Direct debit

Direct debit lets Cleverbridge collect an authorized payment from a customer's bank account. The customer provides a mandate or instruction before the collection, and the applicable payment scheme controls bank processing and customer protections.

Direct debit is useful for both purchases and recurring billing, but authorization details, payment timing, failure handling, and refund rights differ by scheme.

Do all direct debit methods use the same flow?

No. The documented methods share an authorization-and-collection lifecycle, but they use different bank details, currencies, schemes, and customer protections.

Method	Primary market or region	Documented interaction	Important difference
BACS Direct Debit	United Kingdom	The customer provides the account holder's name, account number, and sort code and accepts a Direct Debit instruction.	Collections use GBP and are covered by the Direct Debit Guarantee.
SEPA Direct Debit	SEPA	The customer provides an IBAN and authorizes either a single or recurring mandate.	The documented flows cover purchases, automatic renewals, and manual renewals in EUR.

Shared payment lifecycle

At a high level, an eligible direct debit payment follows these stages:

1. Cleverbridge displays the direct debit method when the checkout context and account configuration are eligible.
2. The customer enters the required bank and account-holder details.
3. The customer authorizes a mandate or Direct Debit instruction.
4. Cleverbridge submits the collection under that authorization.
5. The bank and payment scheme process the debit and return the applicable result.
6. Cleverbridge completes the successful order or applies the documented failed-payment or return-debit flow.

The method article is authoritative for the exact flow. A checkout confirmation, bank collection, settlement, delivery, and refund are separate events and can occur at different times.

A mandate or Direct Debit instruction is permission to request a collection; it is not a guarantee that the bank will complete every debit. A collection can fail or be returned even when the authorization remains valid. Use the method article for the applicable status, communication, and recovery behavior.

Customer instructions

The articles in this section explain direct debit behavior from the client's perspective. Each payment method links to its nested, shareable customer payment guide.

Paid order notifications

The PaidOrderNotification format does not change based on the direct debit method used. Continue to use the standard notification fields and your configured notification processing.

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Explore this section

BACS Direct Debit

Explore the guides and reference information available for BACS Direct Debit.

SEPA Direct Debit

Understand SEPA Direct Debit purchases, renewals, mandates, return debits, and refunds.

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