Step 3: Sending Mandates to your customers to setup Direct Debit

What is a Direct Debit mandate?

A 'Mandate' or 'Direct Debit Instruction' is an authorisation from your customer to collect future payments from them when they are due. 

To set up a Direct Debit mandate, your customer will need to complete a mandate form. There are generally three ways your customers can fill out the mandates:

• By paper: You can get your customers to fill out a paper Direct Debit Instruction form can and return it to you.
• Over the Phone: Collect your customer's details over the phone using a bank-approved script.
• Online:  Get your customers to fill out an electronic mandate form.

GoCardless for Cheqdin makes it easy for you to set up direct debit instructions with your customers using the online mandate system. Here are some of the exclusive features you will receive as part of your account:

• Your own branded payment page. This payment page is a securely hosted, customisable online form. For example, you can add your centre's logo to make it instantly recognisable to your billpayers. 

• A link you can share easily via email. You can send the mandate link to your customers via your Cheqdin billing dashboard. Customers can then complete the form online in seconds.

• Track the status of mandates: Cheqdin dashboard gives the live status of mandates or the option to send reminders for setting up mandates.

Here are some of the options to send and track mandates:

• Setup Complete: Every time a parent sets up a direct debit you will be notified by email and the status in your dashboard will change to 'Setup Complete'.

• Setup Link sent to Payer: This is the status you'll see on your dashboard once the link has been sent to a parent/billpayer.

• Not Setup: If you haven't shared the mandate's link to a bill payer, you will see the default status – ‘Not Setup’ next to the child's name on your dashboard.

• DD Reminder Sent: This status appears for accounts you've sent a direct debit reminder.

• Cancel Direct Debit Invite: This option lets you cancel a direct debit that has been set up by a billpayer.

Once a billpayer has finished setting up their direct debit with your centre, the status will automatically change to ‘Setup Complete’, and you can now start collecting payments from them.