BECS Direct Debit

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Please reach out to BlueSnap Merchant Support to enable this payment method.

BECS Direct Debit Payments are an alternative to credit cards in Australia. BECS is a payment method where money is electronically withdrawn from the shopper’s bank account and then deposited into the merchant’s own bank account. This payment method is supported for payments from Australian shoppers to merchants in AUD.

Supported Currencies

Australian Dollar (AUD)

Supported Shopper Countries

Australia

Benefits

• Boost sales in Australia — Reach shoppers who do not use credit cards or other payment methods.
• Eliminate paper checks — Enable customers to provide their payment information online.
• Simplify repeat purchases — Store shopper account information for easier repeat purchases.
• Lower transaction costs — BECS transaction costs are typically lower than credit card transaction costs.
• Reduce failed payments — Unlike credit cards, checking accounts do not expire, and shoppers rarely switch banks.
• Avoid credit card limits — Credit cards might impose limits that cause issues for B2B transactions and other payments for high-cost items.

Enable BECS Payments

To process BECS transactions, you must enable the BECS Direct Debit payment method on your BlueSnap account:

1. Log into the Merchant Portal, and go to Checkout Page > Payment Methods.
2. Select Show in the menu next to BECS Direct Debit Payments.
3. Select Submit.

Transaction Processing

The following steps describe how BlueSnap processes a BECS Direct Debit transaction:

1. On the checkout page, your shopper selects BECS Direct Debit and enters their BSB number, account number, and personal details.
2. After they enter their information, the shopper accepts the mandate that authorizes the debit to their account and submits payment.
3. When your shopper submits the transaction, BlueSnap verifies that the BSB number corresponds to a financial institution.
   • If the BSB number is valid, BlueSnap creates an invoice in pending status and sends the transaction for processing.
   • If the BSB number is invalid, BlueSnap returns an error message and the transaction is not sent for processing.
4. Within 2 business days the bank will notify BlueSnap if the payment was declined.
   • If the payment was declined, BlueSnap updates the status of the invoice to be canceled and sends a Decline IPN.
   • If BlueSnap does not receive the notification within this timeframe, the invoice status is set to approved.
5. If the bank sends a declined status after 3 business days, the invoice status is set to refunded.

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Notes

• We have validation criteria in place and will return an error if an invalid account number is entered.
• We recommend delivering the product only after you receive the approval.
• The shopper has 90 days to dispute the debit on their account. If this occurs, BlueSnap will remove the funds from your account and send a Refund IPN, and the invoice status will be updated to refunded. Please note that some banks might allow a longer timeframe for reversals.

Payment API Requirements

Permission to debit shopper account

For certain BECS Direct Debit transactions, you must obtain permission from the shopper to debit their account by having them authorize a mandate, also known as a Direct Debit Request. You must obtain this authorization when the shopper adds a new bank account while making a one-time or subscription payment, or while editing their returning shopper account. Merchants do not need to obtain this authorization when the shopper is using an existing debit account during checkout.

For example, you can display a mandatory checkbox next to a link that contains the following text:
"I authorize the DDR Service Agreement and this transaction, agree to this debit of my account and understand that my account information will be securely stored."

To retrieve the mandate, call BlueSnap's Get Debit Agreement API request. You must create the mandate before you can create a BECS transaction.

3. Send the mandate to the shopper.
Once the shopper has authorized the mandate, it should be emailed to them. The mandate email text may be retrieved via the attribute preNotificationRef in BlueSnap's API response.

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Note

Please ensure that shoppers are logged in and verified using their credentials before they add or use the BECS Direct Debit payment method.

Hosted Pages Requirements

BECS Direct Debit transactions are supported with BlueSnap Checkout.

Send the mandate to the shopper

After the shopper has authorized the mandate, it should be emailed to them. You will know that the mandate has been authorized when you receive the Charge Pending IPN:

1. Refer to Direct Debit Request (DDR) Service Agreement to view the mandate text that is emailed to the shopper.
2. Insert the phone number and email address that your shoppers should use to contact you in place of the tags in the mandate text.
3. Retrieve the following attributes from the Charge Pending IPN and append them to the mandate:
   • BankAccountFinancialInstutition
   • BankAccountBranch
   • BankAccountAccountName
   • BankAccountBSBNmber
   • BankAccountAccountNumber

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Note

Please ensure that shoppers are logged in and verified using their credentials before they add or use the BECS Direct Debit payment method.

Direct Debit Request (DDR) Service Agreement

• By signing a Direct Debit Request, you have authorized us to arrange for your nominated account to be debited according to the agreement we have with you.
• Changes by us - We will advise you 14 days in advance of any changes to the Direct Debit arrangements. <NOTE – The Direct Debit arrangements must be set out in reasonable detail the terms to apply including, if applicable, the basis on which billing advices will be issued to the Customer.>
• Changes by you – For all matters relating to the Direct Debit arrangement, including deferment, stops, cancellations or alteration of any of the arrangements, please contact us
  • By Phone – <Insert merchant's phone number>
  • By Email – <Insert merchant's email address>
• Please allow 7 days for the amendments to take effect.
  • Disputes – If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account, you should contact us in the first instance to confirm the details so that we can investigate the matter and advise you in writing whether your account has been incorrectly or correctly debited. If we can not resolve the matter, you can still refer it to your Financial Institution and they may lodge a claim on your behalf.
  • Your responsibility – It is your responsibility to ensure you have sufficient cleared funds available in the account to be debited when payments are due.
  • If the due date for a payment falls on a non-working day or public holiday in New South Wales, the payment will be processed on the next working day. If you are uncertain as to when the debit will be processed to your account, you should contact your Financial Institution.
  • Returned Payments – In the event that the debit to your account is returned to us unpaid, the following procedures will apply:
    You will be notified by phone that your payment has been returned unpaid.
    You will have 7 days to pay the amount. You may request us to debit your account under this DDR again.
    A fee of $20 will be charged per returned payment unpaid.
• All customer records and account details will be kept private and confidential to be disclosed only at the request of the customer or Financial Institution in connection with a claim (including JP Morgan) made to an alleged incorrect or wrongful debit.

Sandbox Testing

You may use the following bank credentials to test various scenarios. Please allow one hour after initiating the request for the status changes: