Direct Debit with GoCardless

You can cancel a Direct Debit Mandate in the Tide app:

Tap: ‘Send’ > ‘Recurring payments’ > ‘Direct Debits’ > select a payment > ‘Cancel Direct Debit’. 

If the payee continues to collect Direct Debit payments after you’ve cancelled the mandate, you’ll be entitled to ask for a refund within 24 hours of the Direct Debit collection. To do this, tap ‘Support’ in the app, and we’ll help you. In such cases, make sure to cancel the Direct Debit Mandate through the Tide app right away.

You need to request the cancellation at least 24 hours before the payment due date, and tell the payee about the change.

Yes, you can collect invoice payments from your customers by Direct Debit. You’ll need to connect your account to our partner, GoCardless, who provides this service.

To find out how to do this, check out our FAQ “How do I connect my Tide account with GoCardless?”

Direct Debit is an automated payment method that allows you to collect payment from your customer’s bank account. 

There are two main reasons why Direct Debits are a smart way for small businesses to collect payment: 

1. Direct Debits are taken automatically from your customer’s bank account

   After your customer has authorised a Direct Debit mandate from you, you can set up future payments from their bank account. Your customer always gets notified of the amounts and payment dates but because the payments are automatic, your customer doesn’t need to remember to pay. This means you spend less time chasing up on late payments. 

2. Direct Debit payments are bank-to-bank

   There’s no card network involved in processing Direct Debit payments so the cost stays low and there’s no risk of failed payments due to expired cards.

You have access to Direct Debit on approved onboarding with GoCardless. If you have signed up for Invoice Assistant as a limited company or sole trader, then you will be eligible for the following:

• Limited companies – one free direct debit per month powered by GoCardless

• Sole traders – two free direct debits per month powered by GoCardless

With Invoice Assistant, your first two Direct Debits for that month will be free as part of the add-on. Your first and second uses of Direct Debit in a month will be deducted, but then refunded to you in your next billing cycle. Find out more about Direct Debit and how it works.

For peace of mind for your customers, all Direct Debits are covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee. Read more about this at the Bacs website.

You can collect invoice payments by Direct Debit via your Tide account. This service is provided by our partner, GoCardless. Find out more.

A Direct Debit mandate (also called an ‘instruction’ or ‘authorisation’) is the form your customer fills in to authorise your business to collect payments by Direct Debit from their bank account.

With GoCardless, who provide Tide’s service for collecting invoice payments by Direct Debit, the mandate is a simple online form.

When your customer has completed the mandate, you’ll be able to take payments automatically from their bank account. Your customer will always be notified in advance of the payment date and amount.

The Tide service for collecting invoice payments by Direct Debit is provided by our partner, GoCardless, a global leader in recurring bank-to-bank payments.

GoCardless processes billions of pounds in transactions a year and has more than 50,000 businesses around the world as customers, from small businesses to household names like energy supplier Bulb, TripAdvisor, and Guardian newspaper.

GoCardless integrates with the software businesses use every day so you have better control over payments and save time on tasks like chasing up on late or failed payments.

Read more at the GoCardless website.

Before you start to collect invoice payments by Direct Debit, first you’ll need to connect to GoCardless. It’s fast and easy – here’s what to do:

1. Connect to GoCardless

   Log into Tide on the web and go to Invoicing. Click on an invoice. If the GoCardless option is available for that invoice, you’ll see a box for Direct Debit with GoCardless. Click Ready to set up. You can then either Sign up or if you already have a GoCardless account, choose Sign in

2. Send mandate request to your customer GoCardless will ask your customer to authorise a Direct Debit mandate. You’ll be notified when they authorise it.

3. Create invoice in your Tide app or Tide on the web Set the payment terms as usual.

4. Schedule payment by Direct Debit Via Tide on the web, schedule the payment, either for the invoice due date or another day you choose.

Yes – Direct Debit with GoCardless is a flexible way to collect payments. You can collect fixed or variable amounts and take one-off or recurring payments.

For each invoice you send, you can use GoCardless to choose the amount and day the payment will be collected. Your customer will always be notified in advance of the payment date and amount.