Direct debit mandates overview

A Direct Debit is an instruction from the tenant to their bank, authorising the housing organisation to regularly collect money directly from their account at intervals within a specified period. By setting up a Direct Debit, both the tenant and the housing organisation are able to automate the rent payment / collection cycle, saving considerable time and money on both sides. Direct Debit is increasingly the payment method of choice for housing organisations, with significant advantages over employing a letting agent for rent collection, and by far the most practicable method of securing payment in accordance with the expected schedule. Before a housing organisation can employ Direct Debit payment collection, they must obtain sponsorship from their preferred bank to secure registration as a Direct Debit Originator. Each Originator will be assigned an Originator Identification Number (OIN) and must nominate a bank account into which the collected funds will be credited. An integral part of Originator registration is the compilation of several mandatory documents used in the day-to-day Direct Debit process. These are summarised as:

A customer-facing communication template inviting tenants to become Direct Debit payers.
A Direct Debit Instruction (DDI) document - the method by which the Originator obtains the tenant's authority to debit their account.
An 'advance notice' communication template - the method by which the Originator gives formal notice to the tenant before the first Direct Debit is collected, including as a minimum the amount to be collected, the due date and frequency of collection. Most commonly this document is in the form of a schedule, where dates and amounts are known in advance.

All such prerequisite documents are created and stored in Civica Cx Housing as communication definitions, ready to automatically despatch to tenants at key points in the process. The end user also controls the valid days and dates on which Direct Debit payments can be collected, all specified within the BACS account configuration process.

Separate help articles have been created for each key aspect of Direct Debit mandates, including: