Standing Orders and Direct Debits explained
Standing Orders and Direct Debits explained
This article was written and provided to support our staff when involved with our commercial customers acquiring goods from us via some form of finance agreement. Most people had by then signed DDM’s to pay variable periodic bills due in their private lives yet many were concerned and often uninformed as to what their DDM protections were in the business world. So we wrote and published this article to explain and reassure. It is actually quite difficult to obtain a licence to issue DDM’s and take variable payment accordingly and requires substantial ‘good standing’. Our fifty years of impeccable business trading made us a bit of shoo-through when we applied. We are Britain’s longest serving vending business; still family owned but with a national footprint and high-tech support. This article has been invaluable to our staff and customers and indeed we know that it has been invaluable to many seeking clarity of explanation and who were someone else’s customers. We hope it may be of use to you too.
Banking - direct debit guarantee
Direct debits are now a major part of daily life, with many people using them each month to pay their household bills. The direct debit guarantee is a powerful safeguard for customers. So it’s important that firms make sure their staff understand its provisions so those who can really benefit from using Direct Debit Mandates to pay regular bills do so without making the mistake of not doing so for totally spurious reasons. The Direct Debit Guarantee scheme is operated by all banks in the UK and Ireland and is a perfect guarantee that if, in the unlikely event that something did go wrong, the payee can immediately have their account credited by their own bank and without quibble of any kind with the sum taken - all they have to do is ask.
If you pay by standing order, it is up to your bank to send the payment. If you pay by direct debit, it is up to the payee’s bank to call for the payment, but you will rightly look to your own bank/building society to ensure the smooth running of any direct debits. Mistakes and errors are covered by the direct debit guarantee.
The direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. It says that:
Standing order or direct debit?
Some organisations when seeking regular payment or repayments from their customers wrongly describe a standing order as a ‘direct debit’, or a direct debit as a ‘standing order’. It’s maybe not be too surprising then that customers also get the terms muddled up, because standing orders and direct debits do broadly the same thing, even though they work very differently. It doesn’t help, though, when even bankers themselves sometimes describe them wrongly. We at UK Vending Ltd like clarity so here's a brief explanation:
standing orders are customers’ instructions to their bank to pay a set amount, to a named beneficiary, at regular intervals (say on the 1st of the month) – either for a specific period of time or until cancelled.
direct debits are:
A standing order requires the customer’s bank to send the money. A direct debit requires the beneficiary to claim the money.
Typically, a standing order might be used to pay a fixed amount to a savings account or to a local club. A direct debit is more likely to be used to make payments that can vary from time to time – such as mortgage instalments or utility bills or lease payments which allow for the possibility of changes in VAT or fluctuations in the taxes that make leasing worthwhile for both customer and lease company.
The day-to-day advantage of a direct debit over a standing order is that, as and when and indeed, if the payment amount changes, the beneficiary will claim the new amount automatically – but only after first telling the customer of the change. With a standing order, customers need to give their bank new instructions each time a change is needed.
How the systems work
Standing orders can be simpler than direct debits but are not usually acceptable for commercial repayments like leasing because of the cost of reset-ups if taxes and/or VAT fluctuate – nonetheless, they can be simpler because the beneficiary is not involved in claiming payments. At set times, the customer’s bank just sends the money to the beneficiary’s bank and only the customer can alter the payments. The beneficiary can be anyone.
In contrast, the variable nature of direct debits means that beneficiaries can claim different amounts at different times. This flexibility is the main advantage of the direct debit system – but there is a potential worry to some people that unscrupulous or inefficient beneficiaries might claim money that is not due to them.
It simply cannot happen – because to combat this – and to reassure customers – the direct debit system contains two main safeguards:
Usually, the customer has to sign a direct debit form, although some particularly trusted originators are authorised to set up direct debits where the customer has given authority over the phone. If that sounds a little risky, remember that the originator must have obtained the bank account details from the customer – and that the customer is fully protected at al times by the Direct Debit Guarantee.
Payments themselves are made by a system that is in some ways based on the cheque clearing system. This means that the process usually starts two working days before the money is due to reach the beneficiary’s bank account.
Direct debits are processed through BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services), as follows:
Just as with a cheque, a bank can ‘bounce’ a standing order or a direct debit if there’s not enough money in the customer’s account on Day 3 to cover it. And, in most circumstances, the customer can cancel, or ‘stop’, a standing order or a direct debit up to and during Day 3 – the day of payment.
Recent trends and developments
Consumers are making more and more use of direct debits. Over the past couple of years, transaction numbers have gone up by about 12%. In fact, DDMs (Direct Debit Mandates) have seen something of a surge in recent years – with the increased use of internet banking making it easier not just to set them up, but also to keep them up-to-date.
Since late 2003, BACS has comprised two organisations:
The principal advantage of an automated ‘regular payments’ system is that, if it all works correctly, the right payments are made at the right times without regular human intervention. But ironically, this is also its biggest potential weakness. If, at the outset, payment information is keyed wrongly into the bank’s system, then payments will be made wrongly and will continue to be made wrongly until someone spots the mistake. Often, it will be the customer, not the bank, who discovers the problem –and sometimes only once the person who was expecting the money has complained that they’ve not received it.
Banking - Direct Debit Guarantee
Direct debits are now a major part of daily life, with many people using them each month to pay their household bills. The direct debit guarantee is a powerful safeguard for customers. So it’s important that firms make sure their staff understand its provisions so as not to make the mistake of refusing to set up a DDM to make important regular payments because of fear that something could go wrong – in any meaningful way it cannot go wrong as if some feels the wring sum has been taken they can call their bank and claim an immediate recredit to their account – no quibbles allowed by their bank – you ask and you get, it is that simple.
If you pay by standing order, it is up to your bank to send the payment. If you pay by direct debit, it is up to the payee’s bank to call for the payment, but you will rightly look to your own bank/building society to ensure the smooth running of any direct debits. Mistakes and errors are covered by the direct debit guarantee.
In summary - the direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. It says that:
Standing orders can be simpler than direct debits but are not usually acceptable for commercial repayments like leasing because of the cost of reset-ups if taxes and/or VAT fluctuate – nonetheless, they can be simpler because the beneficiary is not involved in claiming payments. At set times, the customer’s bank just sends the money to the beneficiary’s bank and only the customer can alter the payments. The beneficiary can be anyone.
Consumers are making more and more use of direct debits. Over the past couple of years, transaction numbers have gone up by about 16%. In fact, DDMs (Direct Debit Mandates) have seen something of a surge in recent years – with the increased use of internet banking making it is easier not just to set them up, but also to keep them up-to-date.
Martin Button is the Managing Director of UK Vending Ltd, Britain’s longest serving vending company. UK Vending Ltd (UKV) is a national supplier of prestige vending products and a provider of unique financial packages supporting UKV sales. UKV is a family owned business started some fifty years ago by Martin’s father John. It was the first vending company anywhere in the world hosted on the internet when most had not yet heard of the World Wide Web. One of Google’s ‘naturals’, UKV had an online shop before Amazon and Ebay. UKV had a successful background in email marketing before most companies had begun to understand its power. Imaginative marketing coupled with excellent staff recruitment and management, planning and customer service may be key to UKV’s long-term success in this competitive market. However, sheer business savvy and insight is what makes it work.
UK Vending Ltd
This article was written and provided to support our staff when involved with our commercial customers acquiring goods from us via some form of finance agreement. Most people had by then signed DDM’s to pay variable periodic bills due in their private lives yet many were concerned and often uninformed as to what their DDM protections were in the business world. So we wrote and published this article to explain and reassure. It is actually quite difficult to obtain a licence to issue DDM’s and take variable payment accordingly and requires substantial ‘good standing’. Our fifty years of impeccable business trading made us a bit of shoo-through when we applied. We are Britain’s longest serving vending business; still family owned but with a national footprint and high-tech support. This article has been invaluable to our staff and customers and indeed we know that it has been invaluable to many seeking clarity of explanation and who were someone else’s customers. We hope it may be of use to you too.
Banking - direct debit guarantee
Direct debits are now a major part of daily life, with many people using them each month to pay their household bills. The direct debit guarantee is a powerful safeguard for customers. So it’s important that firms make sure their staff understand its provisions so those who can really benefit from using Direct Debit Mandates to pay regular bills do so without making the mistake of not doing so for totally spurious reasons. The Direct Debit Guarantee scheme is operated by all banks in the UK and Ireland and is a perfect guarantee that if, in the unlikely event that something did go wrong, the payee can immediately have their account credited by their own bank and without quibble of any kind with the sum taken - all they have to do is ask.
If you pay by standing order, it is up to your bank to send the payment. If you pay by direct debit, it is up to the payee’s bank to call for the payment, but you will rightly look to your own bank/building society to ensure the smooth running of any direct debits. Mistakes and errors are covered by the direct debit guarantee.
The direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. It says that:
| If there is a change in the amount to be paid or the payment date, the person receiving the payment (the originator) must notify the customer in advance. | |
| If the originator or the bank/building society makes an error, the customer is guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid by the customer’s own bank or building society. | |
| Customers can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to their bank or building society. |
Some organisations when seeking regular payment or repayments from their customers wrongly describe a standing order as a ‘direct debit’, or a direct debit as a ‘standing order’. It’s maybe not be too surprising then that customers also get the terms muddled up, because standing orders and direct debits do broadly the same thing, even though they work very differently. It doesn’t help, though, when even bankers themselves sometimes describe them wrongly. We at UK Vending Ltd like clarity so here's a brief explanation:
standing orders are customers’ instructions to their bank to pay a set amount, to a named beneficiary, at regular intervals (say on the 1st of the month) – either for a specific period of time or until cancelled.
direct debits are:
| customers’ authority for beneficiaries to claim payments (variable in amount and frequency) from the customers’ accounts; | |
| and | |
| customers’ instructions to their bank to allow the taking of those payments. |
Typically, a standing order might be used to pay a fixed amount to a savings account or to a local club. A direct debit is more likely to be used to make payments that can vary from time to time – such as mortgage instalments or utility bills or lease payments which allow for the possibility of changes in VAT or fluctuations in the taxes that make leasing worthwhile for both customer and lease company.
The day-to-day advantage of a direct debit over a standing order is that, as and when and indeed, if the payment amount changes, the beneficiary will claim the new amount automatically – but only after first telling the customer of the change. With a standing order, customers need to give their bank new instructions each time a change is needed.
How the systems work
Standing orders can be simpler than direct debits but are not usually acceptable for commercial repayments like leasing because of the cost of reset-ups if taxes and/or VAT fluctuate – nonetheless, they can be simpler because the beneficiary is not involved in claiming payments. At set times, the customer’s bank just sends the money to the beneficiary’s bank and only the customer can alter the payments. The beneficiary can be anyone.
In contrast, the variable nature of direct debits means that beneficiaries can claim different amounts at different times. This flexibility is the main advantage of the direct debit system – but there is a potential worry to some people that unscrupulous or inefficient beneficiaries might claim money that is not due to them.
It simply cannot happen – because to combat this – and to reassure customers – the direct debit system contains two main safeguards:
| The direct debit guarantee provides for the customer’s bank to refund disputed payments without question. | |
| Direct debits can only be set up for payments to beneficiaries that are approved ‘originators’ of direct debits. In order to be approved, these beneficiaries are subjected to careful vetting procedures – and, once approved, they are required to give indemnity guarantees through their banks. UK Vending Ltd is, and has been for many years, an approved Direct Debit originator and beneficiary. |
Payments themselves are made by a system that is in some ways based on the cheque clearing system. This means that the process usually starts two working days before the money is due to reach the beneficiary’s bank account.
Direct debits are processed through BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services), as follows:
| Day 1: | BACS receives electronic details of all direct debit payments due on Day 3 |
| Day 2: | BACS sorts the information between banks and gives each bank a report of all payments due on Day 3 |
| Day 3: | Payments are made – the beneficiary’s bank account is credited, and the customer’s bank is debited |
Recent trends and developments
Consumers are making more and more use of direct debits. Over the past couple of years, transaction numbers have gone up by about 12%. In fact, DDMs (Direct Debit Mandates) have seen something of a surge in recent years – with the increased use of internet banking making it easier not just to set them up, but also to keep them up-to-date.
Since late 2003, BACS has comprised two organisations:
| BACS Limited – responsible for physically processing payments, and maintaining the payment network; and | |
| BACS Payment Systems Limited – governing the rules under which payments are made, and responsible for maintaining and developing the integrity of payment schemes. |
Banking - Direct Debit Guarantee
Direct debits are now a major part of daily life, with many people using them each month to pay their household bills. The direct debit guarantee is a powerful safeguard for customers. So it’s important that firms make sure their staff understand its provisions so as not to make the mistake of refusing to set up a DDM to make important regular payments because of fear that something could go wrong – in any meaningful way it cannot go wrong as if some feels the wring sum has been taken they can call their bank and claim an immediate recredit to their account – no quibbles allowed by their bank – you ask and you get, it is that simple.
If you pay by standing order, it is up to your bank to send the payment. If you pay by direct debit, it is up to the payee’s bank to call for the payment, but you will rightly look to your own bank/building society to ensure the smooth running of any direct debits. Mistakes and errors are covered by the direct debit guarantee.
In summary - the direct debit guarantee applies to all banks and building societies taking part in the direct debit scheme. It says that:
| If there is a change in the amount to be paid or the payment date, the person receiving the payment (the originator) must notify the customer in advance. | |
| If the originator or the bank/building society makes an error, the customer is guaranteed a full and immediate refund of the amount paid. | |
| Customers can cancel a direct debit at any time by writing to their bank or building society. |
Consumers are making more and more use of direct debits. Over the past couple of years, transaction numbers have gone up by about 16%. In fact, DDMs (Direct Debit Mandates) have seen something of a surge in recent years – with the increased use of internet banking making it is easier not just to set them up, but also to keep them up-to-date.
Martin Button is the Managing Director of UK Vending Ltd, Britain’s longest serving vending company. UK Vending Ltd (UKV) is a national supplier of prestige vending products and a provider of unique financial packages supporting UKV sales. UKV is a family owned business started some fifty years ago by Martin’s father John. It was the first vending company anywhere in the world hosted on the internet when most had not yet heard of the World Wide Web. One of Google’s ‘naturals’, UKV had an online shop before Amazon and Ebay. UKV had a successful background in email marketing before most companies had begun to understand its power. Imaginative marketing coupled with excellent staff recruitment and management, planning and customer service may be key to UKV’s long-term success in this competitive market. However, sheer business savvy and insight is what makes it work.
UK Vending Ltd