Changing how an instalment is collected
Every instalment account answers two questions: who moves the money, and which account it moves from. This operation changes both together.
You use it when a customer switches bank accounts, or when they ask you to stop collecting and let them pay instead.
The two collection methods
| Method | Who starts the payment | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|
| Rail | You do | A live mandate on the customer’s bank account |
| CustomerPush | The customer does | The customer remembering, and a reference that matches |
Choosing Rail means the instalment is collected on its due date without anyone touching it. Choosing CustomerPush means nothing arrives unless the customer sends it, so the account shows arrears the moment they forget.
Setting an account to Rail does not by itself make it collect. Your organisation decides which account types collect on a rail at all, and an account type that does not will stay uncollected whatever you nominate here.
Switching to CustomerPush does not cancel an existing mandate. Cancel the mandate separately if the customer asked for it to stop — see collecting money from a customer’s bank account.
The collection account
The collection account is the customer’s bank account the instalment comes from. It must already exist on the counterparty as an external account. If the account the customer named is not on the list, add it there first — see finding a counterparty’s accounts.
You cannot point an instalment at a stranger’s bank account. The list offers only accounts belonging to the people on this account.
When the change takes effect
This change is forward dated. You choose the date it starts applying, and that date is today or later. Instalments already collected are not revisited — see value dating.
If a collection is already in flight for today, the change applies from the next one. Check the payments panel before assuming today’s instalment used the new account.
Who can make the change
A second person approves this change before it takes effect. The person who requests it cannot also approve it. Until someone approves, the account keeps collecting the old way — see countersign.
Before you change it
- Confirm the new bank account is on the counterparty.
- Confirm the customer agreed to the method, not just the account.
- Check whether a mandate needs cancelling or raising.
- Tell the customer which date the new arrangement starts.