Direct Debit - Please add funds to avoid failure

Thanks but not quite the same. My point is that there should be time allowed to correct balances before the end of the day that the payment was taken.

2 Likes

I think, once the pulse graph is up and running and starts to reflect DDs etc, this will all be a lot more obvious in advance. Then we could have notifications the day before so they wouldn’t have to fail in the first place.

2 Likes

I get what you mean. Feels like guilty until proven innocent lol. My current bank will reject direct debits after around 2pm I think if I have not rectified the balance to fund the payments.

Monzo currently you not only have to credit the account but then also contact support and ask them to now pay the DD. Sending a notification advising a DD ‘will be returned’ if the account is not credited would be a much better experience for the customer and also reduce workload for Monzo.

4 Likes

From reading elsewhere, I’m not even sure they will retry Direct Deits now making it more important to get this right.

3 Likes

Not having the ability for an overdraft and not notifying of a payment pending (both things my legacy bank do) I think would make it a very poor experience if a DD got declined with a ‘nothing we can do, should have been in credit’ message. Feels the opposite for what Monzo are trying to achieve.

Any chance you have a link for where you have seen this @Feathers

2 Likes

Here:

1 Like

When my direct debits all failed in August due to lack of funds, I asked Monzo customer services that morning if there was a second try after I had topped up and they just asked me if I wanted to try again right now and then they pushed them all through.

3 Likes

At the very least I think a notification the day before would be sufficient. Hopefully it’s in the pipeline already

1 Like

I can understand this is a manual process and not sustainable to manage in future. But there are so many alternatives before it gets to this point given banks know beforehand when a DD is pending. A standing order is fair enough. But you can top up and resend the payment yourself. A Direct Debit not so much and can cause fees at the other end.

Monzo coud:

  • Advise the customer about a DD that is due (minimum the working day before due) either by SMS/Notification/In App message
  • Advise a DD has put a customer in a negative position and will be automatically resolved by say 2pm by returning the DD unless the account balance has been rectified. again either by SMS/Notification/In App message.

I think it would be unfair of Monzo to not re-present DD’s unless something like the above is in place. Otherwise I am better leaving my direct debits where they are with my current bank.

Even my list of direct debits with my current bank have due dates if they are in the next 1-2 working days which is a good check to have around payday.

2 Likes

my bank contact me in the morning and will reject DDs at 4pm if account not topped up by then

Time to resurrect an almost dead thread :eyes:

I have a quick poll regarding this issue. The proposal is to move the processing time of Direct Debits from the current time (2am I believe) to 6 am.

Reason being that people note that they have Standing Orders/Salary Direct Credits that come in around the same time and they can be applied in the wrong order.
This can lead to a Direct Debit failing because a Standing Order/Salary from another bank hasn’t arrived/been processed yet.

Therefore, a poll :slight_smile:

  • Yes, this has happened to me loads
  • This happens to me fairly regularly
  • This has never happened at all
  • I don’t use Monzo as my salary/main/Direct Debit account because of concerns around this

0 voters

Disclaimer: this may not happen, it’s just something we’re looking at as a short term solution to ease a pain point

The time thing isn’t an issue for me. The main issue is that I am used to being told that a direct debit has failed and I have until 5PM to add funds to avoid failure. Is this not approach that can be adopted by Mozno?

Currently I approve of the notification the day before advising of any standing orders or direct debits due, but it cannot always be accurate as some direct debits fluctuate.

1 Like

I understand - unfortunately it is not due to many complicated reasons that I am not too sure about!

From what I have learnt, this requires rebuilding the service that handles Direct Debits and this should happen at some point. However, we wanted to look at ways we could improve the pain in the interim.

How could we improve the notification the day before the Direct Debit?

How about “You have a regular payment of £50 due tomorrow, but we notice there is only £25 in your account. You may like to transfer some money in from elsewhere, or from one of these pots:”

3 Likes

I dunno, maybe me. But having your salary & direct debits on the same day is foolish.

I get paid on the 15th, but always set my direct debits for the 17th at the earliest.

6 Likes

The notification itself is ok and it is a useful interim. The mechanics are the problem.

I think there should be a setting to “auto-dip” into your pots if you want to, this would work for me as I’d rather my savings be used than incur an admin fee from the supplier.

1 Like

I get your point and that works well for hose that get paid monthly, a lot of people get paid weekly though or get money ad-hoc.

3 Likes

If paid weekly, space direct debits out after each payment. :man_shrugging:

1 Like

Not all will let you do that. You get offered 2 dates and neither are the ones that suit you. One week you’ll have none and the next the 2 most expensive

2 Likes

I agree, although some can be hard to move. I tend to make sure there is always enough to cover things, which has become easier with Monzo over my previous account, because of the notifications and easy access to transactions.

1 Like