Breadcrumb

Finance

Written by

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 editedJun 20241 min read

A suggested list of financial questions to include on a RFP.

Financially, you'll want to understand how funds will flow to you. This can vary depending on whether your provider offers "facilities management" or "managed administration".

Suggested questions to ask your payments provider include:

	Question	Explanation
1.	Describe how long your organisation has been in operation.	Most of these questions are for due diligence purposes.
2.	Please provide a copy of your latest audited accounts and any supporting information on your financial position.	For due diligence.
3.	Has your company taken on any external investment? If so, describe from whom and how much.	For due diligence.
4.	How often do you pay out our funds to us?	You should ensure that this matches your cashflow requirements - a provider that pays out every day is ideal. This question is not relevant if you own the originator number (i.e. because the money will flow straight from customer to you - an arrangement known as 'managed administration'.)
5.	Describe the insurance on (a) client funds (b) the business that you have in place.	For due diligence.
6.	How are client funds stored (if applicable?)	These should be kept separate from the provider's operational funds and ideally the account is fully backed/insured by the sponsor bank to ensure security of funds.
7.	Describe your regulatory status for providing payments (e.g. Authorised Payment Institution) along with the date that this was awarded.	For due diligence.
8.	Describe the flow of funds from the customer to us in as much detail as possible, including payment timings.	For due diligence.
9.	Are any of our funds withheld from us e.g. for chargeback and/or failure protection?	Some providers hold a certain % of your funds as a deposit; this should be avoided if possible.
10.	Describe how reporting works with your system i.e. how reports can be generated, in what formats, and what types of data are available.	Reporting should be flexible to enable a full match to your requirements. You should ideally have standard reports that are exportable from an online dashboard/portal and also the ability to construct custom reports either online or via API.
11.	How do we find out, at a given point in time, how much money is due to be paid out to us?	For financial reconciliation purposes.
12.	How do we match a payout to the transactions included within it?	For financial reconciliation purposes.

Our sample RFP includes all of the questions above and more. You can download it here and use it as a template for creating your own.

Note: The questions suggested on this page are intended as a starting place for writing your own RFP. They're provided for general information only: they're not intended to be prescriptive or to provide legal advice. We suggest working closely with your management to develop an RFP that is tailored towards the specific requirements of your business.