Please note: this article is only relevant for Bacs users currently processing Direct Debit payments with an AUDDIS-live SUN |
1. Choosing your bulk change date
2. Preparing for your bulk change
Choosing your bulk change date
Once we have received your bulk change documentation, the next step is to confirm the date that your Direct Debit customers will be migrated over to us. Rather than a literal transfer, a bulk change is achieved through the cancellation of existing mandates (with your previous provider) and the setting up of new mandates (with GoCardless) on an agreed date. As the bulk change process typically takes 4-6 weeks, this date will need to be at least 4 weeks in the future.
In order to migrate your Direct Debit customers over to GoCardless in one go, there needs to be 6 working days between your last collection with your previous provider and your first collection with GoCardless.
With this in mind, please confirm with your GoCardless contact:
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The date you’d like to bulk change to GoCardless (at least 4 weeks in the future)
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The date of your last collection with your previous provider (at least 2 working days before your bulk change date)
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The date of your intended first collection with GoCardless (at least 4 working days after your bulk change date)
Preparing for your bulk change
Before your bulk change date, you will need to complete the tasks below:
- Notify your customers of an upcoming change in payment provider
- Collect your customers’ data and format it in our CSV template
- Create a Sandbox account and test the validity of your CSV file
1. Notifying your customers of the pending bulk change
Your GoCardless contact will provide you with a bank-approved notification letter which you will need to send out to your customers to inform them that you are changing payment processors. This will need to be sent prior to bulk change date and can be sent via letter or email.
2. Collect your customers’ data and format it in our CSV template
The following information is required to migrate your customers over to GoCardless:
- Your customer’s full name (or company name)
- Their bank account details (account number and sort code)
- Their email address
- Their address
If you would like to migrate customers without an email address over to GoCardless, you will need to handle your own postal notifications. In order to do this, please take a look at the requirements for using your own custom notifications here and let your GoCardless contact know, so that they can help you with this.
Once you’ve gathered all the above information, you will need to format it into our CSV template (attached at the bottom of this page). This template also gives you the option to add in optional fields, such as custom references to easily identify your customers with.
3. Create a Sandbox account and test the validity of your CSV file
Ahead of your bulk change date, you will need to create an account in GoCardless Sandbox (our 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 email your GoCardless contact 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.
Once uploaded, our tool will let you know if your CSV file is valid or if any amendments need to be made. If there are any errors, you’ll need to amend and re-upload your file until it shows as valid. Once your file is valid, it is ready for upload on your bulk change date.
On the bulk change day
On the day of your bulk change, your customers will be migrated to GoCardless through the cancellation and re-creation of their Direct Debit mandates.
Cancellation of existing mandates
You will need to cancel your customers’ mandates through your current software provider on the bulk change date. This is not an automatic process so you will need to ensure you action this, before creating new mandates through GoCardless.
The creation of mandates within GoCardless
On the same day, you will upload your CSV file (that you previously validated in your Sandbox account) to your live GoCardless account. Once uploaded, we will process the import and your customers’ new mandates will be created, completing the bulk change.
Please note that this action needs to be carried out by 3:30pm.