GoCardless

GoCardless collects money straight from bank accounts rather than from cards. Founded in London in 2011 by Hiroki Takeuchi, Tom Blomfield and Matt Robinson, it built the business on Direct Debit: take a mandate from the payer once, then pull each payment on its due date. Dutch payments firm Mollie completed its acquisition of the company on 1 September 2026, and it now trades as GoCardless, a Mollie company, with Takeuchi still in charge.

Eight bank debit schemes sit behind the product: Bacs in the UK, SEPA Direct Debit across the eurozone, ACH in the United States, BECS in Australia, BECS NZ, Pre-Authorised Debit in Canada, Autogiro in Sweden and Betalingsservice in Denmark. That covers GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, NZD, CAD, SEK and DKK. Pay by Bank, previously called Instant Bank Pay, adds a one-off open banking payment over Faster Payments in the UK and PayTo in Australia, handy for a first invoice or a failed collection while the mandate stays live. Bank Account Data, the service inherited from the 2022 Nordigen purchase, reads account information across European banks.

Pricing is published, which is not the norm in this market. Standard is 1% + 20p per UK transaction capped at £4; Advanced 1.25% + 20p capped at £5; Pro 1.4% + 20p capped at £5.60, none of them carrying a setup fee or monthly minimum. International collections cost 2%, 2.25% or 2.4% + 20p, Direct Debits above £2,000 attract another 0.3%, and registered charities can claim 25% off.

Timing is the trade-off. A Bacs payment lands in the merchant's account roughly five working days after it is created, though eligible UK merchants can apply for same-day settlement. Cards are absent, so anyone who also needs one-off card checkout will need a second provider, or the Mollie half of the group.