Re: [bitfolk] Direct Debit limits

On Mon, Oct 21, 2013 at 09:04:43AM +0000, Andy Smith wrote:
> Hi,
>
> If you currently pay by Direct Debit authorization then you are
> probably aware that we use GoCardless for this. If you don't then
> the rest of this email is probably not of interest to you.
>
> The way it works right now is that you create an account with
> GoCardless by giving them your bank details, and that sets up a
> Direct Debit instruction between your bank and them. Then, you
> authorize BitFolk's payment plan which asks GoCardless to allow up
> to a certain amount during a certain time period. GoCardless
> enforces the limits of that plan.
>
> That works fine, but the problem comes when you order an upgrade
> that makes your plan more expensive. At the moment we need to cancel
> your payment plan and ask you to authorize a new one. It's not a big
> deal but it is perhaps not the best user experience. When you pay
> other companies by Direct Debit they get to take whatever they want,
> so you're not asked to re-authorize when, for example, your council
> tax or gas bill goes up.
>
> GoCardless have had a feature request open for a long time that asks
> them to implement a way for users to authorize a new limit (or
> perhaps for the customer to indicate that they're not bothered).
> They have now closed this request and advise that if merchants want
> to charge varying amounts then the merchant should ask the customer
> to authorize a limit that is higher than any payment that would ever
> be normally requested, e.g. £5,000 per month.
>
> The question that immediately sprung to mind here was, "isn't my
> customer going to be a bit disturbed by being asked to authorize a
> payment plan that allows up to £5k to be taken out of their bank
> account?"
>
> Their answer to this was to add an option so that payment plans
> don't have visible (to the customer) limits any more.
>
> As I say, that is generally how Direct Debits work: you authorize
> the instruction and you're trusting the organisation to only take
> when they are actually owed. If they screw up and take too much, you
> can dispute it with your bank and it immediately gets reversed.
> There isn't normally a middle man verifying payment requests.
>
> If this was how GoCardless had worked from the beginning then I
> wouldn't have an issue, but the fact is that everyone currently with
> a Direct Debit authorization to BitFolk knows they have a limit on
> it that (barring GoCardless making a mistake) only allows the exact
> amount to be taken.
>
> Would you have a problem with that limit being removed? I'd be
> interested to get feedback from those currently using Direct Debit
> to pay. Feel free to let me know off-list if you prefer.
>
> It's been nearly a year of using GoCardless and there haven't been
> any issues of taking too much money. I would be comfortable with
> setting all future authorizations to have no limit on them, as I
> think the improvement to user experience of just being able to order
> an upgrade is worth it. If there is a massive outcry I won't do it
> though. I may also consider making it an option (defaulting to no
> limit), though there is a danger of confusing people with too many
> options.

I quite like the current system and would be happy to stick with it.
Could you set a limit that's higher than people's bills but not
ridiculously so? eg 2x rather than in my case and the 5k example, 100x.

So people would still have to re-authorise sometimes, but less often.

Michael