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Bank Services: Direct Debits

Answer

The government believes there should be strong protections in place to ensure that customers can make payments in a secure and informed way. There are already such protections in place for Direct Debit payments under the rules made by its operator, Pay.UK, which is regulated by the Bank of England and the Payment Systems Regulator. As such, the government does not currently have plans to legislate in this area.

Under these rules, when a Direct Debit is established the receiving organisation is required to verify that the Direct Debit instruction has been authorised by the payment account holder. Notice of the amounts and dates of collection for each Direct Debit payment must also be given to customers in advance, unless otherwise agreed, enabling customers to review their upcoming outgoing payments and plan ahead.  In the case of any incorrect or fraudulent payments, the account holder is entitled to an immediate refund of any unauthorised amounts collected from their account provider under the Direct Debit Guarantee scheme. Further information about Direct Debits is available at: www.directdebit.co.uk

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

20062

Session

2024-26

Related items

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Bank Services: Direct Debits
Monday, 24 March 2025
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Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Bank services Direct debits

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk