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IS EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT DIRECT DEBITS TRUE?
Direct Debits are a quick, easy and popular payment method – in fact, they’re the preferred payment method for over 50% of the UK bill paying population! Despite their popularity, there still seem to be a few myths and misconceptions around Direct Debit. We’ve heard them all, so we thought it would be interesting to highlight – and disprove - the 5 most common myths around Direct Debits:

DIRECT DEBITS ARE THE SAME AS STANDING ORDERS

A Standing Order is originated (pushed) from the payer’s bank, whereas a Direct Debit is originated (pulled) from the organisation collecting the money. Perhaps the most important fact for customers is that the Direct Debit Payment is fully protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee. A Standing Order offers no such protection. Direct Debits differ from Standing Orders in a number of ways. A Standing Order is for a fixed amount on a fixed date whereas Direct Debit Service is completely flexible, and can be for variable dates and amounts.

DIRECT DEBIT SOFTWARE IS EXPENSIVE

Many businesses are under the mistaken impression that the software needed to collect Direct Debits is expensive.
The truth is quite the opposite, particularly if your Direct Debit Management solution is Cloud-based. You don’t have to purchase any expensive in-house software, and you won’t have to pay for installation or upgrades.

DIRECT DEBIT SOFTWARE IS DIFFICULT TO INSTALL

With Cloud-based Direct Debit Management software, you don’t need to waste any time for installing or configuring hardware.
The Cloud is simply remote access computing, with all the hardware and software needed sitting in a secure, external location – so you don’t actually have to install anything from you end. Your provider should take care of all that for you. You can do only relax.

DIRECT DEBIT SOFTWARE MEANS LOTS OF COSTLY UPGRADES

A good Cloud-based Direct Debit Management solution will operate on a modular basis, so you only pay for what you use and can control your resources, with the ability to scale up or down on demand.
For example, you shouldn’t have to pay more if you want to add more payers – your annual subscription fee should cover additional payers, and allow your business to grow without any additional costs.

DIRECT DEBITS ARE TIME CONSUMING

A popular misconception is that all customers have to sign a paper Direct Debit instruction, meaning that businesses have to arrange a face-to-face meeting or wait for the instruction to arrive in the post.
The Truth? Paperless Direct Debit instructions are a common sign-up method – and are much quicker than a paper approach. Instructions can be completed via the telephone, online or face-to-face. Because paperless Direct Debit Instructions are quicker, they can help reduce turnaround time, improve accuracy and increase sign-up rates.

So There you have it – Good Direct Debit Service can make  payment collection more efficient, manageable and much more cost effective – which explains why it is such a popular payment method for companies throughout UK.