Ever looked at Direct Debit documentation and been confused by all the financial jargon in it? You’re not alone. Below, we break down some of this puzzling terminology in more detail:

Bacs

Before rebranding to Bacs Payments Ltd, Bacs stood for ‘Bankers Automated Clearing Service.’ Despite the name change, the organisation’s purpose has remained the same. They are the body responsible for the clearing and settlement of Direct Debit and Direct Credit. Bacs oversee all Direct Debit transactions and each instruction will follow through a payment system devised by Bacs.

ADDACS – Automated Direct Debit Amendments and Cancellation Service

This is an automated service enabling banks or building societies to notify collecting organisations of any amendments of cancellations to a customer’s Direct Debit. The service user will receive a report, generated either automatically or manually, outlining any changes to a Direct Debit instruction.

AUDDIS – Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service

AUDDIS automates the transfer of money between the service user and their bank or building society. It is the service enabling Direct Debit instructions to be lodged electronically, rather than on paper. Not only is the Direct Debit process dramatically sped up through AUDDIS, the number of errors caused by manual handling is also reduced.

ARUDD – Automated Return of Unpaid Direct Debits

An ARUDD message will be sent from the bank or building society to the service user in the event of a failed payment. Like an ADDACS message, the collecting organisation will manually or automatically receive a report with a reason code detailing why the failure happened.

DDICA – Direct Debit Indemnity Claims Advice

DDICA notifications take place when a customer raises an indemnity claim against you. This will be for one of three reasons: the customer denies all knowledge of setting up a mandate, a payment has been collected after a mandate has been cancelled, there are problems with a specific payment collection.

Get in touch with Debit Finance for any further questions you may have surrounding the Direct Debit process. Alternatively, leave them to collect your Direct Debits whilst you concentrate on running – and growing – your business.