This practical guide will help you to send compliant Autogiro pre-notifications.
A pre-notification informs your customer when they can expect a single payment or regular subscription to leave their account. It is a mandatory requirement of Autogiro, and can be sent by email, text message or as part of a normal or electronic invoice.
To create fully compliant pre-notifications, you will need to:
-
Inform the customer with the appropriate notice period
-
Include the amount and due date
-
Include your contact details
-
Clearly notify the customer that payment is to be made by Autogiro (Direct Debit).
1. Email the customer with the appropriate notice period
This email notification, which should be sent 8 working days before the payment is collected, gives the customer the chance to ensure they have sufficient funds.
It is not mandatory to send a notification if the payer has approved an Autogiro payment in conjunction with a purchase or order.
2. Include the amount, due date and reference
This helps to ensure that the customer recognised the charge on their statement. You can send an email before each payment, or give details upfront for a fixed subscription.
For recurring direct debits of the same amount, such as subscription plans, you only need to inform the payer before the first Autogiro collection. You must include details of all future charge dates (e.g. "first working day of each month"). A new pre-notification will then only be necessary if the amount, frequency or payment date changes.
3. Include your contact details
This makes it easy for the customer to contact you with any queries. You can include a snippet in each email with your contact details.
4. Include GoCardless’ regulatory footer & privacy notice
This ensures that the customer knows who is processing their payment and has access to GoCardless’ Privacy Notice. Text to read: ‘Payments securely processed by GoCardless. GoCardless SAS (company registration number 834 422 180, R.C.S. PARIS), share capital 6 000 000 EUR, is authorised by the ACPR (French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority), Bank Code (CIB) 17118, for the provision of payment services.
GoCardless uses personal data as described in their Privacy Notice.’
Submit notifications to GoCardless for approval
Example templates of your notifications must be sent to GoCardless for approval prior to your go-live date. Once you have written approval from GoCardless, you may implement the notifications.
To test your notifications, you can sign up here for a sandbox account.