Summary
You can collect invoices by BECS Direct Debit in Australia without becoming a direct entry user yourself. Connect Stripe, turn on BECS Direct Debit, and customers accept a Direct Debit Request from the pay link on your invoice. Stripe confirms each debit within 2 business days, and the payment lands in Xero or QuickBooks.
- What the customer agrees to: A Direct Debit Request (DDR) and its Service Agreement, which Stripe shows and collects when the customer pays.
- What it costs: Stripe's standard Australian price is 1% + A$0.30 per payment, capped at A$3.50, GST included. Paidnice adds no fee on any plan.
- Is BECS closing?: Not on a set date. AusPayNet removed its target end date in December 2025, and the RBA says a new date will not be set until several milestones are delivered.
You run a service business, and the same clients book with you every week. You would rather debit their account on the day of each session than send an invoice and chase it a fortnight later.
A disability services provider asked us for exactly that during onboarding. Here is how BECS Direct Debit works for an Australian small business that invoices from Xero or QuickBooks, what your customer signs, how long a debit takes, and what to do when one fails.
Paidnice is accounts receivable automation for businesses on Xero and QuickBooks Online. It offers direct debit for invoices in six bank schemes through Stripe, including BECS in Australia.
Free: Payment reminder email templatesCopy the reminder emails for before, on and after the due date.What BECS Direct Debit is
BECS is the Bulk Electronic Clearing System, the Australian system for bulk bank-to-bank debits and credits. AusPayNet says it administers BECS "for electronic debit and credit payment instructions" (AusPayNet). A BECS Direct Debit pulls a payment from a customer's account using their BSB and account number.
To debit customers directly, AusPayNet says "a business needs to be approved as a direct entry user by a financial institution" (AusPayNet). A small business can skip that application by collecting through a provider such as Stripe, which collects the debit for you.
How to collect an invoice by BECS Direct Debit
- Connect Stripe to Paidnice and turn on BECS Direct Debit in your Stripe payment methods.
- Send the invoice from Xero or QuickBooks. Paidnice adds a pay link to every reminder, SMS and statement for it.
- The customer opens their customer payment portal and ticks one invoice, several, or the whole balance.
- They choose bank debit, enter their BSB and account number, and accept the Direct Debit Request and Service Agreement.
- The debit shows as pending, then Paidnice records the payment against each invoice once Stripe confirms it.
The Direct Debit Request your customer agrees to
AusPayNet says customers "complete a Direct Debit Request (DDR) authority" before a business can debit them. Stripe pairs it with a Service Agreement and says its payment form will "display the DDR and Service Agreement and collect the customer's acceptance by default" (Stripe BECS docs).
Stripe also emails the customer for you. By default it sends a notice the day before the account is debited. Stripe notes that the scheme recommends 14 days' notice for scheduled debits, but that this "isn't mandatory".
Timing and limits
Stripe says "it takes up to 2 business days to receive the final success or failure notification" for a BECS debit. Until then the payment is pending in Paidnice, and once Stripe confirms it, Paidnice records the payment against the invoice in Xero or QuickBooks with the Stripe fee.
Stripe also sets limits. "The default per-transaction limit is 10,000 AUD", and the default weekly limit is the same. If your invoices are larger, talk to Stripe before you offer BECS on them, or the customer's payment will not go through.
When a BECS debit fails
A BECS debit fails when the account has insufficient funds, is closed, or the details are wrong. Stripe says a permanent failure makes the mandate inactive, so the customer has to set up a new one.
Disputes work differently from cards. Stripe says that "for up to 7 years, a customer can dispute" a BECS debit on a no-questions-asked basis, and that disputes are final with no evidence step. Clear invoices and correct amounts are your best protection.
In Paidnice, a failed debit shows on the Payments page and the invoice is frozen, so no reminder or automatic late fee goes out until you fix it with the customer and unfreeze it.
There is no automatic late fee on a failed debit; charge one manually if your terms allow. See what to do when a direct debit fails for the steps by reason.
What BECS Direct Debit costs
Stripe's standard Australian price is "1% + A$0.30" per BECS payment with an "A$3.50 cap", plus A$2.50 for a failed payment and A$2.50 for a disputed one, GST included (Stripe Australia pricing). On a A$3,000 invoice, the BECS fee is A$3.50.
Paidnice adds no fee to a direct debit on any plan. You can pass a processing fee on to the customer, set separately for direct debit and for card.
Is BECS being shut down?
Not on any set date. The RBA's March 2026 update says that in December 2025 "AusPayNet announced the removal of the target end date for decommissioning BECS", and that "PayTo has yet to demonstrate its maturity as a direct debit replacement" (RBA risk assessment, March 2026).
For a small business setting up direct debit now, BECS is the scheme your customers' banks support today. Older articles that give 2030 as the closure year are out of date.
How Paidnice handles BECS Direct Debit
- BECS on the pay link: every reminder, SMS and statement links to the portal, where the customer pays by card or bank debit through Stripe.
- Every attempt on one page: the Payments page shows pending, failed and abandoned payments, payments waiting on the customer and payments that did not sync to the ledger.
- Payment plans by direct debit: customers can save a bank account for Autopay, and each instalment of a payment plan is collected on its date (Pro and above).
- Leave direct debit payers alone: put customers who pay by debit in their own group, or tag them, so they get lighter reminders or none.
- New Zealand customers pay through NZ bank debit, a separate scheme that Paidnice also supports through Stripe.
💡 Paidnice insight
Check Stripe's A$10,000 default limit against your largest invoices before you switch customers to BECS. A large invoice that goes over the limit cannot be paid by debit while that limit applies.
Frequently asked questions
Who operates BECS in Australia?
AusPayNet, the Australian Payments Network, administers BECS. Banks exchange and settle the payments through it.
Do I need to be a direct entry user to collect BECS Direct Debit?
Not if you collect through Stripe. Stripe collects the debit for you and shows your customer the Direct Debit Request and Service Agreement.
How long does a BECS Direct Debit take?
Stripe says up to 2 business days for the final success or failure notice. Paidnice records the payment in your ledger once Stripe confirms it.
Can I use BECS Direct Debit for a UK or European customer?
No. BECS debits Australian bank accounts in Australian dollars. Use Bacs Direct Debit for UK customers and SEPA Direct Debit for customers who pay in euros.
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About the editorial team
Ashley is a co-founder and lead developer of Paidnice and has built accounting software for more than 10 years. He builds the ledger connections that put reminders, late fees and payments into Xero, QuickBooks and ERPs such as NetSuite and Business Central. Before Paidnice he co-founded A2X, ecommerce accounting software for Xero and QuickBooks.
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