Create a Direct Debit

Choose a start date, recurring amount, and the number of payments you wish to collect. The Direct Debit can be set for a fixed number of payments or continue on an ongoing basis.

Your customer simply approves the Direct Debit authority online or in person, and all future payments will then be collected automatically.

You can choose from a range of payment frequencies, including:

• Weekly

• Fortnightly

• Monthly

• Quarterly

• Yearly

Payments can be debited from your customer’s bank account or credit card, and you also have the option to on-charge any processing fees.

If required, you can make changes to a customer’s subscription at any time without them needing to re-enter their payment details. Your customer will be notified in advance of any changes.

Creating a Digital Direct Debit

A Digital Direct Debit allows you to set up automated recurring payments for your customers without the need for paper forms.

You can collect payments on a fixed schedule or on an ongoing basis, with payments automatically processed once authorised by your customer.

To create a Direct Debit:

1. Click Create from the menu panel

2. Select Direct Debit

3. Choose Digital Direct Debit

Setting Up the Direct Debit

1. Select an existing customer or add a new one

2. Enter the payment details, including:

   • Amount

   • Frequency

   • Start date

Upfront Payment

• Add an Upfront Amount & Date for a one-off payment

• Ideal for setup fees or initial charges

• All remaining payments will follow the recurring schedule

Decide how long you want payments to continue. You can have the direct debit continue until you cancel it, or set a total amount to be paid until the direct debit is completed.

Calculate a total amount based on a start and end date (Annual subscription, 6 months, over 12 weeks etc). This means if dates change, or a payment is missed, you still have control over the total amount of money owed to your business.

Change your fees and dishonour settings if you want to vary from your defaults (You can read more about fees and dishonour settings here). 

Now you can save your draft and authorise with your customer. If you wish to change this draft or authorise later, you can leave and come back at another time.

Choose the authorisation method best suited to you or your customer, you can read more about different ways to authorise a Direct Debit here. Once your customer has authorised the direct debit it will become active and payments can be processed.

Upload a Paper Direct Debit

Before beginning this process, you will need a completed and signed paper Direct Debit Request form saved to your computer or mobile device as a PDF or image file.

Pay Advantage provides ready-to-use Direct Debit Request forms that can be printed and used immediately, with no additional setup required.

Also note that for compliance and security reasons. When the recurring amount you want to debit is around $1,000 a month, you may need additional identification from your customer to authorise their payment account.

To avoid delays please ensure your customers upload a clear legible photo ID of the authorised account holder/s as requested in the direct debit request form.

Select a customer or add a new one. Then you can enter the direct debit details, amount, and dates. 

The first payment amount is an optional field that lets you charge any set-up fees, one-off amounts etc. for the initial instalment.

Decide how long you want payments to continue. You can have the direct debit continue until you cancel it, or set a total amount to be paid until the direct debit is completed.

Calculate a total amount based on a start and end date (Annual subscription, 6 months, over 12 weeks etc). This means if dates change, or a payment is missed, you still have control over the total amount of money owed to your business.

Enter the bank account details your customer wants to use, or if they have a saved payment method you can also use that. Again check the details you have entered are correct to ensure the approval process can be quick.

Change your fees and dishonour settings if you want to vary from your defaults (You can read more about fees and dishonour settings here). 

Now you can save your draft and authorise with your customer. If you wish to change this draft or authorise later, you can leave and come back at another time.

Choose the authorisation method best suited to you or your customer, you can read more about different ways to authorise a Direct Debit here. Once your customer has authorised the direct debit it will become active and payments can be processed.

Direct Debit Review & Rejection Process

Once submitted our team goes through a quick approval check to make sure details between the form and our system are the same. This approval process generally takes 30 minutes or less during valid business hours. If details do not match the authority will be rejected and you will be alerted to what needs to be corrected so the form can be re-submitted for approval.

There are number of ways to view why a form was rejected;

• From the Dashboard
• Searching a customer and their direct debits
• Filtering your Direct Debit search by draft or rejected

When you open the rejected form there will be red text at the top letting you know why the form was rejected and what you will need to correct for re-submission. If you need anymore clarification as to what needs to be changed you can contact our support team in valid business hours.

Want to try it yourself? Set up a Pay Advantage account and explore the platform using our test environment.