoCardless

GoCardless is an online ACH debit specialist that can manage the entire payment collection process for you, without the need for an agreement with your bank.

With GoCardless you can manage your payments using a simple online tool, or integrate with the GoCardless REST API. Your customers will be able to set up ACH Debit payments online, avoiding the need to fill out tedious paper authorization forms. And once an authorization is in place, you can collect one-off or recurring payments from customers automatically.

Learn more about ACH debit payments with GoCardless.