United States (ACH) bulk change process

Bulk change process
Client migration data requirements

Bulk change process

To kickstart the bulk change process, you will first need to create a GoCardless account and complete the verification process.

Please note: GoCardless take all requests of this nature on a case-by-case basis. We require certain criteria to be met to process a bulk change.

Payers (customers) in the US need to complete an ACH Debit Authorization, also known as a Consumer Authorization, to authorise merchants to take payments from them ACH Debit, the local Direct Debit payment scheme.

When a merchant switches to GoCardless from another Direct Debit provider, we transfer active payers’ ACH Debit Authorizations over to us from the previous provider.

This transfer process is known as a bulk change

Important: Payments/subscriptions will not transfer over from your previous provider. You will need to set these up again after customers have been imported to your GoCardless dashboard.

The steps involved in the bulk change process are:

1. Let us know you’re ready to begin the bulk change process

To begin, navigate to the Customer section in your dashboard and click Continue on the banner that says Migrate from another Direct Debit provider.

2. Notify relevant customers that you’re moving to a new ACH Debit provider

Unlike many other schemes, you only need to notify customers in ACH of a bulk change , using the template notification below, if it also involves a change to their charge date and/or amount.

If either of these are changing, you’ll need to provide notice to relevant customers in line with the following notice periods:

Charge date - at least 7 banking days prior to the next debit
Charge amount - at least 10 banking days before the next debit

Letter/email/SMS template for merchants to send to customers

Subject: Change of Payment Processor for Pre-Authorized Debits to (merchant)

From (change date), (merchant) are changing our payment processor for Pre-Authorized Debit payments. Our new processor, GoCardless, will be taking over responsibility and power for all Direct Debit collections from this date.

There is no action required from you to continue paying by Pre-Authorized Debit, and the change will not affect the service you receive in any way. The only change you will notice is that ‘GoCardless’ will appear on your bank statement before (payment reference).*

GoCardless are taking over responsibility for future Pre-Authorized Debit payments only, they will not be responsible for any chargebacks or refunds relating to previous payments between (the merchant) and customer.

If you do not want your Pre-Authorized Debit payments transferred over to GoCardless then you can cancel the service by contacting us on (merchant contact details), by contacting your bank.If you have any questions, you can contact us on (merchant contact details) or by emailing the GoCardless customer service team at help@gocardless.com

* if you have the custom branding add-on, please update this to the name you have requested to appear on your customers’ bank statements. If you are unsure, please reach out to your GoCardless contact.

3. Confirm in writing to GoCardless that you’ve notified your customers

You can email us on the ticket we will create when you submit the bulk change request via your GoCardless account, to confirm either:

All relevant customers have been notified; or
No customers were notified, since all charge dates and charge amounts are remaining the same

We would ask that you please include a copy of any notification emails and/or letters sent to your customers.

4. Upload your existing customers’ details into your GoCardless account

You will need to download the CSV import template, add in your customers’ details, and upload the CSV into your GoCardless account via our bulk change migration flow that you can access via the ‘Customer’ tab in your GoCardless dashboard. Please see below for the data requirements.

Payments/subscriptions will need to be created after customers have been imported to your GoCardless dashboard.

5. GoCardless processes the new ACH Debit Authorizations

We’ll verify and approve the details that you’ve uploaded, and then create new ACH Debit Authorizations for your customers on the date agreed in step 4. You’ll receive confirmation from us once this has been completed.

6. Cancel your customers’ previous ACH Debit Authorizations

You’ll need to ensure that your customers’ previous ACH Debit Authorizations are cancelled. If you’re moving to GoCardless from another Direct Debit provider, they will need to perform this action on your behalf. We recommend that this action is performed on the same date that the new ACH Debit Authorizations are created.

Client migration data requirements

COLUMN	DATA	INFORMATION
A, B, C	Customer.given_name & customer.family_name OR customer.company_name	Enter either customer given name + surname OR company name. If your previous provider exported your customers' full names in a single cell per whole name, rather than splitting between given name and family name, you can use the text to columns function in Excel to separate. Example: John & Smith OR John’s Gym Ltd
D	customer.email	A valid email address is required for each customer so that they receive notifications from GoCardless about their payments. If you are planning to send your own notifications to your customers, please speak with your Account Executive. *Example: john.smith@example.com*
E	customer.language	This will determine the language of customer notifications. Example: en
F, G, H, I, J, K, L	customer.address_line1 customer.address_line2 customer.address_line3 customer.city customer.region customer.postal_code customer.country_code	The customer's address must be stored against their ACH Debit Authorization. Example: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Oval Office,123 Imagination Building, Washington, DC, 20500, US
M	customer.phone_number	(Optional) Example: +1 617 555 1294
N	bank_account.account_holder_name	This is separate to the 'name' entry fields, since account holder name can differ from the individual (e.g., it could include a middle name) or company name. Example: John Smith
O	bank_account.account_number	10-12 digit account number. A USD enabled bank account must be used for ACH Debit payments. Example: 2715500356
P	bank_account.bank_code	9-digit routing number. Example: 026073150
Q	bank_account.bank_type	Checking or Saving account type. Example: checking
R	mandate.payer_ip_address	(Recommended) The IP address of the customer at the point that their ACH Debit Authorization was set up. Used as evidence to dispute potential unauthorized return claims. Example: 8.8.8.8
S	bank_account.metadata.bank_custom_key	(Optional) - Use this field to add a custom reference for your customer if required. This will be assigned to your bank account within your dashboard and is a searchable field. Example: JAM12251
T	customer.metadata.custom_reference	(Optional) - Use this field to add a custom reference for your customer if required. This will be assigned to your customer within your dashboard and is a searchable field. Example: GYM12251
U	mandate.metadata.mandate_custom_key	(Optional) - Use this field to add a custom reference for your customer if required. This will be assigned to your mandate within your dashboard and is a searchable field. Example: WIL12251