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When to make paying by Direct Debit compulsory for your customers

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedApr 20231 min read

If some of your customers are reluctant to pay by Direct Debit even after explaining the benefits to them, and offering an incentive, you might consider making it compulsory.

This is a good option for your business if any of the following are true:

Cash flow is becoming a problem
You are spending a large amount of your time chasing payments
You don’t have a finance or admin team available to chase late payments
Efficiency of payment collection is important to you
You are looking to grow your business and need to have simple and consistent payment processes that are easy to scale

While you may have to turn down the occasional client who won’t change, you’ll free yourself up to focus on winning the right kind of business.

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 Direct Debit collection date. Simple.

Collect by Direct Debit easily — link your Xero account to GoCardless and set up Direct Debit payments!Learn more about Direct Debit collections

“GoCardless works flawlessly with regular orders, so it’s the only way to pay for Söt by Mörk – we wanted to kick off this new venture on the right foot.” - Kiril Shaginov, Co-founder at Mörk Chocolate – Speciality hot chocolate powder (wholesale & retail) and cake wholesaler

“When we engage with new clients, part of the set-up process is to complete a GoCardless mandate. We will only complete work for clients if an active GoCardless mandate is in place.” - Paul Bulpitt, Co-founder at The Wow Company – Accountants and business advisers

If you're concerned that making Direct Debit compulsory will drive your existing customers away to competitors, try starting with new customers you acquire first.