Bulk change process
To kickstart the bulk change process, you will first need to create a GoCardless account and complete the verification process.
Specific requirements must be met for bulk changing SEPA mandates from your existing Direct Debit provider to GoCardless.
Please note: GoCardless take all requests of this nature on a case-by-case basis. We require certain criteria to be met to process a bulk change.
To begin, navigate to the Customer section in your dashboard and click Continue on the banner that says Migrate from another Direct Debit provider.
Merchants should advise their current provider that they wish to bulk change away from them, marking the beginning of the process.
When mandates are transferred to GoCardless (on the date agreed by all parties concerned), GoCardless will amend them with their new details. These details include any new references and a change to the Creditor Identifier (CID), if applicable.
Important: Payments/subscriptions will not transfer over from your previous provider. You will need to set these up again after customers have been imported to your GoCardless dashboard.
The steps involved in the bulk change process are:
What are the steps involved in processing a bulk change?
Merchants are required to notify customers of the change in SEPA Direct Debit provider, any changes to their mandate reference, and confirmation of the old and new CID. The letter should also detail the date on which the change will take place.
Please note: If you are not joining GoCardless on our Advanced or Pro package and are not using our add-on feature Custom checkout experience and payer notifications add-on feature, you will only know your customers’ mandate references once set up with GoCardless. Customers using our Advanced or Pro package and are using our add-on feature Custom checkout experience and payer notifications add-on feature can set their own preferred custom mandate references. If this is something that you are interested in, please reach out to our Support team with this request.
Customers are not required to approve or give consent for their new SEPA Direct Debit mandate to be set up within our system. The authorisation given to the merchant under the existing mandate is sufficient.
Notifying customers
To begin, navigate to the Customer section in your dashboard and click Continue on the banner that says Migrate from another Direct Debit provider.
Under bank debit scheme requirements, you must notify your customers of the change to the processor of their payments. We will provide you with a notification template that includes the information you must include in the notice.
We recommend that you notify your customers using the same communication channel(s) as you use for other messages (e.g. newsletters, email, post, etc.) to ensure receipt.
For the SEPA Eurozone payment scheme, you are required to notify customers upon completion of the bulk change.
Example email template to notify your customers
Dear [Customer name],
[Merchant name] has moved Direct Debit providers and you will now see [unique mandate reference] and [creditor identifier] on your bank statement moving forward. No action is required from you to continue paying by Direct Debit, and this change will not affect the service you are receiving.
If you have any questions about this change, please don’t hesitate to contact us on [merchant contact details].
Yours sincerely,
[Merchant name]
Client migration data requirements
IMPORTANT: When completing a SEPA bulk change, it's important to ensure that you complete the following fields correctly in your .csv template; supplying incorrect data can cause mass payment & mandate failures once the details are submitted; see below:
amendment.original_mandate_reference—This reference should be unique per customer and should be the unique identifier attached to the original mandate when it was first created.
amendment.original_creditor_id—This ID should be the current Creditor Identifier against which all of the mandates are currently held. We would expect this field to be the same for all customers.
amendment.original_creditor_name—This should be the current Creditor, aka the name that is currently attached to the CID. It could be your organisation name or the name of your existing provider. If you're not sure, best to check with your existing provider so they can confirm.
| COLUMN | DATA | INFORMATION |
|---|---|---|
|
A, B, C |
Customer.given_name & customer.family_name OR customer.company_name |
Enter either customer given name + surname OR company name. |
|
D |
customer.email |
A valid email address is required for each customer so that they receive notifications from GoCardless about their payments. If you are planning to send your own notifications to your customers, please speak with your Account Executive. |
|
E, F, G, H, I, J |
|
Enter the customer's postal address; each line of the address split across the corresponding columns. (Note: columns E, H, I, and J are required fields). |
|
K |
customer.phone_number |
(Optional) |
|
L |
bank_account.account_holder_name |
This is separate to the 'name' entry fields, since account holder name can differ from the individual (e.g., it could include a middle name) or company name. |
|
M |
bank_account.iban |
IBAN can be entered with, or without spaces; our system accepts either format. |
|
N |
amendment.original_mandate_reference |
Customer's mandate reference |
|
O |
amendment.original_creditor_id |
This is your Creditor ID (CID) through which your customers' payments are processed. |
|
P |
amendment.original_creditor_name |
Existing Creditor name (CID name) |
|
Q |
bank_account.metadata.bank_custom_key |
(Optional) - Use this field to add a custom reference for your customer if required. This will be assigned to your bank account within your dashboard and is a searchable field. |
|
R |
customer.metadata.custom_reference |
(Optional) - Use this field to add a custom reference for your customer if required. This will be assigned to your customer within your dashboard and is a searchable field |
|
S |
mandate.metadata.mandate_custom_key |
(Optional) - Use this field to add a custom reference for your customer if required. This will be assigned to your mandate within your dashboard and is a searchable field. |
|
T |
customer.language |
This will determine the language of customer notifications. |
Entering local bank details (rather than IBAN)
You can enter your customers' bank details in local format rather than IBAN, if preferred.
To do this, you need to add additional column fields into your downloaded CSV bulk change template.
The additional column fields are:
| COLUMN TITLE | WHAT YOU WOULD ENTER (FR used as example) |
|---|---|
|
bank_account.bank_code |
SWIFT / BIC |
|
bank_account.branch_code |
Code guichet |
|
bank_account.account_number |
Numéro de compte |
|
bank_account.country_code |
FR |
These columns can be added after the default columns in the downloaded template. They can be entered in any order, but the titles must match the above.