GetPaid GoCardless Payment Gateway

A Direct Debit is authorized today and collected days later

A customer authorizes the payment, returns to your site and considers the matter closed. For you it is not closed yet: with a one-off Direct Debit, collection typically takes 2 to 5 business days. That return to the site does not confirm anything either: the outcome is verified with webhooks.

If you are used to card payments, the important change is timing: the result arrives later, and your site has to be ready to hear it. Until then you have a payment in progress, not confirmed income.

GoCardless Payment Gateway is an add-on for GetPaid, the WordPress payments and invoicing plugin. It adds GoCardless, which collects by Direct Debit, including recurring payments, and works with GBP, EUR, AUD, SEK and DKK.

The mandate, the permission that replaces paying at every due date

A mandate is the authorization your customer gives you to collect directly from their bank account. Once authorized, you can collect recurring or future payments without them taking any further action.

That fits what GetPaid already knows how to sell:

• Subscriptions: recurring fees from Buy Now buttons or payment forms.
• Invoices: created and sent from WordPress, and paid by the customer on your site.
• One-time payments: single sales from those same payment routes.

If you combine several options, for example a free trial followed by a recurring fee, check it in test mode before announcing it.

The webhook, the piece that tells your site

A webhook is a request GoCardless sends to your server to alert you of an event. In a Direct Debit collection, that is how you learn the status of a payment or a mandate.

The add-on handles it with two pieces of data:

• Webhook URL: GetPaid generates it. It is read-only and you should not edit it.
• Webhook Secret: it lets you verify that the request comes from GoCardless. It is sensitive data, and if you change it in the GoCardless Dashboard, update it in GetPaid too.

A useful test before opening the gateway: create a charge in test mode and check what status the invoice takes in GetPaid when the notice arrives.

Five currencies and a single sales system

Currencies. GoCardless supports GBP, EUR, AUD, SEK and DKK here. If your site invoices in another, this gateway does not cover you.

It does not work alone. It is a GetPaid add-on, and its options appear after you install and activate it.

You need your GoCardless account. The add-on connects your site to it, but does not create it.

It only connects GetPaid. WooCommerce and other sales systems need a different integration.

Taxes and quotes do not come from here. European VAT belongs to GetPaid, and quotes are a separate add-on.

Setting the tokens and charging in test mode

With GetPaid and the add-on active, follow this route:

1. Create your GoCardless account.
2. Go to GetPaid, Settings, Payment Gateways, GoCardless.
3. Enter the test token, the live token and the Webhook Secret.
4. Set up webhooks in GoCardless to the URL shown by GetPaid.
5. Check Activate, adjust the title, description and priority, and save.
6. Turn on test mode and check a one-time payment and a recurring one.
7. Turn off test mode: with it on, real payments do not work.

GoCardless on WooCommerce and gateways for GetPaid

If your store runs on WooCommerce, WooCommerce GoCardless collects one-off and recurring bank payments by Direct Debit and open banking from that system.

If you stay on GetPaid and prefer another route, GetPaid Mollie Payment Gateway works in euros with cards and European methods. GetPaid Square Payment Gateway works in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Mandates and collections with GoCardless

Does it work without GetPaid?

No. It is an add-on for that plugin and its settings live inside it.

Does it allow recurring charges?

Yes. GoCardless collects Direct Debits, including recurring ones.

Does the customer have to approve every charge?

With an authorized mandate, you can collect recurring or future payments without the customer taking any further action.

How long does a one-off payment take to collect?

A one-off Direct Debit typically takes 2 to 5 business days to collect.

Why are real payments not coming through after setup?

First check that test mode is off and that the live token is in its field.