Direct Debit feedback from merchant

Feedback & Ideas
1

I moved by direct debits over the Monzo in the past few weeks, and one merchant was unable to process the direct debit details. They were small enough that I was able to get their financial administrator to look into it properly, and I think it’s now resolved, but he came back with some interesting info:

I have been in discussion with BACS and GBG, the company who supply our software for checking bank details. They have advised that they understand why the issue has occurred and are looking to rectify this from their point of view. There are two files that each bank has an obligation to complete in order that our suppliers database can be updated fully and checks completed successfully, this includes various information about the bank, new accounts, branches etc. In some cases, and almost always with online banks, only one of these files is properly completed by the bank, meaning that the system does not work as expected.
While our software supplier will make changes to their process to rectify this, this may occur with other customers in future as a result of the banks processes, not necessarily the companies taking the payment.

This seems a bit more complicated than the merchants’ list of sort codes being out of date. I wondered what Monzo’s view on this was. He wasn’t any more specific on what the two files were.

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2

But if 99% of companies were able to add them with no problems, and the rest just updated their codes, I call :cow: :poop:

This is what they do https://www.gbgplc.com/uk/what-we-do/fraud-risk-compliance/manage-risk-prevent-fraud/bank-account-verification/

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3

I assume you did these DD moves manually? I bet it would have been fine through Current Account Switch Service. It’s probably their list/systems are outdated.

4

This was a partial CASS, they phoned me to say the account details they’d received weren’t validating through their provider.

5

Huh, interesting…

6

Unfortunately, this isn’t what they do. The link to the product you provide is simply a service that will locate a credit record for an individual, and then look for an entry on that persons credit file, that relates to a given sort code and account number, to ensure that they own the account.

It is a tool that is usually used before remitting a payment to an individual. For instance, a firm of Solicitors dealing with personal injury claims, may use this to validate the account before making a payment to a claimant. It is just a tool that forms part of companies Anti money Laundering procedures.

Experian and Equifax and Call Credit have their own versions of this service, and companies such as GBG simply resell this service.