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3 ways GoCardless helps you choose the right payment mix

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Last editedOct 20224 min read

Choosing the right mix of payment methods for your customers can greatly impact customer acquisition and retention. So, it’s important to consider methods that are both available to and preferred by consumers.

In a 2021 YouGov survey commissioned by GoCardless of over 15,000 consumers, globally almost 2x as many consumers have access to debit cards or bank accounts (for bank-to-bank payments) than cheques. 27% more consumers have access to debit cards or bank accounts (for bank-to-bank payments) than PayPal. From this research, it’s clear that no single payment method gives you complete market penetration, but access to debit cards and bank accounts are most common. Having the right mix is essential to meet consumer demand.

In this guide we will discuss 3 ways GoCardless can help you find the right payment mix for your business:

Selecting the most preferred payment methods
Choosing the most preferred currencies
Improving payments with open banking

Selecting the most preferred payment methods

The type of product or service a consumer is buying can change which method they use to pay. For consumers making recurring payments like; household bills, subscriptions and instalments in the US ACH debit is consistently in the top two most preferred payment methods. And there is a similar story across the globe, local equivalents to ACH debit rank in the top three choices for consumers to use for recurring payments.

For B2B businesses collecting recurring payments, we see a similar story. For B2B online subscriptions the preference for ACH debit is 44% compared to that of cards which is only 34%.

Whether you’re a B2C or B2B business, by offering the most preferred and popular payment methods to potential customers, like ACH debit, you increase the chance that they will purchase from you and reduce friction in the checkout process.

How can GoCardless help you?

To give your new and existing customers the best-in-class payment experience you should include ACH debit with other payment methods. Because ACH debit is a ‘pull-based’ payment method, it’s not surprising it is one of the most convenient ways to pay for recurring payments for consumers. ACH debit offers safety, flexibility and automation.

Over 60,000 businesses have chosen GoCardless as their ACH debit payment provider. Collecting ACH debit payments with GoCardless has many advantages including:

Giving you control of when to collect payments
Not having to pay expensive card transaction fees
Successfully collect 97.3% of payments on the first try
Using automation to reduce the admin burden and free up staff time for high-value work

How GoCardless helped Docusign:

We already knew there was an appetite for bank debit in many countries. In many cases it was the most preferred option. So far, our customer data matches those assertions.”

Before using GoCardless, DocuSign didn’t offer bank debit, but almost a year into the relationship things look very different:

11% of new customers choose GoCardless where it’s available, and that figure is steadily increasing.
Preference is particularly strong in the Netherlands and Germany, where 35% and 23% of respective new purchases use GoCardless.
Customers choosing to pay by GoCardless typically spend more, with an average selling price (ASP) 14% higher than other common payment methods.

In short, GoCardless has become a key payment method option for DocuSign. And wherever we offer GoCardless, customers convert better.”

Find out how you can benefit from collecting payments with GoCardless.

Choosing the most preferred currencies

As your business expands into new territories, making your product or service available in the local and most preferred currency is a no-brainer to make sure you capture the most customers.

However, collecting payments in new currencies can be a frustrating process. Of those already collecting international payments, 49% feel frustrated by the extra admin required. Additionally, collecting payments in other currencies can be costly and visibility about how much it costs your business can be poor.

How can GoCardless help you?

With GoCardless you can collect payments in local currencies in over 30 countries using our global solution. Countries include the United States, Eurozone countries, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Our network brings together previously fragmented and restricted bank debit schemes, allowing you to settle payments in a single currency and in one bank account. By using GoCardless to diversify your payment options you’ll be collecting recurring payments at the real exchange rate in the only simple, predictable and transparent way to collect subscriptions, invoices and instalments via bank debit.

How GoCardless helped SiteMinder:

70% of our European customers have chosen GoCardless over credit card to make their payments.” Evan Miller, Global Director of Billing and Collections, SiteMinder

Find out more about how you can reduce international barriers and benefit from the only global recurring payment network.

Improving payments with open banking

For many recurring revenue businesses collecting one-off payments is a necessity. In a survey conducted by GoCardless*, we found that 85% of recurring revenue businesses need to collect one-off payments. Although making a one-off payment with ACH debit is possible, it can be a painful experience for both the consumer and the merchant.

As confirmations of payment take a few days, ACH debit isn’t often the payment method of choice for one-off payments. As a result, many businesses don’t offer ACH debit as a payment method because of the poor one-off payment experience it provides. Meanwhile, other payment methods aren’t desirable for businesses or customers to make one-off payments either. Methods like cards have expensive transaction fees and bank transfers offer a poor customer experience.

How can GoCardless help you?

At GoCardless, we have developed Instant Bank Pay, which is powered by open banking and currently available to collect payments from British customers. It allows recurring revenue businesses to collect one-off payments seamlessly and fit a variety of use cases. Instant Bank Pay provides a similar experience to paying with a digital wallet but enables you to receive instant confirmation of payment and avoid expensive card transaction fees.

This bank-to-bank payment method means more businesses can offer bank debit as the preferred payment method to customers in the UK for recurring payments, as one-off payments can now easily be collected too.

With Instant Bank Pay businesses can now:

Collect a first-time payment while simultaneously setting up a ACH debit mandate
Top-up an account without customers having to enter long card details
Charge for extra products or services outside of a payment schedule
Easily collect failed payments

Broadband provider, Cuckoo Broadband has already been using the new feature to chase failed payments in the UK and save the businesses both time and money.

How GoCardless helped Cuckoo Broadband

We’re excited to continue using Instant Bank Pay for one-off payments. Not only will it prevent our customers from losing access to our services, it’ll also help reduce the time we spend chasing late payments and the risk of costs outstanding.” - Alexander Fitzgerald, Founder and CEO at, Cuckoo Broadband