The number of ways in which we can make regular bill payments has mushroomed in the last couple of decades. From simple choices such as cash, cheque, card or standing order to the plethora of extra options that we see today – payment wallets, online banking and going forwards, open finance, crypto currencies and no doubt options that we’ve not yet heard of. The open question behind all these options is what consumer protection exists should something go wrong with the payment?
There is however one tried and tested regular payment method that’s been around for over 50 years that has a comprehensive consumer guarantee in the event of an error happening with the payment – and that’s Direct Debit.
Phil Chilvers, Chief Operating Officer at SmarterPay elaborates; “People often forget, it’s a full and immediate money back guarantee that protects consumers if your bank or biller makes a mistake. Even more important there is no time limit to claim.”
“It also guarantees that you receive advance notice of any changes to the date, amount or frequency of your payments and that a Direct Debit can always be cancelled by contacting your bank. There really is nothing quite like it from a consumer confidence perspective.”
Emerging payment options such as variable recurring payments – where there is no generally accepted consumer safeguard currently proposed – have much to live up to. Widely recognised as the most comprehensive consumer safeguard in the payments industry, the Direct Debit guarantee is an integral part of a very successful established payment product.
Over 4.8 billion Direct Debits were processed in 2023 according to Pay.UK, the organisation that runs the UK’s retail payments operations. That’s over 9,000 every minute of every day.
And consumer sentiment towards Direct Debit remains stronger than ever. According to new research from The Regular Payments Marketing Company,* 82% of UK consumers prefer to use it to settle their regular payments and 80% agreed that Direct Debit is one of the safest payment methods for regular bills.
If you are looking to collect payments by Direct Debit and would like further information, please contact sales@smarterpay.com or call the team on 01482 240886
Sources *www.regularpaymentsmarketing.co.uk