By: Fabiola Grosshan
Submitted: 2010-11-24 02:04:15 | Word Count: 535
If you are the owner of a business and looking for a way to leverage your Direct Debit banking solution to its full benefit, you should be very careful how you choose your supplier. The prominence, caliber, and dependability of the supplier you choose will ultimately reflect onto the quality of the services delivered to you, which is why it is best to make your pick knowledgeably in the first place. Here are the main aspects you should account for:
• Appearance of your name on client bank statements
When your company’s name is specified on your clients’ bank statements, it becomes clear who collected the funds at issue. By eliminating any unnecessary confusion among the ranks of your clients when it comes to perceiving payments, you will be able to avoid query cancellation requests and many other inconveniences.
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• Speedy clearing of funds
Since good transfer speed is always a plus, you should opt for a Direct Debit supplier that can guarantee you a good level of promptness when it comes to handling transactions. Ideally, the funds should be cleared to your unique Client Holding Account within two working days from the moment the Direct Debit has been collected from your customers. Depending on the amount, the funds transferred into your account should then clear 1 or 2 days later.
• Percentage charge-free solution
Ideally, your Direct Debit supplier should charge a small, fixed, and percentage-free fee for collecting the funds. That way, your costs remain stable irrespective of the type of client. If you were to agree on a percentage payment, the perceived fee will increase along with the size of the amount you collect.
• Possibility to choose from a wider array of transaction reports
In order to be able to manage your business better, the Direct Debit supplier should present you with a large selection of report types. Depending on your specific needs and requirements, you may want to opt for daily, weekly, monthly or occasional/ on request reports.
• Automatic re-presenting capabilities
Such services can play a major role when a Direct Debit fails, more often than not due to insufficient funds in your customer’s account. Having the Direct Debit re-presented in a speedy manner if an initial attempt fails will help keep your admin time down while you are contacting customers whose payments weren’t processed properly the first time.
• Solid communication service
In order to reduce the time you spend managing your Direct Debit service, make sure that your Direct Debit supplier takes over the task of notifying your clients of any eventual changes to their billings, should you decide to make any modifications in the billing plan.
• Proactive management
Especially when your time resources are scarce and you can’t get actively involved in the process of managing your clients, choose a Direct Debit bureau that can handle this task on your behalf in a highly professional manner.
• Competent customer service
Lastly, you should opt for a supplier that offers you a dedicated account manager to help ensure a smooth and effective running for your account, while also taking steps to reduce any unnecessary charges.
