Digital Mandate Service

Almost everyone in the Netherlands uses direct debits, for example to pay their energy bills, insurance premiums, or subscriptions. With Digital Direct Debit Authorizations, you can arrange the necessary direct debit authorizations easily and reliably online via your own bank, rather than using a paper form. This allows you to provide the collector with the correct information once and for all. Your bank records your authorization to the collector in a transparent manner, and you can easily revoke it if necessary.

What is Digital Mandate Service?

Digital Mandate Service (Digitaal Incassomachtigen/DIM in Dutch) is a reliable way to give a company or institution online permission to debit a one-time or recurring amount from your payments account. Instead of a paper direct debit authorization, you issue a digital authorization via your mobile banking app or online banking. This method is just as legally valid as the traditional paper version and complies with European SEPA standards.

How does Digital Mandate Service work?

The process is just as simple as online banking. You go through the following steps with a creditor (a company or institution):

1. At the creditor’s, you choose (digitaal) Incassomachtigen as your payment method online.
2. You select your own bank in the app or on the creditor’s website.
3. You are redirected to your bank’s mobile app or online banking.
4. All the necessary details for the authorization are already there.
5. You approve the authorization digitally, as you are used to doing with your bank.
6. Your bank confirms that you have approved the authorization.
7. You return to the collector’s website or app; done!

Who is it for?

Digital Mandate Service is for anyone who wants to pay by direct debit online via desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. This includes purchases in online stores, insurance, subscriptions, tuition fees, and membership fees for associations.

Differences with other types of online authorizations

Dutch banks offer three ways to authorize direct debits that comply with SEPA guidelines:

1. A signed paper authorization form
2. Digital Mandate Service (recognizable by the logo)
3. A digital authorization form approved with iDIN(opens in new window)

Other types of (online) authorizations, without recognized (digital) approval, offer consumers the option to reverse a corresponding direct debit for 13 months via a ‘Notification of Incorrect Direct Debit’ (MOI).

Please note: having an incorrect direct debit reversed does not release you from your possible obligation to pay for something that was correctly delivered.

Direct debit variants

There are two variants of direct debit, with corresponding authorizations:

• Standard Direct Debit Authorizations – for everyone, both consumers and merchants that pay to collectors; the payer can unconditionally reverse a direct debit within 8 weeks.
• Business Direct Debit Authorizations – only for business payers; the payer must register the authorization with their own bank and cannot then reverse a direct debit.

With business Digital Direct Debit Authorizations, the authorization and formal registration of the authorization happen automatically and simultaneously. The collector does not have to wait for the business payer to register the authorization separately with their bank.

Facts and figures

• Year introduced: 2015
• Application: for example, for subscriptions, insurance, energy contracts, membership fees, and tuition fees
• Security: digital authorizations are always made via the secure digital banking environment
• Legal validity: equivalent to a signed paper authorization (in accordance with SEPA)
• Flexibility: easy to revoke and unconditionally reverse within 8 weeks for consumers

Summary

Digital Mandate Service offers an easy, reliable, and legally valid way to authorize collectors online for direct debits, via a mobile banking app or online banking. It fits in well with modern payment habits and makes the authorization process reliable and efficient for both collectors and their customers.