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Take an immediate payment via Instant Bank Pay while automatically setting up a Direct Debit mandate for future payments. This gives you the speed of instant confirmation for the first payment and the flexibility of Direct Debit for ongoing charges.

Integration options: This guide shows the API flow. You can also use Hosted Payment Pages for a no-code approach. Drop-in Flow does not support Instant Bank Pay.  

Availability: GBP (Faster Payments), EUR (SEPA Instant)

When to use this combined flow

Subscription services requiring immediate activation
Sign-up fee plus ongoing billing (e.g., gym membership)
Trial conversions with instant first charge
Any service where you need payment confirmation before providing access

Comparison between other recurring payment options

	Subscriptions	Instalments	Variable Recurring Payments	Instant Bank Pay + Direct Debit
Mandate required	Yes	Yes	Yes (consent)	Yes
Customer authorisation	Once	Once	Once (with agreed limits and frequency)	Once
Payment amounts	Fixed (per subscription)	Fixed per instalment, can vary across schedule	Variable within agreed constraints	First payment fixed; subsequent payments flexible
Payment schedule	Merchant-defined recurring (weekly, monthly, yearly)	Merchant-defined schedule with a defined end	Flexible - merchant triggers payments as needed	Flexible after first payment
Confirmation speed	2-x business days	2-x business days	Seconds	First payment: minutes; subsequent: 2-x business days
Chargeback risk	Yes	Yes	None	First payment: none; subsequent: yes
Missed payment retries	Yes (with Success+)	Yes (with Success+)	Yes	Subsequent payments: yes
Best for	SaaS, memberships, gym fees, insurance	Payment plans, tuition, professional services	Usage-based regulated billing and utilities, financial services, government services	Subscription services needing immediate, initial payment
Availability	All schemes	All schemes	GBP only	GBP and EUR

Want variable recurring payments without fixed amounts? Consider Variable Recurring Payments, which lets you collect varying amounts from customers without creating a new payment each time - ideal for usage-based billing, top-ups, or any scenario where the charge amount changes.

How it works

Customer authorises an instant payment and a Direct Debit mandate in a single flow
The instant payment is confirmed within minutes
The Direct Debit mandate is set up for future payments
You can then collect recurring or one-off payments against the mandate

Step-by-step guide

curl -X POST https://api.gocardless.com/billing_requests \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "billing_requests": {
      "payment_request": {
        "description": "First payment",
        "amount": 5000, "currency": "GBP", "scheme": "faster_payments"
      },
      "mandate_request": { "scheme": "bacs" }
    }
  }'

Response:

{
  "billing_requests": {
    "id": "BRQ0000303",
    "status": "pending",
    "payment_request": {
      "amount": 5000,
      "currency": "GBP",
      "scheme": "faster_payments"
    },
    "mandate_request": {
      "scheme": "bacs",
      "currency": "GBP"
    },
    "actions": [
      {
        "type": "collect_customer_details",
        "required": true,
        "completed": false
      },
      {
        "type": "collect_bank_account",
        "required": true,
        "completed": false
      },
      {
        "type": "confirm_payer_details",
        "required": true,
        "completed": false
      },
      {
        "type": "select_institution",
        "required": true,
        "completed": false
      },
      {
        "type": "bank_authorisation",
        "required": true,
        "completed": false
      }
    ]
  }
}

After creating the Billing Request, direct the customer to authorise the mandate. How you do this depends on your integration type: 

Hosted Pages - Create a Billing Request Flow and redirect the customer to the authorisation_url. See Hosted Payment Pages. 
Custom API - Collect customer details and bank account via Billing Request actions, then confirm. See Custom Payment Pages.

Once fulfilled, retrieve both mandate ID and payment ID from the billing request:

curl https://api.gocardless.com/billing_requests/BRQ000123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Response:

{
  "billing_requests": {
    "id": "BRQ000123",
    "status": "fulfilled",
    "payment_request": {
      "links": { "payment": "PM123" }
    },
    "mandate_request": {
      "links": { "mandate": "MD123" }
    }
  }
}

Listen for webhooks to confirm the payment and mandate status:

Event	Meaning
billing_request_fulfilled	Customer authorised mandate and payment is being processed
payments_confirmed	Payment confirmed and settled
payments_failed	Payment failed (e.g., insufficient funds)
mandates_active	Mandate active and ready for recurring payments

Once the mandate is active, set up recurring payments against it:

curl -X POST https://api.gocardless.com/subscriptions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "subscriptions": {
      "amount": 5000,
      "currency": "GBP",
      "name": "Monthly subscription",
      "interval_unit": "monthly",
      "interval": 1,
      "start_date": "2024-11-01",
      "links": {
        "mandate": "MD123"
      }
    }
  }'

Response:

{
  "subscriptions": {
    "id": "SB123",
    "status": "active",
    "amount": 2500,
    "currency": "GBP",
    "interval": 1,
    "interval_unit": "monthly",
    "start_date": "2024-11-01",
    "upcoming_payments": [
      { "charge_date": "2024-11-01", "amount": 2500 },
      { "charge_date": "2024-12-01", "amount": 2500 }
    ],
    "links": {
      "mandate": "MD123"
    }
  }
}

Listen for webhooks to confirm the mandate status and notifications about future payments:

Event	Meaning
subscriptions_created	Subscription set up successfully
subscriptions_payment_created	A scheduled payment was created
payments_confirmed	Recurring payment collected successfully
payments_failed	Recurring payment failed
subscriptions_cancelled	Subscription cancelled

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Guides

Instant Payment with Direct Debit Setup

What are Instant Payment with Direct Debit Setup?

Comparison between other recurring payment options

How it works

Step-by-step guide

Create a billing request

Confirm the mandate and payment

Handle the outcome

Confirm the mandate and payment