Direct debit is the most reliable and cost-effective way to make and receive payments in the UK. In this payment method, the payer authorizes an organization to debit money from their bank account. On the Donorbox donation form, your donors can select “Direct Debit UK” under the “Payment” tab. Fill out their name, account number, sort code, and billing address.
Direct debit is said to be the most reliable and cost-effective way to make and receive payments in the UK. Over 150,000 organizations in the UK are using this payment method for paying wages, and benefits, settling business-to-business invoices, refunds, and more.
In this payment method, the payer authorizes an organization to debit money from their bank account, given the payer has received advance notice of the schedule and the payment amount.
Stripe nonprofit users in the UK can accept one-time and recurring donations from donors with UK bank accounts through Bacs Direct Debit. Since Donorbox uses Stripe as its main payment processing system, nonprofits can easily connect to Bacs Direct Debit via Stripe on Donorbox.
In this blog, we’ll discuss what Bacs Direct Debit is and how you can accept donations with this payment method on Donorbox.
Bacs (Bankers automated clearing services), also known as Bacs Direct Debit, is a bank-to-bank payment system in the UK. Bacs is owned and operated by Pay.UK. Nonprofits can securely receive one-time or recurring donations using this payment method. All communications take place between the organization’s and the donor’s banks. And your donors receive a mandate as soon as the payment is initiated.
The mandate includes payment schedule, donation amount, sort code, account number, and other important declarations. This step is a must before the donor’s account is debited.
With Stripe, it can take from 3 to 6 business days to confirm the success or failure of a payment. 3 days when the mandate is already in place, applicable for recurring donations. And 6 days when the mandate must be collected, applicable for one-time donations and on the first donation of a recurring plan.
For a nonprofit using Donorbox, most of these steps are automated via Stripe. You just need to ensure these 2 things here –
After that, it’s as simple as clicking a few buttons and checkboxes to start accepting donations with Bacs.
So let’s see how easily, in just 3 steps, you can enable this payment method!
Donorbox partners with Stripe to give nonprofits simple and secure payment options including Bacs Direct Debit. If your Donorbox account country is set to UK then you can enable UK Direct Debits as a payment method for your org. Follow the below steps to start receiving donations with Bacs via Stripe on Donorbox.
Go to your Stripe account that’s connected to Donorbox and make sure the country is the United Kingdom.
This step is necessary to have the option for Bacs Direct Debit available under payment methods on Donorbox.
Note: Ensure that you have a UK bank account linked to your Stripe. Bacs only works between two UK bank accounts.
Next, you have to navigate to the Payment Methods page on Donorbox. You’ll find a section called “Additional Payment Methods with Stripe”. Under it, you need to enable Bacs Direct Debit payments by checking the box next to it.
Select a campaign from the Campaigns page on the Donorbox dashboard for which you want to receive donations via Bacs.
Click “Continue Editing” as the next page loads.
Now, click “Amounts”.
Select the “GBP” option from the dropdown list of donation currencies, as shown below.
Click “Update” and you’re done!
You’re now all set to accept donations with Bacs Direct Debit on Donorbox.
Here’s a glimpse into how it looks on your donors’ end.
On the Donorbox donation form, your donors can select “Direct Debit UK” under the “Payment” tab. They’ll have to fill out details such as the name on their account, sort code, account number, and billing address. The billing address is mandatory for UK Direct Debit.
Next, the donor will confirm the Direct Debit details. Then, they can click the “Donate” button at the bottom of the form.
Your donor will receive a mandate email where details such as the donation amount, payment schedule, account information, and other important declarations will be mentioned.
For recurring donations, your donor will receive just one mandate email before the first donation. For subsequent donations, they’ll receive a reminder email for the upcoming Direct Debit payment.
The donation will process within 3 – 6 business days of initiation. Thereafter, you should receive the amount in your UK bank account connected to Stripe.
Your donor receives an automatic donation receipt from Donorbox. This article shows you how to create and customize a tax-compliant receipt on Donorbox and this blog here offers a downloadable sample.
The transaction fees will include Donorbox’s platform fee of 1.5% and Stripe’s 1% fee for each successful Bacs transaction.
You can check out the Donorbox pricing here for a better understanding.
Being a nonprofit in the UK, you must be having the majority of your donors from there. How about offering them a secure and reliable payment method wherein your donors have the power to authorize and be on top of each donation they make? This will boost transparency between your nonprofit and the donors.
You’ll also be introducing a hassle-free, card-less recurring donation method to your donor base. With most of the procedures automated by Donorbox, you have almost nothing to worry about.
With the transaction taking place between two UK banks, you can easily bypass the credit card processing fees that you otherwise incur for donations. The more you get to keep for yourself, the greater will be the impact on lives you care about.
The risks associated with failed card transactions often outweigh the convenience of using them. A failed transaction takes place with lost or expired cards far too often these days. If you’re directly debiting your donors’ bank accounts with advance permission from them, you can easily dodge these transaction risks. Moreover, Stripe ensures a 98% payment success rate which means your chances of missing a donation are negligible.
Bacs Direct Debit or UK Direct Debit is indeed one of the most cost-effective, simple, and secure ways to accept donations in the UK. With Donorbox and Stripe, half the steps are automated and the rest take nothing but a couple of clicks. So, be rest assured that in a few minutes from now, you’ll be all set to accept donations from your UK donor accounts.
Know more about Donorbox’s all-in-one fundraising solution on our website here. Our advanced features include peer-to-peer fundraising, crowdfunding, text-to-give, memberships, recurring donations, donor management, and more.
Every week we publish insightful blogs on nonprofit fundraising and management to help nonprofits and their mission. Check them out here.
Product Manager - Integrations @ Donorbox
Subscribe to our e-newsletter to receive the latest blogs, news, and more in your inbox.
Zarq