Member Article

GoCardless launches Direct Debit solution to Yorkshire SMEs

Thousands of small businesses are in line to benefit from more efficient payments after GoCardless announced its official launch in Yorkshire this week.

The technology start-up, which was founded by graduates Matt Robinson, Hiroki Takeuchi and Tom Blomfield, has developed a simple online tool that SMEs can use to collect Direct Debits quickly and cost effectively.

More than 3,000 companies from ten different sectors in Yorkshire are already using the system to process millions of pounds of transactions each month.

Bosses have been impressed with the free sign-up facility, no monthly charges and an innovative pricing structure that charges just 1% of the transaction total to a maximum of £2. This is less than a third of mainstream rivals, such as PayPal and WorldPay.

The introduction of GoCardless comes on the back of recent research suggesting that UK SMEs are owed a staggering £30bn in late payments and waste on average 14 days each year chasing them.

Some local businesses already using this new service have been able to eliminate this wastage and cut the time spent on accounting by up to 50%.

“Direct Debits are without doubt the most reliable way to take payments, but the banks have long excluded all but the very largest merchants from accessing the scheme,” explained Matt Robinson.

“Instead, small business owners must attempt to manage unpredictable cash-flows whilst losing key staff to chasing payments, not to mention the possibility of missing out on growth opportunities.”

He continued: “GoCardless will give them instant, easy access to a method their larger competitors have been using for years.

“Yorkshire is the perfect place to start our regional push and we hope to have thousands of firms signed up and benefitting by the end of the year.”

Established in 1963, Town Centre Car Parks was one of the first companies in Yorkshire to tap into the ‘GoCardless’ service.

The Leeds-based firm, one of the leading parking operators in the UK, is committed to making the most of the latest technologies and believes this latest payment concept could save it thousands each year.

Ben Ziff, managing director, commented: “GoCardless has helped us improve our e-commerce capability and, since we decided to form our partnership, we have seen sales revenues increase significantly.

“New customers enjoy the convenient and hassle-free way to purchase their season tickets online and many of our existing clients have started switching to paying this way.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .