If your customers are based in the UK, you are required to contact them to let them know of this change under Bacs Direct Debit scheme rules.
- Requirements when notifying customers of a change in provider
- Template to notify customers
- Retrieving customer mandate references:
Requirements when notifying customers of a change in provider
If you are moving active mandates from another Direct Debit provider to GoCardless, you are required to contact your customers informing them of this change. The customer must be notified of the change in advance of the first payment being charged through the new provider.
This correspondence must include:
- Confirmation of the change from/to Bacs Direct Debit provider
- The customer's unique mandate reference
- Confirmation of the old and new scheme identifier
- The date from which the change will take place
If you are not joining GoCardless on our Pro package, you will only know your customers' mandate references once set up with GoCardless. (Merchants using our Pro package are able to set their own preferred custom mandate references).
Customers are not required to approve or give consent for their new Bacs Direct Debit mandate to be set up within our system. The authorisation given to the merchant under the existing mandate is sufficient.
Template to notify customers
You are required to inform your customers in writing of your change in provider in advance of your agreed bulk change date. This can be via post or email, and your Account Executive will provide you with a template message that you are welcome to use if you wish.
Once you have informed all your customers, please confirm this with your Account Executive via email.
Retrieving customer mandate references in bulk via the dashboard
You can export a list of all mandate references via your dashboard.
1. Open the Events tab
2. Change the filters to show active mandates
3. Click Export
4. Click on the download once the dot turns green
5. The reference will be displayed in the CSV file under mandates.reference (column P)
Retrieving customer mandate references individually via the dashboard
To locate the mandate reference:
1. Click on the Customers tab
2. Click on the customer
3. Click on the Bank account
4. Select the Mandate
The mandate reference will be listed in the Reference field of the details section at the top of the page.
Retrieving customer mandate references via the API
You can find information on retrieving customer mandate reference via the API by clicking here