Skip to main content
Logo
Identify a payment Support GoCardless
  1. Support Centre
  2. Payments
  3. Managing payments

Overview of payment types

In order to collect a payment from a customer’s bank account, you must first obtain authorisation to do so. You can do this by sending an authorisation request using one of three methods available within your GoCardless dashboard.

If you haven’t yet added the customer you would like to take payment from, please see our section on adding customers before continuing.

Please note: There are two exceptions to this rule - Paylinks and Instant Bank Pay*. These features enable you to request payment from a new customer, which then process automatically upon receiving their authorisation.

* Instant Bank Pay is currently only available for payments being collected from UK customers paying in GBP via Bacs.

Overview of payment types

This article provides an overview of the different types of payments you can create for your customers via the GoCardless dashboard.

These are:

  • One-off payments

  • Subscriptions

  • Plans

  • Paylinks

Which one you choose will depend on several factors including: 

  • How you want to charge your customer(s)

  • Whether the customer is already active or still needs to authorise their Direct Debit with you 

  • The method you offer your customers to sign up e.g. via email, a link on your website, etc.

  • The number of customers you would like to create the payment/subscription for

Each subsection will provide you with more information on each of the different payment types and will include guides on how to create them for your customers. Here's a brief overview of what information you can to find in each subsection:

  1. Collecting single payments

  2. Collecting recurring payments

  3. Managing payments

  4. Managing subscriptions

  5. Managing plans

Collecting single payments

In this section you will find information on how to take one-off payments from your customers. From creating a one-off payment for an individual customer to creating payments in bulk for multiple customers. You will also find a guide on how to set up paylinks, which enable you to collect a payment from a customer immediately upon authorising their Direct Debit mandate.

Collecting recurring payments

In this section you will find more information on subscriptions and plans, including how to invite or assign your customers to them.

Managing payments

Here you will find guides on how to make changes to a payment, such as editing, refunding or cancelling it and how to retry payments that have failed.

Managing subscriptions

If you need to amend a subscription, such as editing or pausing it, you will find articles guiding you through each process in this section.

Managing plans

In this section you will find guides explaining how to make changes to a plan, such as editing details or removing a customer.

Was this article helpful?
  • Promoted articles

    • Credit card payments
    • Bulk importing payments
    • Overview of payment statuses
    • Refund a payment
  • Recently Added Articles

  • Top Articles

API Documentation

Our detailed docs have everything you need to know about using our Payments and Bank account data APIs

View documentation

Need help identifying a payment?

Seen ‘GoCardless Ltd’ on your bank statement? Use our secure tool below to find out more.

Payment Lookup

Need support?

Contact

Our support team are available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have.

Quick links

Knowledge base
Visit GoCardless.com

About GoCardless

Legal
Privacy
Security
Blog

Support

Contact support
Complaints
Contact sales

Seen ‘GoCardless Ltd’ on your bank statement?

Identify a payment

GoCardless Ltd, Sutton Yard, 65 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7EN, United Kingdom


GoCardless Ltd (company registration number 07495895) is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, registration number 597190, for the provision of payment services.





English (CA) Deutsch English (AU) English (GB) English (NZ) English (US) Español Français
Search help articles
https://gocardless.com/en-us/partner-with-us/
/hc/theming_assets/01JKARFYGKK1KBMBMT9CC1BV8G
Partner with us
Partner with us to shape the future of payments.
custom
https://gocardless.com/en-us/stories/
/hc/theming_assets/01JKARFYZ7DNZC3PC7YMW92YZ4
Customer Stories
GoCardless helps thousands of businesses with their payments everyday.
custom
https://payersupport.gocardless.com/hc
/hc/theming_assets/01JXA8MEVXDJJHBYJVZ9TA240V
Paying a merchant via GoCardless
Our Payer Support provides resources on paying through GoCardless.
Payment timings, Verification, Xero, 2fa