The College of Paramedics is the recognised professional body for the UK’s paramedics. It works to develop the paramedic profession and represent its members, while supporting the highest standards of patient care and providing advice about the paramedic profession, ambulance services and related sectors.

At present, the College offers three types of membership package, for paramedics, student paramedics and for those working in emergency care. Most members pay their membership fees using Direct Debit.

Before discovering GoCardless, the College collected membership fees either annually or biannually. Some members had requested monthly collections, but the cost of introducing this with the previous Direct Debit provider was prohibitive. So the College began looking for a new solution.

“Our IT consultant had experience of GoCardless through other clients and recommended the company to us,” said Penny Jones, Head of Administrative Services.

GoCardless was an appealing choice for the College as it offered a similar service to their existing provider but at a considerably reduced rate, with increased flexibility into the bargain.

When we first switched to GoCardless we had over 5,000 members paying by Direct Debit, out of around 5,300 members in total. It was a time of significant change in our membership services, including the switch to GoCardless.

The College was also able to extend its member benefits and notably increased the annual membership fee. What’s more, the process of getting set up to use GoCardless was quick and smooth.

With support from both GoCardless and our IT consultant we completed the process within our tight time frame. We now have almost 13,000 members paying their monthly membership fees via Direct Debit with GoCardless.

Using GoCardless has benefitted the College of Paramedics mainly through the convenience of monthly collections, which has proved popular with members. Offering this payment schedule in bitesize chunks has made College membership more affordable and has attracted more paramedics to the College.

In particular, the College has been pleased with the speed and ease by which GoCardless sets up mandates whenever it receives large batches of paper applications (which happens usually only once or twice a year).

GoCardless also offers a simple and convenient online dashboard setup, which members can use if they prefer. The College encourages new members to join online, although still accepts paper applications collected during certain external events.

Now, nearly 100% of the College of Paramedics’ membership base pays membership fees using Direct Debit. What’s more, the total number of College members has grown by over double the starting amount: from 5,300 to almost 13,000!