What Makes a Good Direct Debit Managed Service?

Businesses that offer customers a flexible range of payment options are more likely to expand their customer base and increase their ability to create profit. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) agrees, as their research shows that businesses providing multiple payment methods can experience a 30% increase in sales. 

With global payments revenue growing seven percent annually from 2018 to 2023, businesses are increasingly adopting efficient, automated payment solutions like Direct Debit. Integrating Direct Debits into your payment mix can help streamline operations and enhance customer convenience. 

Investing in automated Direct Debit software might seem like a significant commitment, especially when considering costs and training time. However, the benefits far outweigh the challenges. Investing in a product as a business can be expensive and software training could be time consuming and costly.  

That’s why working with a Direct Debit Managed Service who uses efficient and powerful Direct Debit Management software is a smart move. Without a doubt, the benefits of Direct Debit Management Services means you get more time to work on your priorities as your payments are taken care of by a professional team. 

A Direct Debit Managed Service should be offered by a Bacs-approved provider. The provider handles all of your Direct Debit payments, from customer onboarding through to Direct Debit reports and payment into your business account. 

An experienced Direct Debit Managed Service will also ensure every aspect of your payment process is compliant with Bacs regulations, increasing customer confidence and strengthening your business reputation. 

Contents

• Why offer Direct Debit payments to your customers?
• What makes a good Direct Debit Managed Service?
• Achieve more with Direct Debit Managed Services from Interbacs. 

Why offer Direct Debit payments to your customers?

Expanding the range of payment options for your customers can bring substantial rewards. When you switch customers to Direct Debit, tracking incoming payments becomes significantly simpler.

Knowing when payments occur enables you to monitor cash flow. In turn, a monitored financial landscape creates the potential for future planning. You can make plans and put funding in place, whether it’s to take on more employees, expand into new markets, or grow your customer numbers. 

Automated payments reduce administrative costs by minimizing the time spent on manual invoicing, reconciliation, and chasing overdue payments—allowing teams to focus on strategic business growth. This means your business will spend less time chasing overdue payments and organising missing transactions.

Customers know when payments are scheduled to come out of their bank account without having to arrange a new payment each time, increasing consumer convenience. 

Protection for customers is key to increasing trust and loyalty. The Direct Debit Guarantee helps customers feel protected in case any payment is taken in error. The Direct Debit Guarantee also creates more transparency around the Direct Debit process, so that customers know where to seek advice if needed. 

Flexibility within the payment service means that Direct Debits can be set for variable payment amounts depending on your particular customer offering. This is helpful for providers in areas such as subscription that may need to change over time or for different products.

What makes a good Direct Debit Managed Service?

Partnering with a specialist Direct Debit Managed Service that knows the system inside out is a valuable investment in both time and money. That's because you won't have to worry about recollecting missing payments or verifying customer information, as the provider will support you with this.

Here are three major aspects to a good Direct Debit Managed Service:

• Better security

A trusted Direct Debit Managed Service implements advanced security measures to safeguard sensitive customer data and minimize fraud risks. If your business handles large transaction volumes, this capability will reassure you with the knowledge that the possibility of fraud is reduced. 

• Expansion potential

Most high-quality Direct Debit Managed Service providers will offer you the chance to expand services as you grow and scale. This agility means you don’t have to worry about changing providers if your customer base triples in size or your payments become significantly larger in number. 

• Expert access

With an experienced provider who knows the Direct Debit sector, there will be multiple opportunities for guidance and support. You’ll benefit from their years of experience, which may be difficult to source in your own business if you haven't used Direct Debits as a customer payment option before. 

Achieve more with Direct Debit Managed Services from Interbacs

One thing that all our clients say when we manage their Direct Debits is that they feel relieved with a greater peace of mind about payment processes. As an experienced specialist Bacs team, we have the knowledge, expertise and industry understanding to streamline your payment organisation and ensure all data is protected. 

Interbacs’ Bacs registered Direct Debit Facilities Management service is ideal for businesses that don’t have a Bacs Service User Number (SUN). You gain access to the benefits of Direct Debits, without the administrative and financial burden of managing Bacs payments in-house.

Take the hassle out of managing payments and let our experts handle it for you. Contact Interbacs today for a personalised consultation and unlock a more efficient, secure, and scalable payment solution.

Photo: © 89Stocker