Direct Debit collections

This guide will walk you through what happens when an organisation collects a Direct Debit from one of your accounts, and what you see over the API at each step. Payment processing is a multi-step process which requires interacting with several resource types. Learn about payments, transactions, submissions and admissions here

Collections follow the Bacs three-day cycle: the originator submits the collection on day one, it becomes visible on the account on day two, and the account is debited on the morning of day three.

We recommend creating a webhook in order to receive notifications of collections. The examples below illustrate a typical set of notifications for a Direct Debit collection.

A successful collection

The payment-created event informs you that a collection has been received, on day two of the cycle, the day before the account is debited. The payment's debtor is the account being collected from, the creditor is the originator, and the mandate-url links to the mandate authorising the collection. The payment-type on a collection is direct-debit.

{
  "event-url": "/v0/events/ev.Wq0jZfB2QmWc7f8dK1t3nA",
  "event-type": "payment-created",
  "event-payload": {
    "created-at": "2026-07-07T09:15:03.706Z",
    "creditor": {
      "account-holder": "Acme Energy Ltd",
      "account-number": "55779911",
      "account-number-code": "bban",
      "bank-id": "200000",
      "bank-id-code": "gbdsc",
      "creditor-type": "uk-domestic"
    },
    "debtor": {
      "account-holder": "Jane Doe",
      "account-number": "60484240",
      "account-number-code": "bban",
      "account-url": "/v0/bank/accounts/ba.bihSK9VMQRCVhrFm5Rv7MA",
      "bank-id": "000000",
      "bank-id-code": "gbdsc"
    },
    "mandate-url": "/v0/mandates/mn.Qy3vTfNhTvGYlG0mBv9WkQ",
    "payment-admissions-url": "/v0/payments/pm.tCkQZbVFQ9mwEV3q7jW02A/admissions",
    "payment-amount": {
      "currency": "GBP",
      "value": "45.00"
    },
    "payment-direction": "outbound-payment",
    "payment-reference": "ACME-ENERGY-004417",
    "payment-type": "direct-debit",
    "payment-url": "/v0/payments/pm.tCkQZbVFQ9mwEV3q7jW02A"
  },
  "created-at": "2026-07-07T09:15:03.706Z"
}

tip

Because collections are visible a day before the money moves, day two is your opportunity to surface the upcoming debit to your customer: the amount that will leave the account on day three is already known.

The admission-created event follows, and you can use the admission to monitor the collection as it is processed.

{
  "event-url": "/v0/events/ev.0kVdYcS3TnWLp2sJ9uH6rQ",
  "event-type": "admission-created",
  "event-payload": {
    "account-url": "/v0/bank/accounts/ba.bihSK9VMQRCVhrFm5Rv7MA",
    "admission-scheme-information": {
      "payment-scheme": "bacs"
    },
    "admission-status": "processing",
    "admission-url": "/v0/admissions/pa.n4wPzR8GTf6bJcXo1eZaHw",
    "created-at": "2026-07-07T09:15:03.706Z",
    "payment-url": "/v0/payments/pm.tCkQZbVFQ9mwEV3q7jW02A",
    "unique-scheme-identifier": "3A1CE9D2"
  },
  "created-at": "2026-07-07T09:15:03.706Z"
}

On the morning of day three (from 09:00, UK time), the account is debited and you receive a transaction-created event.

{
  "event-url": "/v0/events/ev.hT2mKfXoQwSVb9L4cGy8Zw",
  "event-type": "transaction-created",
  "event-payload": {
    "account-balance": {
      "currency": "GBP",
      "value": "1955.00"
    },
    "account-transaction-url": "/v0/bank/transactions/tr.c7RwQnB4TgSkVe2XpJ0dMA",
    "account-url": "/v0/bank/accounts/ba.bihSK9VMQRCVhrFm5Rv7MA",
    "balance-change-direction": "debit",
    "balance-change": {
      "currency": "GBP",
      "value": "45.00"
    },
    "effective-at": "2026-07-08T08:00:37.412Z",
    "payment-url": "/v0/payments/pm.tCkQZbVFQ9mwEV3q7jW02A",
    "post-datetime": "2026-07-08T08:00:37.412Z",
    "processed-at": "2026-07-08T08:00:37.412Z",
    "transaction-origin-type": "payment"
  },
  "created-at": "2026-07-08T08:00:37.412Z"
}

Finally, the admission-updated event confirms the collection has been delivered.

{
  "event-url": "/v0/events/ev.uWpN3dKcRhSMfA61vBx0Tg",
  "event-type": "admission-updated",
  "event-payload": {
    "account-url": "/v0/bank/accounts/ba.bihSK9VMQRCVhrFm5Rv7MA",
    "admission-scheme-information": {
      "payment-scheme": "bacs"
    },
    "admission-status": "delivered",
    "admission-url": "/v0/admissions/pa.n4wPzR8GTf6bJcXo1eZaHw",
    "created-at": "2026-07-07T09:15:03.706Z",
    "payment-url": "/v0/payments/pm.tCkQZbVFQ9mwEV3q7jW02A",
    "unique-scheme-identifier": "3A1CE9D2"
  },
  "created-at": "2026-07-08T08:00:37.412Z"
}

Types of collection

Originators use collections for different purposes over the life of a Direct Debit. These are distinctions at the scheme level: the API represents them all as ordinary payments, as above.

Type	What it is
First collection	The first collection against a newly lodged mandate.
Regular collection	An ongoing collection against an active mandate.
Re-presentation	A collection attempted again after an earlier attempt was returned unpaid.
Final collection	The last collection the originator intends to take against the mandate.
Unpaid-cheque claim	A collection reclaiming the value of a cheque that was returned unpaid, where the payer has agreed to this with the originator.

Failed collections: insufficient funds

If the account cannot fund the collection when Griffin processes it on the morning of day three, the account is not debited and the collection waits:

1. Morning of day three (from 09:00, UK time). Griffin attempts the collection. If the account's available balance cannot fund it, no transaction is created and the admission stays in processing.
2. 14:00 (UK time) the same day. Griffin automatically retries the collection. If the account has been funded in the meantime, the debit is applied: you receive the transaction-created and admission-updated (delivered) events as in the normal flow.
3. End of day. If the account still cannot fund the collection, it is returned unpaid to the originator. You receive an admission-updated event with admission-status of returned, and no transaction is created.

warning

These times reflect how Griffin processes collections today. They may change in the future, so avoid hard-coding them into your integration; we will update this page if the schedule changes.

For your end-user, a returned collection is a missed payment to the originator. The originator is told the collection was not paid; they will usually contact the payer, and may attempt the collection again as a re-presentation. Repeated returns can lead the originator to cancel the agreement.

tip

Since the collection amount is visible from day two, you can warn your customer a day ahead when an account will not cover an upcoming collection.

Collections returned for other reasons

A collection is also returned unpaid to the originator automatically, with no action needed from you, when it cannot validly debit the account. For example:

• the account is closed or blocked;
• there is no mandate on the account matching the collection, or the mandate has been cancelled or has expired.

In these cases you receive an admission-updated event with admission-status of returned, and no transaction is created:

{
  "event-url": "/v0/events/ev.pB8cJdY1QsWZk4M0fRv6Lg",
  "event-type": "admission-updated",
  "event-payload": {
    "account-url": "/v0/bank/accounts/ba.bihSK9VMQRCVhrFm5Rv7MA",
    "admission-scheme-information": {
      "payment-scheme": "bacs"
    },
    "admission-status": "returned",
    "admission-url": "/v0/admissions/pa.n4wPzR8GTf6bJcXo1eZaHw",
    "created-at": "2026-07-07T09:15:03.706Z",
    "payment-url": "/v0/payments/pm.tCkQZbVFQ9mwEV3q7jW02A",
    "unique-scheme-identifier": "3A1CE9D2"
  },
  "created-at": "2026-07-08T08:00:37.412Z"
}

The consequences for the end-user sit with the originator: a returned collection is an unpaid bill, and the originator decides whether to re-present it, request payment another way, or end the agreement. If the return happened because the mandate was cancelled, the originator must lodge a new instruction before collecting again.