Introducing GoCardless to your customers
Last editedFeb 20246 min read
Introducing GoCardless to your customers is quite simple. GoCardless is a leading Direct Debit provider, offering a trusted and widely-used payment method for recurring payments. With features like easy setup, payment certainty, and the Direct Debit Guarantee, businesses can deliver a seamless and secure payment experience, saving everyone time, money and headaches.
In this article, you will learn:
What is GoCardless
How can you explain what GoCardless is to your customers
How your customers can benefit from using Direct Debit through GoCardless
How Direct Debit payments can help businesses by saving them time and money
Where you and your customers can find more information about GoCardless
Direct Debit doesn’t just benefit your business. It also benefits your customers, adding to the value and quality of service you’re already delivering. How do you go about explaining GoCardless to your customers?
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.
1. Introduce GoCardless
GoCardless is an online tool that makes it easy for regular customers to pay you by Direct Debit.
Direct Debit is a well-known and trusted payment method globally. In fact, 4.6 billion Direct Debit payments were made in the UK in 2021, representing a total value of £1,243 billion. This payment method is well established and trusted for paying regular bills, and it is estimated that 9 out of 10 UK consumers are already using Direct Debit (UK Finance). In Germany, 50% of online payments were made using Direct Debit in 2022, while in Australia, this type of payment grew by 80% from 2002 to 2022.
Most likely, your customers are familiar with Direct Debit and probably already use it, for example, to pay energy bills, gym memberships or nursery fees.
Here are a few other things you can tell your customers about GoCardless and Direct Debit:
Direct Debit can be used to pay for regular payments of all types – including variable business invoices, software subscriptions, or instalments for a holiday.
GoCardless is a leading Direct Debit provider, processing over £30 billion in payments annually for over 85,000 organisations worldwide, including Sage, TripAdvisor and Les Mills.
2. Explain the benefits
Here are a few things you can tell your customers about the benefits of paying by Direct Debit through GoCardless.
You only need to set up payment once – Complete an online form and, unlike with a bank transfer, cash, cheque or card payment, you won’t have to remember to pay next time. This means no accidental disruptions to your service, subscription or membership.
You won't ever need to update payment details – Unless you change bank accounts, you won’t have to worry about updating your payment details either (unless your debit card expires, is lost or stolen).
Paying through GoCardless gives you certainty – You’ll know exactly how much you’re paying and when it will come out, which can help with budgeting.
The benefits of switching to Direct Debit differ depending on how a customer currently pays.
3. Give reassurance
Sometimes, customers worry that they’ll lose control of their finances. When this is the case, emphasise the following:
With GoCardless, you are notified that a payment is coming out in advance, giving you a chance to raise any issues.
With Direct Debit, your payments are protected. For example, in the UK, you are fully covered under the Direct Debit Guarantee, meaning you have the right to cancel and receive a full refund for any payment taken in error.
You can cancel the Direct Debit mandate at any time, for example, through your online banking, immediately stopping future payments (although this will affect access to your services).
GoCardless is ISO 27001 accredited (ISO 27001 is a widely recognised, internationally accepted standard for information security). It is also authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority to provide payment services as an Authorised Payment Institution across the European Union.
4. Try a hyper-transparent approach
For some customers, openly explaining how paying by Direct Debit will help your business could be the best approach.
For example, some smaller businesses or clubs benefit from a closer relationship between the customer and the merchant. Explaining that Direct Debit will help your business run more efficiently, keep costs down and save time is often enough to get customers on board.
Some larger organisations where the customer has an invested interest in the efficiency of the merchant also take this route. For example, in the UK, Harrow Council communicate on their website that Direct Debit keeps their costs down, which will, in turn, help to keep council tax down.
Want all the benefits of Direct Debit but without all the hassle & expense of dealing with banks?
GoCardless does all the heavy lifting for you so you can collect payments on time every time with just a few clicks!
5. Show customers where to go for more information
If your customer wants to know more, direct them to our website – to our Direct Debit guide for payers in the UK, our SEPA Direct Guide for payments in Europe, our local homepage in Australia, or our ACH page in the United States.
GoCardless merchant Michael O’Dowd from M&M Window Cleaning recommends “keeping the explanation short and directing your customer to GoCardless’ website” so customers can review any additional information in their own time.
“Direct Debit is a method customers know and trust. They fully understand how it works and know what to expect when agreeing to make payments through this channel. GoCardless has made delivering this service level possible.”
Nicki Harris, Customer Success Manager, Vax – Floor care products
What your customer sees when they pay through GoCardless
Before talking to your customers about GoCardless, it’s helpful to see it from their point of view. Click here to see what your customer sees when you send them a payment authorisation form.
If you use GoCardless through one of our software partners, for example, Xero or Sage, the emails will look slightly different according to your software provider's branding and house style.
If you want to understand more about integrations with specific software partners, please check our Partner page.
You can invite customers to pay through GoCardless via email.
When you add a customer, they will receive a payment authorisation email which requests that they complete a Direct Debit mandate, permitting you to collect funds from their bank account.
Key Takeaways
Focus on the benefits for customers when you speak to them about moving to Direct Debit. Primarily these benefits are:
Convenience - not needing to update details and missing a payment.
Trust - Direct Debit is a well-known and widely-used payment method in the UK. GoCardless has been operating since 2011, collects payments for over 85,000 businesses and is regulated by the FCA.
Protection - strong customer protections from the Direct Debit Guarantee.
Direct Debit is convenient, secure and trusted by your customers. GoCardless makes getting paid easy for you, easy for your customers.
Case Study: Lifestyle Fitness
Lifestyle Fitness transitioned its gym membership from a cumbersome card-based payment system to GoCardless, a sophisticated solution for recurring and one-off payments. Chris McQuillan, the Commercial Manager, emphasised the importance of technical support during this shift, lauding GoCardless for its quick and responsive assistance throughout the integration process.
The move to GoCardless ushered in a host of benefits for both the company and its customers. With GoCardless, Lifestyle Fitness acquired complete visibility of its payment process, a feature that significantly improved financial reporting. As Chris states,
"Between 99% and 100% of our payments go through GoCardless today, which has saved us a huge amount of time and money.”
The clarity of the new system has also had a positive impact on team morale and customer satisfaction, with Chris adding,
"Customers are happier, so staff are happier, and since launching GoCardless, we haven’t had one negative piece of customer feedback about payments.”
GoCardless's Success+, an add-on feature that uses payment intelligence data and machine learning to mitigate failed payments, increased revenue recovery to about 71.6%
Chris now sees GoCardless as fundamental to the business,
“GoCardless has gone from being the cherry on the cake of our digitalisation to the backbone of the business… It's a tremendous feeling going to sleep at night knowing that even if we’ve made a thousand sales that day, they'll all be correctly processed. It's difficult to think of a better feeling than that level of confidence.”
Direct Debit is convenient, secure and trusted by your customers. GoCardless makes getting paid easy for you, easy for your customers.
GoCardless FAQs:
What is GoCardless?
GoCardless is a payment processing platform that allows businesses to collect payments via Direct Debit. Direct Debit is a simple and convenient way for businesses to collect recurring or one-off payments from their customers' bank accounts. With GoCardless, businesses can automate their payment collection process, reduce admin and improve cash flow. GoCardless offers over 350 software integrations and is quick and easy to set up.
How does GoCardless work?
GoCardless is a payment processing platform that allows businesses to collect payments via Direct Debit and Instant Bank Pay powered by open banking. Direct Debit is a bank-to-bank payment method that enables businesses to collect payments directly from their customers' bank accounts. With GoCardless, businesses can set up Direct Debit payments quickly and easily through the GoCardless merchant dashboard, API, or partner integrations. Once authorised, Direct Debits are automatically debited from your customer's account and credited to yours, which means no more late payments, lower levels of manual admin, and improved cash flow.
What is GoCardless Direct Debit?
GoCardless Direct Debit is a payment method that allows businesses to collect payments directly from their customers' bank accounts. It's a simple and efficient way to collect recurring and one-off payments, and it can be used for payments of the same or varying amounts. With GoCardless, businesses can automate their payment collection and reconciliation, saving time on manual financial admin. GoCardless also integrates with over 350 software packages, making managing payments alongside other business processes easy.
What does GoCardless do?
GoCardless is a payment processing company that offers an alternative to traditional payment methods such as credit and debit cards. GoCardless provides an API that enables businesses to integrate GoCardless into their own websites or applications and pre-built integrations with accounting and billing software such as Xero, QuickBooks, and Zuora. GoCardless processes £30 billion worth of transactions annually and operates in the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. With over 350 software integrations, GoCardless is an excellent option for businesses needing automated payment collection.
Who uses GoCardless?
GoCardless is used by many businesses, from small startups to large enterprises, across various industries such as SaaS, e-commerce, utilities, and more. Any business needing to collect recurring or one-off customer payments can benefit from using GoCardless. It's an excellent option for businesses that want to simplify their payment collection process, reduce admin time, and improve cash flow.
