BACS Direct Debit

Chaser allows your customers to pay invoices via Direct Debit

What is Direct Debit? 

A Direct Debit is an instruction from your customers to their bank, authorising you to collect payments from their account when they are due. You get this authorisation by receiving a completed Direct Debit Mandate form, which traditionally is done in paper form but it can also be done online - which is how it works in Chaser.

Direct Debit payments in Chaser are supported in collaboration with Stripe. Firstly, you will need to have an account with Stripe, and then connect that account to Chaser.

Connecting your Stripe account is quick and easy:

1. Go to Manage > Payment Portal
2. In the Payment Methods, go to BACS Direct Debit and click 'Connect with Stripe'. This will take you to Stripe to login.
   
   
3. Click 'Authorise access to this account'.
4. Once you are connected, you will need to select your payment account - This is so that Chaser knows where to register the payments in your accounting system.
   
   

Once you have completed this, your customers will see an option within the payment portal to set up direct debit payments. 

Get authorization from your customer 

Once enabled, your customer will be able to set up their direct debit from within the payment portal with the following steps:

1. Select outstanding invoices to be paid. At least one current invoice must be selected so that automatic payments is enabled. 
2. Click “Pay and set up with Direct Debit”button, in the summary.
3. Enter required information:
   1. Email (Email address where payment information will be sent to)
   2. Sort code
   3. Account number
   4. Name (Name of the account owner, or name of the company the account is in)
   5. Address 
4. Review the summary of the mandate.
5. Click “Confirm”. 
   
   
   

Once your customer has set up a direct debit:

- They will pay the selected invoices via direct debit

- Future payments will be taken automatically on the invoices due date.

Your customer will be sent a reminder of each payment before each scheduled payment, as well as a confirmation email when the payment is complete.

FAQs

When are Direct Debit payments taken?
With the exception of the selected invoices when setting up, Direct Debit payments are scheduled on the invoices due date.

 

Will Direct Debit attempt to collect every outstanding invoice after the customer sets it up?
No, direct debit payments will only be taken for 1) the invoices they selected when setting up 2) New invoices raised with a due date in the future. 

Any current outstanding invoices that were not paid when setting up, can not be paid via direct debit. They can be paid using card payments or bank transfer.

 

How long does it take for Direct Debit payment to be processed?
For the first payment with a new mandate (ie. for each customer that signs up) it will take up to 6 days.

For the remaining payments, it is up to 3 days.

 

Will my customer be chased when an invoice (paid via direct debit) is pending?
Once a payment has been made via Direct Debit, chasing will be paused for the invoice. The invoice status will be updated to “Pending Debit”.

 

If the payment fails, will the invoice be chased?
If Chaser receives confirmation that a Direct Debit payment has failed, you will receive a notification that the payment has failed via email and an alert will show in the invoice page, explaining why it failed. To prevent any unwanted chasing, the the invoice will remain as ‘not chasing’ but you can change it chasing after this.

If the payment is successful, will the invoice be marked as paid?

For Xero and QuickBooks online users, invoices will be automatically marked as paid once the Direct Debit payment has successfully processed.

For all other systems, the invoice will remain at "pending debit" status until the invoice is manually marked as paid in the account system. The relevant payment and fee details are available within your Stripe account.

 

What happens if I remove Direct Debit as payment method?

If you remove a payment account from Direct Debit or disconnect from Stripe, Chaser will not take automatic payments from your customers. This should be resumed once you have connected/added an eligible payment account. 

Disputed invoices

If the invoice of a customer on Direct Debit is marked as being in dispute in Chaser, no direct debit payment will be initiated,

Invoices on a payment plans

Payment of invoice instalments via Direct Debit is not supported for now.

Cancelling a Direct Debit authorization

Currently cancellation can be done in two ways:

1) Customer contacts their bank directly.

2) By logging in to your Stripe account and cancelling the mandate for the customer.

We are working on bringing more flexibility to manage Direct Debit in Chaser.

Disputed payments

Customers can dispute a payment through their bank for an unlimited period of time.

Unlike credit card disputes, BACS Direct Debit disputes are final and can’t be appealed. If a customer successfully disputes a payment, you must contact them if you want to resolve the situation. If you’re able to come to an arrangement and your customer is willing to return the funds to you, they must make a new payment.

Fees

** On top of the regular fees that your payment platform charges, Chaser charges up to an additional 0.5% per transaction capped at £2.

Availability

BACS Direct Debit is only available to UK organisations. Only invoices billed in GBP are eligible to be paid from direct debit. 

Feedback

This feature is in early access, so if you have any suggestion or request related to Direct Debit or other type of payments, we would love to hear your feedback! 

Send us an email support@chaserhq.com