# RCP Compared with Direct Debit

HTML version: [RCP Compared with Direct Debit](https://support.gladstonesoftware.cloud/gladstone360/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

1. **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.

2. **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) |

3. **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.

4. **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](../plus2/recurring-card-payment-set-up-in-plus2.md).
- For how failures are handled once RCP is live, see [Monitoring RCP Reports and Failed Payments](monitoring-rcp-reports-and-failed-payments.md).
- For the DD collection run, see [How to Perform an AUDDIS or EFT/Direct Debit Run in the GMC](how-to-perform-an-auddis-or-eftdirect-debit-run-in-the-gmc.md).
- For an overview of every RCP task, see [Recurring Card Payments (RCP)](recurring-card-payments-rcp.md).