BACS Direct Debit (also known as Bankers’ Automated Clearing System (BACS)) is available through Stripe and allows businesses to receive online payments from Clients through bank-to-bank transfers in GBP currency.
Details
- Availability - For businesses based in the United Kingdom that already have Stripe enabled
- Transaction Fee - 1% + 20p per transaction with caps of £4 for Lite and Plus, £2 for Premium and Select
- Processing / Payout Schedule - Direct Debit payments take up to 6 business days to process; initial Direct Debit Mandate payments take anywhere from 1-7 business days to process at first, subsequent payments can be processed quicker
- Chargebacks - See Stripe’s disputes and fraud process here
Enable BACS Direct Debit on Invoices
Direct Debit can be enabled on any Invoice where the currency is in GBP (£) with the below steps:
- If you have not yet set up Stripe, complete the steps to accept online payments with Stripe first
- When creating an Invoice, click on the Accept Online Payments option in the Settings panel to the right of the Invoice
![Accept online payments under settings on invoice.]()
- Under Stripe, check off the box next to Accept Direct Debit (GBP £). If you check off Accept Credit Cards as well, your Clients can pay by either Credit Card or Direct Debit on this Invoice; if only one is checked off, your Clients can only pay by the selected option
![Checkbox checked off next to accept direct debit.]()
- Click Done to finish applying the payment settings and continue editing the rest of your Invoice.
To see what the experience looks like for your Clients when receiving and completing a Direct Debit Setup Form, go here.
BACS Direct Debit Mandates
Direct Debit Mandates allow you, as a Business Owner, to easily save the Client’s Direct Debit information for future use on a single Invoice, or through Recurring Payments on Recurring Templates without having to request authorisation each time. This requires you to send a Direct Debit Set Up Form (also known as a Direct Debit Instruction) to safely collect the Client’s payment details first before using it to pay Invoices.
Send a BACS Direct Debit Set Up Form
To send a Direct Debit Set Up Form, use the below steps:
- Click on the Clients section
- Then click on a Client you’d like to send a Direct Debit Mandate to
- In the Client Profile, under Online Payment, click on the + button and select Set Up Direct Debit
![Set up direct debit button in client profile.]()
- A Direct Debit Setup Form email preview will appear - feel free to add additional emails in the To field or modify the Subject line
- Click in the Enter a Personal Message field if you’d like to add details
- Then click Send Setup Form
- In the Client Profile, under Payment Options, this will display as Request Pending… until your Client has completed the Set Up form
![Request pending under payment method in client profile.]()
- Once the Set Up Form has been completed, you’ll see Account ending in xxxx under Direct Debit in the Client’s Profile. You can now use this saved information to pay Invoices or for Recurring Payments on Recurring Templates.
To see what the experience looks like for your Clients when receiving and completing a Direct Debit Setup Form, go here.
Pay with BACS Direct Debit Mandates
To pay an Invoice or set up Recurring Payments on a Recurring Template with a Direct Debit Mandate, use the below steps:
For an Invoice
- Go to the Invoices section
- Click on the Invoice you want to pay with a Direct Debit Mandate on
- Then click on the Direct Debit button
![Direct debit button above invoice.]()
- Choose the saved Direct Debit Mandate and click on the Pay €xx.xx button
- Click Done to confirm
- Your client will receive an email indicating a Direct Debit payment is processing within the next 7 business days, along with a link to the Invoice.
For a Recurring Template
Note: A Mandate must be saved first before you can use it on a Recurring Template.
- Go to the Invoices section, then click on the Recurring Templates sub-tab
- For a new Recurring Template, click on the plus button and create your new Template
- Or for an existing Recurring Template, click on a Template
- In the Accept Online Payments section, click on the Add your client’s payment method link under Automatic Payments
![Add client payment method link on recurring template settings.]()
- Click to select the Direct Debit Mandate, then click on the Apply button
![Apply button for direct debit payment.]()
- Finish making your Recurring Template as usual and click on Save… to send
- When a Recurring Template generates an Invoice, your client will receive an email indicating a Direct Debit payment is processing within the next 7 business days, along with a link to the Invoice.
