Account switching - your customers
What to do if a customer changes their bank account
There are an increasing number of people switching their bank accounts and in order to ensure this process is as smooth as possible you need to play your part where the collection of Direct Debit payments are concerned.
What is the Transfer of Direct Debits and Standing Orders service?
The Transfer of Direct Debits and Standing Orders service (ToDDaSO) was set up to save your customers time and effort when moving their account from one bank or building society to another. Any Direct Debits and/or Standing Orders they may have on their account are transferred to their new account.
How does it work?
The new bank uses the ADDACS (Automated Direct Debit Amendment and Cancellation Service) to advise organisations with whom the customer has a Direct Debit to amend their records to collect payments from the new bank account.
What do you need to do?
Check your ADDACS reports. Remember that a reason code 3 advice (Account transferred to a new bank or building society) may require two different actions.
- If two sets of account details are provided within the advice, you will need to update your records with the new bank details.
- If only one set of account details are provided within the advice, you will need to suspend further collections and obtain a new authority (Direct Debit Instruction) from your customer.
You are required to complete these actions immediately or within three working days of receipt of the ADDACS advice. Failure to act swiftly could result in a further payment being taken from a customer’s old bank account.
In addition if you use the AUDDIS service you are required to send a 0N transaction to set up the Direct Debit Instruction on your customers account at their new bank within 10 working days of receipt of the ADDACS advice.
It is vital you have processes in place to:
- Check your ADDACS advices and action them immediately or within three working days of receipt
- Update your customer records with the customer’s new account details
- Send a 0N transaction using the new bank details within 10 working days of receipt if you are an AUDDIS service user. This will ensure that you are ready to collect from the correct account on the due date
- Collect the first Direct Debit following transfer using transaction code 01
- Inform the customer of the collection date if the change of account details results in the Direct Debit collection being delayed by more than three working days after that specified in the advance notice
Tips
- Ensure you never forget to collect your ADDACS reports – elect to receive email notification from the payment services website whenever they become available
- Ensure your ADDACS reports go directly to the right person in your organisation
- Access your ADDACS reports online from the Bacs payment services website or your Bacstel-IP software solution provider as soon as they are available
- Integrate ADDACS into your IT system so your database can be automatically updated with any changes to your customer’s details.
Further support
Download a copy of the Bacs efficiency guide which explains reason code 3 and suggests some things you can do to cut the number of collections returned.
Efficiency guide reason code 3 account transferred (193 Kb PDF)
Don’t neglect the Direct Debit training needs of your staff we offer a wide range of training solutions:
If you require further assistance or more information contact us or call on 0870 165 0018.