In a Bacs bulk change, your clients' direct debit instructions stay where they've always been, at the client's own bank, and are repointed from GoCardless to your new provider, so nobody re-signs. Payments GoCardless has already submitted still collect and reach you through GoCardless, net of its fees. Everything around the mandates stays behind: payment history, recurring schedules, and any mandates you leave out.
In this article
The short version
- A mandate is an instruction your client gave their own bank, and a bulk change repoints it to the new provider under a Bacs deed.
- Bacs rules have required providers like GoCardless to support bulk changes since 2018, so it passes mandate details on once the banks approve.
- Collections GoCardless has already submitted still go through and reach you in a GoCardless payout with its fee taken off.
- Around the 5 to 7 day pause, list every collection due and decide which side takes it, so no client is missed or charged twice.
- Payment history, recurring schedules and any mandates left out stay behind, so export records and ask both providers how a pre-switch refund claim would reach you.
Why clients don't need to re-sign
It's easy to think of "your mandates" as a list sitting in GoCardless that you either take with you or lose. A mandate is actually an instruction your client gave their own bank, allowing a named organisation to collect from their account. The client's bank holds it, and it points at GoCardless because GoCardless runs the collections for you.
A bulk change repoints that instruction. Both providers and their sponsoring banks sign a Bacs deed, and from the transfer date written into it, the client's bank accepts collections from your new provider under the same instruction. Your clients get written notice beforehand and don't fill in anything.
GoCardless has to cooperate: Bacs rules have required providers like it to support bulk changes since 2018, so it passes your clients' mandate details to the new provider once the banks approve.
Adfin runs this for moves of 10 or more mandates from GoCardless, London & Zurich or AccessPay. With fewer than 10, clients sign a new Adfin mandate instead.
Payments already in progress at the switch
GoCardless asks you to stop creating new collections 5 to 7 days before the change date. Anything it had already submitted by then carries on as normal: it collects from the client unless their bank fails it, settles to GoCardless, and reaches you in a GoCardless payout with GoCardless's fee taken off. That's about five business days from the collection being created.
The risk sits with clients whose collection date falls in or near that pause. Two things can go wrong:
- A client is missed for the month, because GoCardless has stopped and the new provider hasn't started.
- A client is charged twice, because a final GoCardless collection and a first new-provider collection both go out for the same invoice.
Both come down to one list. Before the pause, write down every collection due in the weeks around the change date and decide, client by client, which side takes it.
Say a client's £850 retainer normally collects on the 12th and your change date is the 15th. The 12th sits inside GoCardless's pause, so either you raise it on GoCardless a few days early, before the pause starts, or you collect it on Adfin just after the 15th, with advance notice of the new date. Note the choice against the client.
Failed payments and refund claims either side of the switch
If a final GoCardless collection fails, it has failed on GoCardless, which charges its fee on every submitted payment whether it succeeds or not. Once the mandate has moved, GoCardless can't try again, so you raise the amount as a new collection with your new provider, giving the client notice. On Adfin, failed direct debits are retried at no charge, and Adfin can fall back to the client's card on file or send a payment link if the retry doesn't work.
A refund claim is different. A client can ask their bank for a refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee long after a payment was taken. Under the bulk change deed, the old provider stays responsible for collections made before the transfer date and the new provider from then on, but providers don't all describe it the same way, so ask both before the change date how a claim on a pre-switch collection would reach you, and keep your GoCardless account open until your final payout has landed and you have that answer.
The Guarantee itself doesn't change. Your clients keep their right to advance notice of changes, to a full refund if a payment is made in error, and to cancel at any time through their bank. That last right is why the notice matters: a client who doesn't recognise the new name on their statement may simply cancel.
What stays behind on GoCardless
A bulk change moves the instructions and leaves your GoCardless account behind. After the move:
- Payment history, payout reports and failed-payment records stay in GoCardless. Export them before you close it.
- Recurring schedules, subscriptions and instalment plans don't transfer, so set them up again on Adfin before the first collection date.
- Any integration posting GoCardless payouts into Xero or QuickBooks carries on until you turn it off.
- Mandates you leave out of the bulk change stay pointed at GoCardless, and GoCardless keeps you liable for refund claims on them.
To move a client who was left out, they sign a new Adfin mandate and you cancel the GoCardless one once the new one is live. Adfin chases clients who haven't signed yet and offers them another way to pay in the meantime, and its Customer Agents can handle the follow-up on any invoice that slips during the switch, within rules you set and approve.
Common questions
Do payments already submitted on GoCardless still go through? Yes. They collect unless the client's bank fails them, and reach you in a GoCardless payout with its fee deducted.
Who owns a direct debit mandate? The mandate is your client's instruction to their own bank. You own the client relationship and the contract, and your provider runs the collections.
Does my payment history move with the mandates? No. A bulk change moves the mandate details only, so export your history and set up your schedules again.
Who pays if a client claims a refund after the switch? The Bacs deed keeps the old provider responsible for collections made before the transfer date and the new one from then on. Confirm with both providers how a claim would reach you.
Does the Direct Debit Guarantee still apply after I switch? Yes. It protects every payer whoever collects, including advance notice of changes and the right to cancel through their bank.
What happens to mandates I don't move? They stay with GoCardless, and you stay liable to GoCardless for refund claims on them. Clients you move later sign a new mandate.
Sources
- Bacs - Direct Debit Scheme bulk change deed (accurate as of September 2026) https://www.bacs.co.uk/media/bdpfhdc4/dd_bulk_change_deed_b.pdf
- Pay.UK (Direct Debit) - The Direct Debit Guarantee (accurate as of September 2026) https://www.directdebit.co.uk/direct-debit-explained/direct-debit-guarantee/
- GoCardless Support Centre - Bulk changing away from GoCardless (accurate as of September 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005800129-Bulk-changing-away-from-GoCardless
- GoCardless - Bank Debit Terms (accurate as of September 2026) https://gocardless.com/legal/bank-debit-terms
- GoCardless Support Centre - Pricing and fees FAQs (accurate as of September 2026) https://support.gocardless.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115002831125-Transactions-and-fees-FAQs
- Adfin Help Center - Bulk-migrate your direct debit mandates to Adfin (10+ mandates) (accurate as of September 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/12688044-how-to-migrate-direct-debit-mandates-to-adfin
