Direct Debit Providers at a Glance
Direct Debit lets businesses pull recurring payments directly from a customer’s bank account on an agreed schedule. It is the standard method for subscriptions, memberships, rent, and recurring invoices in the UK. To collect Direct Debits, you either need to be an approved Bacs bureau yourself or use a provider that collects on your behalf under their own Bacs service user number. This guide covers the main options available to UK businesses in 2026.
- GoCardless: Best for SMEs collecting recurring payments online
- Stripe (with GoCardless): Best for combining card and Direct Debit
- Bottomline: Best for mid-market and enterprise finance teams
- AccessPay: Best for complex payment file formats and bank integrations
- Modulr: Best for embedded finance and platform businesses
Full Comparison Table: Direct Debit Providers
| Provider | Transaction fee | Monthly fee | Setup | Bacs approval | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoCardless | 1% + £0.20 (capped at £4) | £0 (Starter) | Self-serve, same day | Via GoCardless | SME subscriptions and memberships |
| Stripe Billing + ACH/BACS | From 1% + card rate | £0 | Developer API | Via Stripe | Mixed card + bank payment flows |
| Bottomline | Volume-based, quoted | From £50+ | Onboarding required | Own SUN or sponsored | Mid-market and enterprise |
| AccessPay | Volume-based, quoted | Quoted | Onboarding required | Own SUN or sponsored | Complex bulk payment operations |
| Modulr | Per-transaction, quoted | Quoted | API-first | Via Modulr | Platform and embedded finance |
GoCardless rates correct as of May 2026. Bottomline, AccessPay, and Modulr pricing is bespoke. Contact providers for quotes.
Direct Debit Providers
Best for SMEs Collecting Recurring Payments: GoCardless
GoCardless is the dominant self-serve Direct Debit provider for UK small and medium businesses. It operates as a Bacs-approved bureau, so you do not need your own Bacs service user number. You collect under GoCardless’s authorisation. Setup takes minutes via the GoCardless dashboard or API, and the first payment can be collected the same day mandate authorisation is received.
The Starter plan charges 1% + £0.20 per transaction, capped at £4. A £500 subscription collected monthly costs £5.20 in fees; a £2,000 invoice costs £4.00 (capped). There is no monthly fee on the Starter plan. Higher plans (Plus from £50/month, Pro from £250/month) add features including payment intelligence to predict and recover failures, variable payment amounts, and real-time bank payment support via Instant Bank Pay.
GoCardless integrates natively with Xero, QuickBooks, Salesforce, Chargebee, and dozens of other SaaS platforms. For a business that bills monthly and needs minimal setup, it is the obvious starting point.
Best for Combined Card and Direct Debit: Stripe Billing
Stripe Billing supports recurring card payments and BACS Direct Debit within the same platform. If your business collects some customers by card and others by bank pull (common in B2B SaaS), Stripe lets you manage both without running parallel systems. BACS Direct Debit collection through Stripe uses GoCardless infrastructure in the background.
The fee for BACS Direct Debit via Stripe is 1% capped at £2 per transaction (lower cap than GoCardless direct). Card fees are separate. Stripe Billing (the subscription management layer) costs an additional 0.5–0.8% of revenue managed through it. Stripe requires developer integration. It is not a self-serve dashboard product for non-technical users.
Best for Mid-Market and Enterprise: Bottomline
Bottomline Technologies (now part of Bottomline) provides Direct Debit and broader payments infrastructure for mid-market and enterprise businesses. It supports both sponsored Bacs collection (under Bottomline’s own service user number) and fully approved collection (helping businesses obtain their own SUN from their bank). The platform handles bulk mandate management, audit trails, and integration with major ERP systems.
Pricing is volume-based and quoted. Bottomline does not publish transaction rates. Monthly software fees typically start from £50 for smaller implementations. Enterprise implementations with ERP integration are significantly more expensive. Bottomline is most appropriate for businesses collecting thousands of mandates, where the operational features (bulk import, automated failure handling, AUDDIS management) justify the cost.
Best for Complex Bulk Payment Operations: AccessPay
AccessPay specialises in connecting ERP and finance systems directly to UK payment infrastructure: Bacs, CHAPS, Faster Payments, and SWIFT. For businesses that need to originate Direct Debit files from SAP, Oracle, or similar platforms, AccessPay provides the translation and transmission layer. It holds its own Bacs Service User Number and can sponsor client businesses.
Pricing is bespoke and depends on volume and integration complexity. AccessPay is relevant for treasury teams and finance departments where payment files are generated from large ERP systems and need reliable, audited transmission to Bacs or banking partners.
Best for Platform and Embedded Finance: Modulr
Modulr is an e-money institution that provides payment accounts and Direct Debit collection via API, primarily for platform businesses that want to embed payments into their own product. A payroll software company, for example, might use Modulr to let its customers collect employee Direct Debits without those customers needing to set up their own bank relationships.
Modulr is not a self-serve product. It requires a commercial agreement and technical integration. Pricing is per-transaction and quoted. It is relevant for software companies building payments into their product, not for end-businesses collecting their own Direct Debits directly.
Direct Debit Providers Compared
GoCardless
GoCardless processes over £30 billion in payments annually and serves over 85,000 businesses. Its variable Direct Debit product allows payment amounts to change each cycle, useful for invoice collection. Its Instant Bank Pay product (via Open Banking) enables same-day one-off payments without card fees. The payment intelligence feature on paid plans uses machine learning to optimise retry timing when a payment fails, improving collection rates. GoCardless is regulated by the FCA as an authorised payment institution.
Stripe Billing
Stripe’s subscription billing layer adds trial periods, proration, usage-based billing, coupon codes, and dunning management (automated failed-payment retries) on top of its payment processing. For a SaaS business already on Stripe, adding BACS Direct Debit to the existing subscription flows is a low-friction decision. The trade-off is that BACS Direct Debit via Stripe does not expose all the mandate management features available directly via GoCardless.
Bottomline
Bottomline’s Bacs platform supports the full Direct Debit lifecycle: mandate creation (AUDDIS submission), collection, indemnity claim handling, and reporting. The system integrates with major UK banks and can be accessed via web interface or API. For businesses that need a complete, audited Direct Debit bureau service with UK bank-grade compliance, Bottomline is one of the established names. Typical clients include insurers, utilities, local authorities, and larger membership organisations.
AccessPay
AccessPay’s key differentiator is its breadth of payment scheme support (Bacs, CHAPS, Faster Payments, and cross-border SWIFT) in a single platform. For a finance team managing multiple payment types from one ERP, this consolidation reduces complexity. AccessPay integrates with SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, and others via standard BACS file formats. The platform provides full audit trails and approval workflows required by large organisations’ payment controls.
Modulr
Modulr provides segregated client accounts, Faster Payments, and Direct Debit collection via a single API. Platform businesses can open payment accounts for their end-customers programmatically, collect Direct Debits on their behalf, and pass funds through, all without each end-customer needing their own FCA authorisation or bank relationship. Modulr is regulated by the FCA and backed by the Payments Systems Regulator’s indirect access framework.
How to Choose a Direct Debit Provider
Volume and ticket size. For businesses collecting under 1,000 mandates, GoCardless Starter or Stripe Billing are the easiest options. The 1% + £0.20 rate (capped at £4) is competitive for most SME scenarios. Above £5 million annual collection volume, a bureau like Bottomline or a direct bank Bacs connection becomes worth exploring for rate negotiation.
Technical resource. GoCardless has a self-serve dashboard that requires no code; its API is well-documented for those who want integration. Stripe, Modulr, and AccessPay are all primarily API-first. They require developer resource. Bottomline has a web interface but onboarding still requires support.
Payment mix. If you collect some customers by card and others by Direct Debit, Stripe Billing is the simplest way to manage both in one place. If Direct Debit is your only payment method, GoCardless is harder to beat at SME scale.
Own Bacs SUN vs sponsored collection. Obtaining your own Bacs Service User Number requires sponsorship from your bank and approval from Bacs. It typically takes six to twelve weeks. Most SMEs use sponsored collection via a bureau (GoCardless, Bottomline) rather than going through this process. Larger organisations with high collection volumes and strong bank relationships may benefit from holding their own SUN.
Direct Debit Fees and Costs to Watch
Transaction fee cap. GoCardless caps its transaction fee at £4 per collection. For any individual Direct Debit above £380, the fee is fixed at £4 regardless of amount. This makes GoCardless particularly cost-effective for businesses collecting large invoice amounts.
Failed payment fees. GoCardless charges its standard transaction fee even on failed collections. Other providers vary. If your customer base has a high failure rate, model the cost of failures separately.
Indemnity claims. Under the Direct Debit Guarantee, customers can claim a refund from their bank at any time without prior notice. The bank debits the amount back from your account immediately. Ensure you have adequate float to absorb indemnity claims on disputed collections.
International payments. GoCardless supports Direct Debit equivalents in the EU (SEPA), US (ACH), Australia (BECS), and several other markets. Transaction fees differ by scheme. If you are expanding internationally, check GoCardless’s international scheme pricing before building an alternative solution.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. You can collect Direct Debits via a bureau like GoCardless or Bottomline without your own SUN. You collect under their authorisation. This is the most common arrangement for SMEs. Obtaining your own SUN requires bank sponsorship and Bacs approval, typically taking six to twelve weeks. Most businesses only pursue this at very high collection volumes or where white-labelling the mandate process is commercially important.
With GoCardless, a customer can authorise a mandate online and the first payment can be collected the same day in some cases. Standard BACS Direct Debit processing has a minimum three-day cycle from submission to collection, but GoCardless’s infrastructure handles the timing automatically. Paper-based mandates (increasingly rare) take longer to process through Bacs.
The Direct Debit Guarantee is a consumer protection scheme that allows bank customers to claim a full and immediate refund from their bank if a Direct Debit is taken in error or without proper notice. The bank will reverse the payment immediately upon request. Businesses do not have the right to dispute the claim before the refund is issued. This is different from a card chargeback, where businesses have an opportunity to contest the claim before funds are returned.
Yes. Direct Debit mandates can be set up to cover both recurring and ad-hoc one-off collections. GoCardless’s standard mandate allows you to collect any amount at any time with appropriate notice to the customer. This is useful for invoice-based businesses that need to pull payment on an irregular schedule rather than a fixed date each month.
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