If a direct debit payment fails, Adfin handles the retries automatically. You and your customer both get notified by email at each step.
Why a collection can fail
When a collection fails, Adfin shows the reason on the payment's activity log. Here's what each one means and what to do.
Reason (as shown in Adfin) | What it means | What to do |
Insufficient funds | Your customer's account didn't have enough to cover the payment. | Nothing needed. Adfin retries automatically. |
Customer's bank has rejected the transaction | The bank declined it, often due to insufficient funds, wrong details, or a restricted account. | Adfin retries automatically. If it keeps failing, ask your customer to check with their bank. |
Direct debit cancelled | The mandate was cancelled by your customer or their bank. | Ask your customer to set up a new mandate. See My customer cancelled their direct debit mandate. |
Account or card inactive | The account is no longer active. | Ask your customer to set up a new mandate with an active account. |
Incorrect account details | The account details are wrong or invalid. | Ask your customer to set up a new mandate with the correct details. |
Payment authorisation declined | The bank refused the payment, often without a specific reason. | Adfin retries automatically. If it keeps failing, ask your customer to check with their bank. |
Advance notice disputed | Your customer disputed the advance notice we send before a collection. | Talk to your customer. Once they're happy, set the collection up again. |
Direct debit not due | The collection was attempted before the date on the advance notice. | No action needed, it usually clears on the next attempt. |
Invalid transaction amount | The amount is invalid, or differs from what was agreed on the mandate. | Check the invoice amount and raise a new collection if needed. |
Withdrawal amount exceeded | The account hit a limit on how much or how often it can be debited. | Adfin retries automatically. Your customer may need to speak to their bank. |
Fraudulent transaction detected | The payment was flagged as fraudulent. | Contact Adfin support via live chat (the Get Help button in the bottom left of the Adfin console) |
Processing error | Something went wrong while taking the payment. | Usually temporary. Adfin retries automatically. |
What Adfin does after a failed collection
Adfin retries the collection automatically every 7 working days, up to 3 times by default. 7 working days is the fastest retry schedule the direct debit scheme allows. There's no charge for retries.
You and your customer each get an email when a retry fails.
If you'd rather Adfin stopped retrying, for example because your customer has paid you another way, you can cancel future retries. See Why can't I cancel, stop or edit a direct debit payment?.
For the full retry timeline and direct debit setup, see Getting started with direct debits.
When the retries run out
Once Adfin has used up the retries, your customer gets a fresh payment link by email so they can pay another way, like card or pay by bank.
You don't need to chase the customer yourself.
For what your customer sees at each step, see How invoices get paid: Auto Collect payer experience.
If your customer pays you outside Adfin
If your customer pays you directly (a manual bank transfer to your account, for example), how you record it depends on your setup:
Using Xero or QuickBooks: just mark the invoice as paid in your accounting software. Adfin reads it back automatically and updates the invoice to Paid Externally. Reminders stop.
Not using accounting software: go to the Payments view in Adfin, select the invoice, and click "Mark as paid".
A direct debit collected from the wrong bank account
Bank details can't be edited on an active mandate, so the fix depends on the situation.
Your customer changed banks using the Current Account Switch Service. Their details carry over automatically and the mandate shows as Migrating. There's nothing to do.
The mandate was set up with the wrong account. Cancel the mandate, then send a fresh mandate request so your customer can enter the correct details.
If money was collected from the wrong account, refund your customer directly.
The mandate is Active but nothing is being collected
If your customer's direct debit mandate shows as Active but an invoice isn't collecting, work through these checks:
The invoice is set to On Demand. A setting on the invoice itself overrides the customer's preferred payment method and the agent's default. Open the invoice from the Payments view and check its collection method under the Customer Agents tab.
The customer's preferred payment method is On Demand. Open the customer's record and check the Customer agent panel. If their preferred method is On Demand, new invoices go out as payment links even with an active mandate.
Collection is paused. Check whether reminders and collection are paused for the customer or for that specific invoice.
The agent never uses Auto Collect. If the customer's agent has "Never use Auto Collect" turned on, direct debit won't be used regardless of the mandate.
The amount is over your payment limits. Payments above the per-payment limit set for the customer won't be submitted for collection.
It's just the timing. Direct debits are scheduled around the invoice due date, not collected the moment the mandate activates. The collection submits at 15:00 UK time two working days before funds leave your customer's account, and a brand-new mandate takes 3 working days for the bank to confirm before anything can be initiated. An invoice can sit as Scheduled for a while; that's normal.
The customer has no valid email address. Adfin must be able to notify your customer before collecting, so a missing or invalid email blocks the collection.
If you've worked through all of these and it still won't collect, get in touch via live chat (the Get Help button in the bottom left of the Adfin console) with the invoice number and we'll take a look.