Omni-channel payments specialist CashFlows, and SmartDebit – one of the UK’s leading Direct Debit service providers – have announced a strategic partnership. The alliance will introduce seamless payment processing options to UK organisations collecting recurring payments. Both firms share priorities on payment automation, customer choice and corporate agility which have paved the way to create this mutually-beneficial partnership.
Terry Jones, SmartDebit CEO, said: “Automating the Direct Debit collections process and providing customer service excellence is what SmartDebit does best. Organisations need to offer a range of payment methods that can respond to changing customer needs. Choosing to work with CashFlows, whose technologically advanced systems match our own, enables us to offer more flexibility to UK organisations and help them to process direct debit and card transactions to drive both revenue and customer loyalty, whether that’s for subscriptions, memberships, donations or regular payments.”
Jonathan Bennett, CashFlows’ Chief Commercial Officer, commented: “We are constantly building out our payments services through a combination of in-house technology, innovation and strategic partnerships with market-leading businesses like SmartDebit.
“We will only partner with businesses that are unhampered by legacy issues and that mirror our commitment to ensuring faster, more successful transactions based on customer demands. SmartDebit meets that criteria and more – so we’re delighted to announce this partnership, which we know will deliver an unrivalled payments experience to our existing and prospective customers.”
Direct Debit represented 4.4 billion transactions in the UK in 2018, according to Pay.UK, which means an average of just over eight Direct Debits per adult.
Businesses that collect regular payments via Direct Debit experience lower payment churn rates compared to credit card transactions: credit cards have an average 13% churn rate compared to an average churn of 0.39% for SmartDebit customers in 2018.
Easier account reconciliation, more accurate cash flow forecasting and high consumer confidence thanks to the Direct Debit guarantee, mean that Direct Debit is the recurring payment method of choice for organisations ranging from membership associations and utilities to financial services and charities.
