FAQ's about the bulk change process

Please note: this article is only relevant for Bacs users

We want the process of migrating your existing Direct Debit customers over to GoCardless to be as easy as possible. With specific rules and regulations, and multiple steps and stakeholders involved, the process can sometimes get confusing. Here’s some of our most common queries to help you navigate the process.

What is a bulk change?
How long does the process take?
Will my payments and payment history be transferred over to GoCardless?
Will GoCardless handle my customer data and liaise with my current provider directly to complete the bulk change?
What customer information do I need to collect?
What if my customers don’t have email addresses?
What do I do once I’ve got my customer’s data from my current provider?
Do I need to notify my customers that I will be changing providers?
What happens on the bulk change date?
What happens if I don’t upload my data before the cutoff on the bulk change date?
My customers' Direct Debits have been moved over to GoCardless. What’s next?

1. What is a bulk change?

A bulk change is where you move your customers’ existing Direct Debits from your current provider over to your new provider - in this case, GoCardless.

In practice, your current provider will cancel all of your Direct Debit instructions on an agreed bulk change date and GoCardless will set up new ones.

2. How long does the process take?

The Bacs bulk change process takes 4-6 weeks from end- to-end and relies on a coordinated effort between several parties. As part of this effort, a Bulk Change Deed (a legal document required for bulk changes) will need to be signed by all the relevant parties involved in the process.

In order for us to create the Direct Debit instructions on your agreed migration date, you’ll need to gather and prepare your customer data in advance, ready to upload to your GoCardless account on the bulk change date, 4-6 weeks after we begin the process.

3. Will my payments and payment history be transferred over to GoCardless?

No - your payments and payment history will not be transferred over to GoCardless. Once your bulk change has been completed, you’ll need to set up new payments in our system in order for your customers to be charged.

4. Will GoCardless handle my customer data and liaise with my current provider directly to complete the bulk change?

While we will be able to offer help and advice throughout the bulk change process, you will be responsible for collecting the customer data from your current provider, formatting it correctly into the CSV and uploading it on the bulk change date.

We will not be able to liaise directly with your current provider, handle your customer data (due to GDPR restrictions), or upload the data for you.

5. What customer information do I need to collect?

We need certain information in order to carry out the bulk change, in particular:

Your customer’s full name
Their email address
Their address
Their bank details

The required information will need to be collected from your current provider and then formatted into the CSV we provide to you.

You can find a complete overview of the information required to set up a customer’s Direct Debit in GoCardless within the appendix at the bottom of this page.

6. What if my customers don’t have email addresses?

If your customers don’t have email addresses you will need to send them notifications about their payments via another method, such as by post. This feature (custom notifications) is limited to our Advanced and Pro plans and can be accessed through the add-on feature Custom checkout experience and payer notifications which comes with an additional monthly fee.

Unfortunately, we will be unable to move forward with moving your Direct Debit instructions to GoCardless on the Standard plan or if you do not use the add-on feature Custom checkout experience and payer notifications if you don’t have email addresses for your customers.

7. What do I do once I’ve got my customer’s data from my current provider?

Ahead of the bulk change date, you’ll need to create an account in our Sandbox (testing) environment by going to https://manage-sandbox.gocardless.com/signup, and run a test upload of your data to ensure it is formatted correctly.

Once you’ve set up your Sandbox account, please reach out to our Support team to let us know that you have set up the account, along with the email address you set it up with. This allows us to locate your Sandbox account and enable the bulk change tool on it for you.

After we’ve enabled the tool, and you have correctly formatted your customers’ data in your CSV file, you can import it into your Sandbox account following the steps here.

8. Do I need to notify my customers that I will be changing providers?

Yes - it is a requirement from Bacs that you notify your customers about your change in payment provider.

We will provide you with a Bacs- approved template letter that you can use to notify your customers of the change, either by post or by email. It is a requirement to send out this letter ahead of the bulk change date in order to go ahead with the bulk change.

9. What happens on the bulk change date?

Facilities Management (FM): If your current method of submitting Direct Debit payments is via a Direct Debit bureau, your current bureau will cancel the customer mandates held with them on the agreed bulk change date. (A Direct Debit Bureau is a third party which submits payments into the Direct Debit system on your behalf, e.g. GoCardless.)

Managed Administration (MA): If you submit Direct Debit payments directly to a sponsoring bank, and not via a third party/bureau, you will be responsible for actioning the cancellation of your customer mandates on the bulk change date.

You’ll then upload the CSV containing your customer data to your GoCardless account (by 3:30pm) and a member of our team will be notified and approve the upload, leading to the creation of your Direct Debit mandates.

10. What happens if I don’t upload my data before the cutoff on the bulk change date?

If you miss the cutoff for uploading your data, unfortunately we won’t be able to complete the bulk change on the agreed date and will need to reschedule it for a new date.

As a bulk change involves cancelling and re-setting up Direct Debit mandates, you won’t be able to collect payments via your previous provider after the mandates have been cancelled. As such, it’s essential for new mandates to be set up in GoCardless on the same date.

If you are due to collect payments shortly after your agreed bulk change date, missing the cutoff may cause a delay in your collections.

11. My customers' Direct Debits have been moved over to GoCardless. What’s next?

Once the bulk change has been completed, you can begin creating payments for your customers to ensure their service continues seamlessly and you continue to get paid.

The method you use to create your customers’ payments will depend on whether you have integrated directly with our API, connected to GoCardless via a partner application, or are using the GoCardless dashboard. If you are unsure on how to start creating payments, please reach out to our Support team for advice.

Appendix

CUSTOMER INFORMATION	EXAMPLE	REQUIRED?
Given name	John	Required*
Family name	Smith	Required*
Company name	John's Gyms Ltd	-
Email address	john.smith@example.com	Required**
Address line 1	Flat 12	Required
Address line 2	123 Fantasy Lane	-
Address line 3	Islington	-
City	London	Required
Post code	N1 1AB	Required
Country code	GB	Required
Bank account: account holder name	John Smith	Required
Bank account: account number	55779911	Required
Bank account: branch code (sort code)	200000	Required
Custom reference	GYM441231	-

*You will either need to enter the Given name and Family name OR Company name
**on the Standard/Plus packages