[ARCHIVE] Direct Debit definitions

Archived 2023.08.19. Content moved to Direct debits

Question

Can the following scenarios be considered to be Direct Debits?

A retail/business customer has set up their Bankwest Homeloan with a Direct Debit request to withdraw their OFI account fortnightly (account is in the same name/different name) - this is a regular credit and interpreted by the business as a Direct Debit. Are credits in scope for the Direct Debits API?

A business customer is authorised to set up a direct debit facility and wants to view a list of all their direct debits set up to credit their account.

Can a direct debit be considered a credit or a debit?

Answer

Neither of the above scenarios is considered a Direct Debit according to the Consumer Data Standards definitions. 

In the first scenario there is no third party payee involved.  This would be characterised in the APIs as a scheduled payment.

In the second scenario, the list consists of the authorisations held by a merchant for the accounts from which they can debit.  In the CDS definition of Direct Debit, the debit is from the point of view of the Payer, not the Payee. 

For further clarification, see the following articles on Direct Debits:

• Direct debit authorised entity
• Direct Debits : this article relates to the second scenario
• Definition of Financial Institution
• External vs Internal Direct Debits :This article relates to the first scenario
• Direct Debits inclusion with recurring payments