Would anyone here like the idea if we enabled prop...

Notice has to be given in advance of the amount that is to be taken, so changing your goodybag recur instruction could not be done. Currently we can change the instruction up to 19:30 on the expiry day.

If there is a way round that, I'd be delighted to get the 3% cashback on my Santander 3-2-1 account.

Edited to add: Here's the link to this idea in Labs, which has 242 votes so far, and is marked as "Under consideration". https://labs.giffgaff.com/idea/11938372/pay-via-direct-debit-payments

Message 2 of 67

by: giffgaffer_manchester
on: 12/05/2016 | 00:32

@marcus you can do this it's called recur matey

everyone needs a little hope love and someone who believes in them, remembering difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. Happy giffgaffing one and all

Message 3 of 67

by: faithcecelia
on: 12/05/2016 | 00:37

Personally I dont have a recurring goodybag or auto top up and I wouldn't change if DDs were introduced, so I am not answering for myself here.

Talking generally, I prefer a DD to a recurring debit card payment as I feel more in control, knowing I can cancel it myself with my bank if necessary which is more difficult if a debit card payment went wrong. I think it would be useful for recurring goodybags.

I am not sure how it would work for auto top up though? I know a DD is applied for before it is paid and that could be difficult if people want immediate credit.

Message 4 of 67

by: marcus
on: 12/05/2016 | 00:47

How about we create a mechanism which provides 10 working days credit, i.e. advance notice is issued at the point of recurrence, but payment will be taken two weeks after recurrence?

Yes there's the credit risk, but that should be manageable.

Message 5 of 67

by: marcus
on: 12/05/2016 | 00:54

I guess the 'credit' part would look to some people like a post-pay/contract offering and that seems not to be the GiffGaff way?

Message 6 of 67

by: abdullah1604
on: 12/05/2016 | 01:09

You can just put it on recur

Message 7 of 67

by: navvy
on: 12/05/2016 | 01:23

marcus wrote:

How about we create a mechanism which provides 10 working days credit, i.e. advance notice is issued at the point of recurrence, but payment will be taken two weeks after recurrence?

Yes there's the credit risk, but that should be manageable.

@marcus

It sounds like you're actually involved in developing this idea - great!

I did report the thread and suggest it was moved to Contribute. You might need to have a word with the Educators if that isn't what you want. Here in Help it will get very rapidly buried in the morning.

So when we buy a goodybag we could still cancel the payment through the bank several days later. It sounds risky for giffgaff when people get annoyed about having used up their data rapidly, but if they do cancel the DD then you can cancel their account so they don't try it again. Basically you'll have lost the customer anyway.

Hopefully in most cases that sort of high user might start another goodybag early, so they wouldn't be cancelling the DD.

As for airtime credit topups, there are several threads at the moment that look like Premium Rate texts are using the airtime credit very rapidly and triggering auto topups. Again people may be tempted to stop the DD to prevent that credit loss from being taken from their bank.

Maybe if it is made clear in the T&C that they could lose their phone number permanently if they cancel the DD while they owe money?

How would it work if a refund was needed to the bank, such as when a queued goodybag is cancelled? In some cases the cancellation might occur before the DD has even gone through.

Message 8 of 67

by: cass905
on: 12/05/2016 | 07:46

Direct debit is not for me too many issues around it payments not going out too much taken out the list goes on I prefer reoccurring

Message 9 of 67

by: marcus
on: 12/05/2016 | 08:07 - edited: 12/05/2016 | 08:08

Hi @navvy,

Yes indeed I'm contemplating to re-invent and develop how 'pull money' i.e. direct debits are operated in the UK. Then I noticed that GiffGaff doesn't support DD due to legacy reasons and thought that it might really solve a problem here.

In this context it's interesting that @steverjames only last week announced that PayPal has launched as a payment method. Paypal also allows the consumer a degree of clawback, i.e. getting away with not paying after some of the benefits have been enjoyed. I see direct debit as a similar effort.

Out of interest, would anyone know if GiffGaff actually has a finance/collections team employed, i.e. people whose concern it is to ensure no revenue is lost to fraud or misuse? Maybe that same team could administer direct debits?

Another thought on how to work the legacy issue would be to create a new feature where a debit of amount X would be announced 10 days before the end of the recurring goody bag and then the consumer can still cancel it up to three days (the length of the actual DD process) before. Any refunds or adjustments could be done in a follow-on process.

Yes it's more work, but if there's a significant demand for peeps to want to pay through direct debit, then maybe that's worth building?

Message 10 of 67