Automated Clearing House - Direct Debit
A Direct Debit is an instruction from a biller authorising their bank to collect agreed amount(s) from the bank account of their customer who has signed a mandate giving advance notice of the collection amount and date.
Direct Debits are pull transactions used for recurring payments such, as mortgages, utility bills, insurance premiums, loan re-payments, rent, subscription based service payments, etc.
Any recognized universal bank authorized by their service provider may perform this service on behalf of a client.
Direct Debits:
- Are repetitive or scheduled e.g. monthly / bi-weekly, etc.
- Payments are pre-authorized (mandated) by the client for collection by the service provider’s bankers
BENEFITS OF ACH DD
- For organisation
- Guarantees collection of bills
- Involves very low cost of administration
- Implied benefits of cash flow from receiving regular payments
- There is control over the timing of payments
- Easy to identify unpaid items /bills
- For individuals
- Allows easier budgeting – knowing when funds will move
- More convenient – not having to write cheques or make cash payments
- Cheaper and simpler
Users of ACH DD
- Insurance Companies
- Utility Service Providers
- Financial Institutions
- Pension Fund Managers
- Subscription based Service providers
How Financial Institutions can onboard customers
Financial Institutions seeking to offer direct debit service to their corporate customers must go through the onboarding process as indicated below:
- Upon a Service Provider’s desire to be adopted into the ACH scheme as an ‘Originator,’
- The bank will perform due diligence and create a unique Originators’ Identification Numbers(OIN) for the service provider.
- The service provider together with the bank, drafts and signs an indemnity
- An Originator Identification Number (OIN) is then issued by the bank to the service provider (Originator) and submitted to GhIPSS for update on the Mandate Exchange Portal (MEP)
ACH Direct Credit (ACH DC) is a simple, secure and reliable service which enables individuals, large and small organisations to make bulk payments by electronic transfer directly into bank accounts. This Credit Push instrument can be used by customers of financial institutions for Payment of salaries, pensions, welfare benefits, commissions, suppliers, dividend & refunds, interest payments, government payments, business-to-business payments etc.