RCP Compared with Direct Debit
Problem
You need to decide whether to collect a subscription by Recurring Card Payment (RCP) or Direct Debit (DD), and understand how start dates, collection and failed payments differ between the two.
Resolution
Understand what RCP is
- RCP is a subscription payment method that charges a customer's stored card automatically each period. Each period it raises the sale and collects payment.
Compare the two payment methods
Direct Debit RCP Controlled by Subscription payment method DD Subscription payment method RCP (this one field controls collection behaviour) Start / collection date Fixed collection date (for example the 1st) with a cut-off date; pro-rata on joining Any day; recurs on the same date each period (for example the 20th to the 19th) Pro-rata Yes No: always paid one period in advance from the start date Collection Monthly EFT run submitted to BACS Automatic daily batches through an external card bureau, run by a GMC service; no manual run Failure handling ARUDD rejection wizards No rejection wizard: a debt-conversion setting plus an automatic email; follow-up is manual After a failure Depends on wizard/script Keeps trying every period regardless of earlier failures; no automatic pause Failures arrive In one batch after the run Throughout the month (on each customer's own date) Weigh the workload
- Some sites prefer DD because failures arrive in one batch.
- RCP isn't less work than DD: it carries the same follow-up load, and daily collection means a site that doesn't monitor falls behind faster.
Plan a move from DD to RCP (if applicable)
- To avoid losing members by forcing everyone to re-sign, keep existing direct debits running and sell only RCP to new members. The DD base shrinks naturally.
- Sites whose DDs are collected by an external bureau (which can't be sold on Go or entered in 360) often take this route.
Notes
- RCP is set up on the subscription in Plus2. See Recurring Card Payment Set-Up in Plus2.
- For how failures are handled once RCP is live, see Monitoring RCP Reports and Failed Payments.
- For the DD collection run, see How to Perform an AUDDIS or EFT/Direct Debit Run in the GMC.
- For an overview of every RCP task, see Recurring Card Payments (RCP).