The problem
A community food enterprise delivering 80 veg boxes a week at $20£15€18A$29C$28 may receive 344 payments a month (80 x 4.3) by bank transfer and cash. Matching each one at 2 minutes takes 688 minutes, about 11.5 hours, and chasing 10 late payers at 15 minutes each adds 2.5 hours: 14 hours a month, while unpaid boxes still go out.
What the AI does
GoCardless collects one-off or recurring payments straight from customers' bank accounts by Direct Debit. Its Standard plan costs 1% + 20p per UK transaction, capped at $5£4€5A$8C$8 with no setup costs; prices exclude VAT. Move customers to a monthly Direct Debit for their boxes ($85.79£64.50€76.76A$123.84C$121.26 for a weekly $20£15€18A$29C$28 box, 4.3 weeks a month). GoCardless collects on the date set, and staff deal only with failed payments. Standard doesn't list automatic recovery of failed payments; that is on Advanced and Pro at higher fees.
A worked example
A community food CIC in Bristol grows and buys in local produce and delivers 80 boxes a week at $20£15€18A$29C$28 with some boxes subsidized for families on low incomes. Customers pay by bank transfer and cash on delivery.
Before
344 payments a month matched at 2 minutes and 10 late payers chased: 14 hours
After
80 monthly Direct Debits collected automatically, with about 1.5 hours a month on failed payments
What it's worth
About $299£225€268A$432C$423 a month in staff time saved, against about $90£68€81A$131C$128 to $109£82€98A$157C$154 in GoCardless fees. 12.5 hours a month saved (14 minus 1.5), valued at an assumed $24£18€21A$35C$34 an hour. Each $85.79£64.50€76.76A$123.84C$121.26 monthly payment costs 65p (1%) plus 20p, 85p, so 80 payments cost $90£68€81A$131C$128 a month, or about $109£82€98A$157C$154 with VAT if the business can't reclaim it.
How to set it up
- Set the monthly price for each box size and write simple terms: when payment is taken, how to pause and how to cancel.
- Open a GoCardless account on Standard and check the fee against your box prices.
- Send each customer a link to set up their Direct Debit, starting with the customers you know best.
- Keep another route for customers who can't or won't use Direct Debit, especially those on subsidized boxes.
- Each month, check failed payments and contact those customers yourself, kindly.
What goes wrong
- Weekly collections cost more in fees than monthly ones: 344 payments at 35p would be about $160£120€143A$230C$226 a month.
- Failed payments aren't retried automatically on Standard; Advanced adds Success+ at a higher fee.
- Paused or skipped weeks need adjusting before the collection date, or customers pay for boxes they didn't get.
- Customers on low incomes may prefer paying weekly. Don't make Direct Debit the only option.