DD arrangement - how much?

[Simpo Two]

I am, or possibly was, as they don't seem sure, a member of a boating organisation. They've just scrapped the option to pay annually by DD, saying 'To simplify our administration, we are removing the ability to pay by Direct Debit as it is a complex process, costing in excess of £1000 a year.'

Are they correct or is there a simpler, cheaper way they could offer DD to their members?

[AndyAudi]

They could send out a pre printed standing order form that you fill in & take to your bank (if you have one!!)

We use them for regular payments

The printed standing order instruction says

To the manager
Cancel any similar existing
From x date take £100 monthly for 10mths

(Basically all the info you would key into your own online banking to set up a standing order but made to be handed over the counter for the bank staff to key in)

[quinny100]

The ability to process Direct Debits yourself is pretty onerous so most organisations use a third party and £1000 a year doesn't sound ridiculous - small numbers of transactions will have a relatively high cost per transaction.

[Simpo Two]

Well, they've done something clever because they sent a link to this page. Not only does it have an option to renew automatically but it takes credit card, PayPal and 'check' - so I guess it's American software:



Problem solved it seems!

[randlemarcus]

Problem solved for them, for sure. For the folks who don't know, Continuous Payment Authorities, and PayPal are distinctly lacking in any sort of consumer protection.

[Countdown]

I'm curious as to why you gave them a DD mandate (which gives them the ability to take however much they want from your bank account) as opposed to setting up a Standing Order (where YOU decide how much you want to pay each month)?

[Simpo Two]

I don't recall that option. Everything is done by DD these days; I think SO is a forgotten option. I was confident they weren't going to increase rates without prior warning. Am I at risk from the new arrangement? Is it PayPal underneath?

[Sheepshanks]

Countdown said:

I'm curious as to why you gave them a DD mandate (which gives them the ability to take however much they want from your bank account) as opposed to setting up a Standing Order (where YOU decide how much you want to pay each month)?

There’s no risk with a DD - the DD Guarantee means it’ll be repaid immediately on request.

SO’s are an un-necessary faff if there’s a DD option.

[Huntsman]

Simpo Two said:

I am, or possibly was, as they don't seem sure, a member of a boating organisation. They've just scrapped the option to pay annually by DD, saying 'To simplify our administration, we are removing the ability to pay by Direct Debit as it is a complex process, costing in excess of £1000 a year.'

Are they correct or is there a simpler, cheaper way they could offer DD to their members?

Fairey Owners Club sends out a slip with the membership form which has clubs bank deets and suggests one off payment or standing order.

[Countdown]

Sheepshanks said:

There’s no risk with a DD - the DD Guarantee means it’ll be repaid immediately on request.

SO’s are an un-necessary faff if there’s a DD option.

I’d say there was an equivalent amount of faff but you have slightly more control with an SO.

With a DD you can reclaim any incorrect payments, with an SO the risk of incorrect payments doesn’t arise

[w1bbles]

I manage a club membership database. We’ve just moved everyone from SO to DD using GoCardless, which has low fees and allow us to increase subs if we see fit. We pay a third party £52 a month for the privilege but we’re also building our own subs admin app in parallel and should be able to migrate to that in the next 6 months. £1,000 sounds like high fees, although our £52/month is not cheap for a 116 member model. Give me a few weeks to finish our app and I’ll give you a freebie as test pilots!