Process for mandates requiring dual signatures

NOTE: This article is applicable to the Bacs (UK) Direct Debit scheme only.

Introduction

A low percentage, roughly 0.52%, of end customers require more than one signature to complete the setup of their Direct Debit mandate. This document explains how this can be supported via GoCardless Hosted Payment Pages (Redirect Flow) and Custom Payment Pages.

 

Designing ‘Dual Signature Mandate’ flow via Redirect Flow

If more than one signature is required to set up a Direct Debit authorisation, this can be achieved by using the GoCardless hosted payment pages, see Redirect Flow.

When end customers are inputting their details, they simply select the checkbox at the bottom of the page that indicates “More than one person is required to authorise Direct Debits”.

 

 

After confirming their details, will receive an email that allows them to print a mandate form which needs to be signed by all the relevant signatories. The mandate will sit in the ‘pending_customer_approval’ state until the signed copy is uploaded.

The end customer takes these steps below:

1. Print paper agreement – This will allow them to download and then print the mandate form.
2. Sign and upload – They will then need to get the mandate form signed with all the relevant signatures, scan/photograph it and then upload it to the page.
3. Preview the upload, then submit – The scan that they uploaded will be previewed so that they can check it has uploaded successfully. Customer clicks 'Submit signed agreement’ to complete the mandate setup.
4. Once uploaded, the mandate will be approved automatically.

 

Dual Signature form print and upload page in Redirect Flow

 

Note that this page is available for 60 days. After that, admins can get a new link from the Dashboard.

They will also be sent an email with a link to get back to this page should they close it or need to get back to it later.

If the customer ticked this option by mistake, they’ll also be able to follow the link and skip the dual signature process.

Once the form has been uploaded or the process skipped, a customer_approval_granted or customer_approval_skipped webhook will be sent e.g.

Alternatively you can check the status of a mandate by querying the mandates endpoint.

 

Completing and returning dual signature mandates via Custom Payment Pages

If more than one signature is required to set up a Direct Debit authorisation, this can be achieved by using a Custom Payment Page.

When end customers are inputting their details, they simply select the checkbox at the bottom of the page that indicates “More than one person is required to authorise Direct Debits”. A sample screen can be seen below:

Based on the integration, three different options can be implemented into the custom payment page:

Option 1

• Customer is forwarded to a page similar to the one in Redirect Flow
• Customer downloads and prints the mandate
• Customer uploads or emails the mandate signed by both parties along with the payment details
• A customer agent can enter the payment details manually into GoCardless Dashboard or a CRM system which is connected to GoCardless

 Option 2

• Customer is forwarded to a page where they enter their payment details and this is stored securely in the integration servers
• The payment details are submitted to GoCardless when customer uploads or emails the second signature

 Option 3

• Customer can be offered another payment method with a pop up window as below: