Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)

Now you can authorise debit orders electronic­ally

- STAFF REPORTER

THE days of suppliers waiting for written or verbal authorisat­ions from you to initiate a debit order from your bank account are over. Fintech start-up Direct Debit has launched E-Mandate, a valid electronic agreement facility that allows you to sign and authorise debit orders and recurring-payment transactio­ns online from any webenabled device.

Jaco van Wyk, co-founder of Direct Debit, says: “E-Mandate allows customers to sign an electronic debit-order mandate with a mouse, stylus or their finger, thereby giving debit-order authority to the supplier. Previously, the sign-up process came to a grinding halt because the supplier had to wait to receive paper or voice authorisat­ions. Customers are now able to sign up easily and quickly. The electronic signature gives instant debit order, card-not-present or recurring credit card authority.”

E-Mandate has received approval from the Payments Associatio­n of South Africa (Pasa), and its sponsoring financial institutio­n is Mercantile Bank.

In the past, you could sign documents electronic­ally, but the challenge came when authority for banking-level transactio­ns was required.

Van Wyk says: “We had to work hard to get E-Mandate approved by Pasa. Thanks to the groundwork we have done, Pasa now makes provision for customer authorisat­ions using voice, paper and electronic means. Our E-Mandate agreement is the first of its kind in South Africa.

“The take-up has been from suppliers that want to go from offline to online sales or from onceoff product sales to subscripti­ons. Our biggest response has been from businesses offering insurance products such as funeral cover and life insurance, non-profit organisati­ons wanting to automate online and face-to-face donations, as well as from informatio­n technology companies.”

After completing and signing the E-Mandate form, both the business and the customer receive a copy of the agreement, which is stored in the cloud for seven years, as set out by Pasa.

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