Easily Collect
Customer Payments
Through Automated
Debit Orders

A debit order collection system is a platform that automates collecting recurring payments — rent, subscriptions, membership fees, loan instalments — directly from a customer's bank account, based on a signed or bank-confirmed mandate. Instead of manually invoicing and chasing payment every cycle, the business sets it up once and collections run automatically on the agreed schedule. See our full debit order collection system guide for how it works end to end.

A stop order is a fixed, unchanging payment you set up directly with your own bank, such as a set rent amount. A debit order is initiated by the business or service provider you're paying, is automatically deducted from your account with your prior authorisation, and can vary in amount from one collection to the next — which makes it the standard method for recurring bills that change over time, like usage-based accounts or instalment plans.

DebiCheck is South Africa's bank-authenticated debit order system — the customer confirms the mandate electronically with their own bank before any collection happens, which gives significantly stronger dispute protection than older-style EFT debit orders, where the mandate is held by the business rather than the bank. See our DebiCheck collections page for full detail, or our comparison of DebiCheck, Registered Mandate, and EFT.

Sometimes — bank fees for debit orders vary from bank to bank, with some charging a flat monthly account fee and others charging per transaction. These bank-side fees are separate from DebiPay's own platform and transaction fees, so it's worth checking your customers' banks directly if fee transparency is a concern for them.

Getting started takes three steps: capture customer mandates through DebiPay's secure hosted forms, set your collection schedule, and DebiPay handles batch processing, settlement, and reconciliation automatically. No development or integration work is required to get started. View transaction fees or see the full debit order collection system overview.

Yes — debit order collection isn't just for large enterprises. DebiPay's Standard plan is built specifically for small and growing South African businesses, starting from R325 per month with no long-term contract required. See our dedicated guide to debit order collection for small businesses.

An unpaid debit order is a collection attempt that fails — commonly due to insufficient funds, a closed account, or incorrect banking details — as opposed to a disputed debit order, where a completed transaction is contested afterwards. Businesses can typically resubmit the collection, send the customer an alternative payment link, or update the mandate and resume from the next cycle. See our full guide to unpaid debit orders.

DebiPay's Account Verification Service checks that a customer's account number, account status, and account holder details are valid against the issuing bank's records before a mandate is finalised — catching invalid or mismatched details at onboarding rather than after a failed collection. See our Account Verification Service page for full detail.

From 13 April 2026, all debit order disputes — across EFT, DebiCheck, and Registered Mandate collections — follow a single, standardised 60-day window from the date of the debit, replacing the previous framework. Disputes raised within that window are automatically reversed. This is an industry-wide change led by PASA, SARB, and the FSCA, not specific to any one provider.