Introduction to Direct Debits

Bacs
Payment Schemes Limited (
Bacs
) is an electronic system used in the UK to make payments directly from one bank account to another. A direct debit is an instruction from a customer to their bank or building society authorizing the organization to collect varying amounts from the customer’s account, as long as the customer is given advance notice of the collection amounts and dates. The customer's consent for the payments is established by the customer agreeing to and signing a mandate.
Direct debits using
Bacs
alternative payment services enables you to manage electronic mandates, withdraw funds from your customer’s bank account, and deposit the funds to your account.
Bacs
direct debits are supported for one-time and recurring payments.
Direct debits are commonly used by customers to make recurring payments for debts such as credit card bills, utility bills, and monthly subscriptions. They can also be used for irregular payments such as occasional online purchases.

Supported Country and Currency

Bacs
direct debits are supported in the UK. The supported currency is the British pound sterling (
GBP
).

Testing

For test transactions, send a request to the test simulator:

Terminology

For helpful descriptions of some of the terms used throughout this guide, see Terminology.