Dbit Card charges

[#1]

Businesses do not like continuous payments via debit card for a whole list of reasons:
- It costs a lot more than direct debit transactions
- People get new debit cards or they expire without updating their continuous authority (so the failure rate is high)
- You need the staff to manage the above
If you gave people the option to pay each month online, you would have a large number of people in arrears on their accounts.
There is an advantage also for consumers where direct debits offer a lot more protection. In the event of a human error with a debit card payment, it can be a nightmare to chase to get a refund.

[#2]

I dont see how using debit card expire makes fail rate high  my card lasts 5 years , so a debit card payment wont fail until 2019
i pay a lot of bills Via debit card and am not in arrears 
and it  easier for me as a recurring debit  is paid on the day my pension is paid into my account so it never misses , so this makes the only sensible way for me not to get Bank charges for failed DD

[#3]

Bank accounts don't expire - debit cards expire every day. Not every card will be issued for 5 years, some will expire earlier or banks may issue new cards for a whole over reason (I've had three in the last 5 or so years).
Statistically, there are more accounts who miss/fail payments for those who pay via a continuous authority compared to direct debits.
Isn't it no different for you to pay via direct debit on the date or day after your pension hits your account?

[#4]

If all of PN's (750,000?) customers used debit cards, and assuming 5 year (around 1800 days) expiry with an even spread of expiry dates, over 400 cards will expire every day...

[#5]

Phil Peter,
You make the point well, but if you consider that the expiry is the end of the month, then there are 12,000 expiring every month.  That would be a lot of administrative action & chasing for users and PN alike...
Edit: Sorry confused you with one of the other regulars around here 

[#6]

Good point and I hadn't allowed for expiry at the end of the month.  I guess the impact is spread across the month though as payment dates vary...
(It's Peter by the way )

[#7]

   AndyH , direct debit is every month , but pension is every 4 weeks , so to get PN to line up my bill with my payments is worse than having to pay the £1.50 .
would be impossible for PN to work it out so it aligns    they cant even work my bill out until its due, which would be simple work it out 2 days before its due and just instead of a email saying its due in 2 days , they can give me the amount owing
SIMPLES .
My 02 bill i get 3 days prior to the actual due  date , so why cant PN    

[#8]

Rongtw,
13 "pay" days per year - say no more - no longer SImples!
I recall being paid on lunar cycles - in effect having to manage one-twelfth of annual charges out of one-thirteenth of annual income.  It is the same argument I used to have with local councils (wasteful vagabonds) demanding to be paid one-tenth of their annual waste-tax out of one-thirteenth of my income.
From a standing start, 13 "pay" days ought too get one a little ahead of the monthly payments roundabout but things never quite seem to work out that way. 

[#9]

Agree townman it would be perfect if every month was 4 weeks long 

[#10]

[quote=http://aa.net.uk/broadband-home1-info.html#faq]Are you druids or something?
You may have read in the terms that you can have billing every full moon. While Home::1 is Monthly Direct Debit only, you can ask sales for that to be Lunar months if you like. Your quota is 97% of the normal monthly allowance and starts on the exact full moon date/time within a few seconds, and you are billed that day at 97% of the normal monthly price. No, we are not druids, or werewolves, just geeks. We can also do four-weekly billing cycles (92% of monthly).

[#11]

Earlier in the thread the Q was asked about emails being sent when details expire -well, my debit card details are still shown EVEN THO' the expiry date was 01/2014 !!!

[#12]

Quote from: jelv

8p is the direct charge Plusnet have to pay. Before you can say it's a nice earner you have to know how much extra it costs for extra staff time etc. processing these and dealing with the failures!

How can it cost extra when staff are being paid anyway whatever they are doing? Sorry but the "extra staff time, administration etc." argument is totally invalid. Of course it's a nice little earner and could also be classed as a penalty charge for not using DD.
I do use DD because it's convenient and any errors on PN's part are immediately reversible using the DD guarantee. I don't personally understand why customers use a card to pay monthly but they shouldn't be penalised for choosing to do so.

[#13]

When I was with Freedomtosurf I was "told" that their terms were to charge a credit card every month now I am "told" by PN that their terms are Direct Debit, it doesn't cost me anything and I'm not a consumer champion so I just go with the flow. 

[#14]

Quote from: newagetraveller

Quote from: jelv 8p is the direct charge Plusnet have to pay. Before you can say it's a nice earner you have to know how much extra it costs for extra staff time etc. processing these and dealing with the failures! How can it cost extra when staff are being paid anyway whatever they are doing? Sorry but the "extra staff time, administration etc." argument is totally invalid. Of course it's a nice little earner and could also be classed as a penalty charge for not using DD. I do use DD because it's convenient and any errors on PN's part are immediately reversible using the DD guarantee. I don't personally understand why customers use a card to pay monthly but they shouldn't be penalised for choosing to do so.

Because the staff could be spending their time doing something more constructive?
My role involves dealing with payment queries on an occasional basis.  That takes time out from what I am actually being paid to do and reduces company productivity - should the company just take the hit our should we be recompensed for dealing with people who don't pay what they should?

[#15]

At the end of the day, if you don't like it, vote with your feet and go somewhere they don't charge a debit card fee. You would have known at sign up that the fee would be charged, but must have accepted that fact as you are a customer. If you opt to pay some bills by cash or at the Post Office or at the bank, you are also charged an additional fee (utilities companies are renowned for it).
Mark
P.S. I always used to get the Ryanair cards to avoid paying fees, was quite simple really