Move customers to Gocardless
To migrate existing Direct Debit mandates to GoCardless from another provider without involving the payer, you must go through a Bulk Change (migration) process.
You will only need to notify the payer that this is happening in the background, and you are switching payment processors. No action will be required from the payer.
You will first need to determine which Bulk Change process applies, as this varies by payment scheme (region). Find guidance below on what to do if you’re connected through a partner app, like GoCardless for Xero (GC4X) or GoCardless in Xero (GCIX) and others.
Find your Bulk Change process below, choosing from Bacs (GBP) and Non-Bacs schemes. Follow the link to find the steps to kick off your Bulk Change.
Using a partner integration?
If you're already using a partner integration or want to use one after your migration, you can connect it at any point during the bulk change process.
The steps you need to take will depend on the partner integration you are using: GoCardless for Xero (GC4X) or another partner. Please note that GoCardless has two integrations with Xero: a separate platform, GoCardless for Xero (GC4X), which also supports instalments and automatic mandate matching, and GoCardless in Xero (GCIX), which runs directly on the Xero platform and offers only core features.
Using GoCardless for Xero?
If you are using GoCardless for Xero (GC4X), it matches mandates in both directions. Once connected, it imports your mandates and your Xero customers and matches them by email address. Where a mandate's email address doesn't match the Xero contact, you'll need to match it manually.
Two things to be aware of:
- Matching runs automatically whenever a new mandate is imported, a new Xero contact is imported, or an existing Xero contact is updated. When an Xero contact is imported, matching runs only if the contact doesn't have a mandate linked.
- Xero contacts are imported only after a sales invoice has been raised against them. A draft invoice is enough.
Using GoCardless in Xero?
If you are using GoCardless in Xero (GCIX), it handles mandate matching within Xero, so you'll follow the process for that in Xero rather than GoCardless. Migrated mandates appear as unmatched Direct Debit forms in Xero, which you match to contacts manually. See Xero's guide to matching a GoCardless Direct Debit form with a contact for the steps.
After the bulk change, matching a mandate to a contact triggers payments for all invoices for that contact with a future due date. For any overdue invoices, you can edit the invoice, click save without making any changes, and Xero will schedule the payment to be charged via GoCardless as soon as possible. For any invoice to be collected via GoCardless, it must have GoCardless selected as the payment method (Direct Debit), and the contact must have a mandate linked.
Using any other partner integration?
If you are using another third-party partner integration, contact the partner's team to confirm their requirements — whether they can import mandates, how mandate matching works, and when in the process is most optimal for you to connect. Most partners can import mandates into their system, but it's worth confirming before your migration date.
Choose Your Bulk Change Process
Head to the relevant article to follow the Bulk Change process steps
| Bacs (GBP) | Migrating Direct Debits in the Bacs (GBP) payment scheme and using GoCardless through the dashboard or a Partner App |
| Non-Bacs (all other schemes) | Migrating Direct Debits in any of the Non-Bacs payment schemes (Autogiro in Sweden, ACH in the United States, BECS in Australia, PAD in Canada, BECS NZ in New Zealand, SEPA in Eurozone) and using GoCardless through the dashboard or Partner App |
FAQs
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.
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.
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 is complete, you’ll need to set up new payments in our system so your customers can be charged.
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.
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.
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.
What happens if there are duplicate email addresses in my customer migration data?
GoCardless requires every customer profile to have a unique, valid email address. Duplicate email addresses and generic or merchant-owned domain email addresses (e.g., using your business email as a placeholder) are not permitted.
If duplicate email addresses are identified in your migration file, the import will be paused, and our team will reach out to help you clean up the data before proceeding.
For customers who do not have a valid email address, notifications must be sent by post instead. Postal notifications are only possible if you manage all customer communications directly using our Custom Notifications feature.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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