Switching systems: what happens to your direct debit mandates?
Every move to a different member system raises the same question: what happens to my direct debits? It is a fair worry, because if your mandates are lost you have to ask hundreds of people for permission again and you will certainly lose part of your revenue.
The good news is that a mandate belongs to you and not to your software. The less good news is that a few things do have to go right. This piece explains what has to travel with you, which questions to ask and where it usually goes wrong.
In short
- A mandate is held in the name of your business, not in the name of your old supplier.
- What has to travel: the mandate details, the date it was signed, the reference and your creditor ID.
- If your creditor ID changes, your members have to be told about it.
- Bring your payment history too, or you cannot trace a reversal back to the original invoice.
A mandate belongs to you, not to your software
When a member authorises you to collect monthly, that permission is given to your business. Your software supplier is the party that carries out the instruction technically. Change supplier and the permission itself in principle stays in place.
That is why a good migration asks for no new signatures. What does have to happen is that all the details belonging to that permission travel correctly into the new system, so that your collections are presented with the same basis behind them.
What exactly has to travel
Four things. The mandate details themselves, meaning the account number and the account holder's name. The date the mandate was signed. The reference under which the mandate is known. And your creditor ID, the number your business collects under.
If one of those four is missing, a collection can be refused or reversed after the fact. So do not ask your new supplier whether they can migrate, ask which of these four fields they carry over and what they do when a field is missing from the old export.
Ask as well who requests the export from your current supplier and in which format it arrives. In practice that is the bottleneck more often than the import itself.
If your creditor ID changes, say so
If you keep collecting under the same business and the same creditor ID, your members notice nothing beyond perhaps a different description on their statement. If that number changes, for instance because you move to a different payment provider, you are expected to inform your members before the first collection arrives.
Do it anyway, even where it is not required. A short announcement that the payment will look different from next month saves you a spike of reversals from people who do not recognise the new description. Check with your bank or payment provider what exactly applies in your situation.
Do not forget your history
Mandates get all the attention, payment history almost none. Yet that is where you hit trouble fastest: with no history you do not know which invoice belonged to which payment, you cannot trace a reversal, and your revenue in the first year does not add up.
So bring outstanding invoices, payments, credit notes and the reversals that occurred. At REQUR that is part of onboarding, along with your members, your running memberships and setting up your membership types, branding and app. You are live in two weeks.
Frequently asked questions
As a rule no. The permission was given to your business, not to your software supplier, and travels with you as long as the mandate details, the signing date, the reference and your creditor ID are carried over correctly. Always put this to your bank or payment provider for your specific situation.
At REQUR you are live in two weeks, including the intake, the data migration and setting up your membership types, branding and app together. In the first week after go-live we stay close, because that is when your first collection run happens.
You can, but it is rarely wise. Plan the switch so that you start with a clean collection run, then it is exactly clear which payment came from which system and you can trace a reversal without puzzling.
Want to see for yourself?
Try REQUR free for 30 days and see over a full invoicing cycle whether it suits you. No credit card required.
Discover REQUR
Member management
Members, memberships and direct debits in one place.
Class scheduling
Schedules, waitlists and planning with AI.
POS system
Card terminal and sales at the front desk.
App for your members
Booking, paying and messages in the REQUR app.
Reports
Revenue, churn and visits in view.
Website
Online sign-up that brings in members.
More from the blog
Seven ways to reduce your failed direct debits
The collection date, a pre-notification and a smart retry together save you more than any rate ever will.
What does a failed direct debit really cost you?
Your bank's fee is the smallest part. The real bill sits in the time it eats and the members who cancel afterwards.
Best software for gyms and studios: how to choose in 2026
Most suppliers keep their price off their site. Here is how the four pricing models work and which questions to ask before you sign.