An introduction to Direct Debit mandates for aquatic clubs and swim schools

Recurring payments are the revenue life blood of aquatics clubs and swim schools. 

But when these organisations depend on standing order or manual bank transfers, they tend to suffer from late payments. 

Not to mention the monthly grind of matching payments between bank statements and membership spreadsheets. 

Keeping on top of payments and financial admin can feel like swimming against the tide.

There is an alternative, however – Direct Debit. 

You’ll almost certainly be familiar with Direct Debit. 

You might be one of the 80% of Brits that have at least one set up. Or perhaps you have more than the average consumer’s six. 

What you might not know, however, is how easy it is for organisations of all sizes to use, even grassroots aquatics clubs and swimming schools.

Moving to Direct Debit can feel like a daunting step, compared to sticking with tried and tested – but inefficient and slow – payment methods like standing order, bank transfer or cash. 

But with modern, intuitive payment solutions like GoCardless, you’d be surprised at how easy it can be. 

Once you’re up and running, you’ll also marvel at how long you put up with getting paid the hard way.

It all starts with a mandate 

To collect Direct Debit payments you first need to set up a mandate – you know, one of those single-sided forms with boxes for bank account number, sort code and signature, and the little black and white Direct Debit logo. 

This is simply an authorisation from your members to collect future payments from them, whenever they fall due.

You can collect mandates in paper form or over the phone but GoCardless makes it faster and easier for both you and members by providing your own branded, securely hosted online payment page. 

You can then get mandates in a matter of seconds, by sending a link to customers via email or text, or embedding it on your website.

From there, GoCardless handles all the formalities on your behalf, submitting the mandates to the bank, scheduling payments and notifying members or customers when a collection is about to be made. 

All you need to do is tell us when you want to collect payment and we’ll take care of the rest – ensuring the money hits your bank account on time, every time.

Three benefits of Direct Debit for clubs and swim schools

Once you have a Direct Debit Mandate set up with your members, you can collect payments from them at any time – and for any amount. Here are some of the benefits GoCardless has helped aquatics clubs and swim schools to unlock with Direct Debit:

1. Improved member retention and stronger cashflow by reducing late payments
   Direct Debit puts you in control of collecting payments, allowing you to ‘pull’ funds from members’ accounts. Instead of hoping they remember to action standing orders or manual transfers – among all the other life admin on their plate – you can just set up your payment schedules in GoCardless and watch the cash roll in. No more texting and emailing to nudge for payment.
2. Automatically increase fees when you need to
   Direct Debit also lets you change the amount you collect without seeking further authorisation from members. That means no more asking members to update their standing order when annual pool fees change – and then chasing, and then chasing again. This also allows you to add any club shop purchases or competition entrance fees to their monthly payments, on an ad hoc basis.
3. Reduced membership and payment admin
   Taking payments by cheque, cash and standing order can be a huge administrative burden, which volunteers or small business owners could really do without. Instead of volunteers spending late nights wrangling spreadsheets and manually tracking down who’s paid and who hasn’t, Direct Debit paves the way for automated reporting and reconciliation. And it frees more time to focus on the things that matter.