Direct debit software for recurring payments

"Direct debit software" can mean two very different things, and that difference determines whether you have landed on the right page.

Two meanings, two kinds of software

Credit control. Software that helps you collect invoices that are already late: dunning letters, reminders, payment plans and eventually a collection agency. This is repair work after the fact.

Automatic direct debit. Software that debits the amount itself on the agreed date, based on an authorisation the customer gave in advance. Here the arrears largely never arise, because you are not waiting for someone to pay.

This page is about the second kind: the software you need as soon as you work with subscriptions, contracts or maintenance plans. If you want to know how the debiting works technically, read direct debit with Mollie.

What direct debit software for subscriptions must be able to do

Six things. Everyone has the first two; the difference lies in the rest.

1. Record consent. The customer authorises you to debit, usually by making a first payment after which your payment service provider records an authorisation. Note: such a first payment is not a signed SEPA mandate. If you do want one, you have the customer sign and enter the IBAN manually. See the SEPA direct debit mandate.
2. Debit on schedule. Monthly, quarterly or yearly, with the ability to deviate per customer.
3. Follow up on failed debits. Some always fail: insufficient balance, closed account, chargeback. Without automatic follow-up, this is the work that gets left lying around and costs you revenue directly.
4. Let invoices run along. Every debit should have an invoice, and that invoice should end up in your accounting without anyone retyping it.
5. Be able to change prices. Applying an indexation across your whole customer base should be an action, not a project.
6. Be usable for non-technical colleagues. If only the developer can change a subscription, you have built in a bottleneck.

Ready-made or building on the API yourself

Payment service providers such as Mollie give you building blocks: customers, mandates, recurring payments. That is enough to get a first debit working, often within a day.

What you build yourself afterwards is the real work: the retry logic after a failed debit, the emails around it, the link to your accounting, an admin screen, and the edge cases (a customer who cancels mid-month, an amount that changes, a chargeback that arrives three weeks later).

Building it yourself is defensible if direct debit is your core product. If not, you are permanently maintaining something that gives you no competitive edge.

What to look for when comparing

The pricing model matters more than the monthly price. Many subscription tools charge a percentage of your revenue or an amount per transaction, on top of your payment provider's fees. With a hundred customers at € 30 per month, the difference between a fixed fee and 1% of your revenue quickly comes to a few hundred euros a year, and that difference grows with your business.

Who holds the money? With a link to your own Mollie account, payouts arrive in your own account. With tools that act as an intermediary, the money passes through them first. That difference affects your cash flow and your risk.

What happens on a chargeback? Ask specifically: does the software retry automatically, and when? Does the customer get a payment link? Can you adjust those texts yourself? This is the scenario you will face most often.

Can you get out? Can you export your customers, mandates and subscription data if you want to switch?

How RCUR fills it in

RCUR is a Mollie Gold Partner and connects to your own Mollie account, so your payouts keep arriving in your own account.

• Subscription lines: multiple amounts on one subscription, for example a fixed monthly rate plus a variable usage component.
• Automatic follow-ups: a failed SEPA debit is retried, or the customer gets a payment link to pay after all.
• Payment links: for a first payment, a one-off sale or an order, with your own logo and colours on the payment screen.
• Accounting integrations: Moneybird, Exact Online, WeFact, e-Boekhouden, HostFact and Teamleader, plus Zapier, WooCommerce and a public API.
• Bulk price changes: apply an indexation without customer-by-customer work.

What it costs

RCUR starts at € 10 per month and goes up to € 35 for the plan with accounting integrations and API access. There is no fee per transaction and no percentage of your revenue; you only pay Mollie's own transaction fees. Your bill therefore stays the same if your customer base doubles.

You can try it free for 7 days, no credit card required.