Take instant bank payments using GoCardless on mobile

This article explains how to use the FreeAgent mobile app to take payments for your FreeAgent invoices using GoCardless Instant Bank Pay.

Once you’ve set up the integration between FreeAgent and GoCardless, you can enable the GoCardless Instant Bank Pay option on your FreeAgent invoices.

The benefits of using GoCardless Instant Bank Pay include:

• payments are taken using open banking functionality which has lower fees
   
• payees verify their payment via their banking app or online banking, rather than needing to enter card details

You can also use GoCardless to take one-off or recurring payments using Direct Debit mandates, or collect invoice payments online using Tyl by NatWest, Stripe or PayPal. Find out more about payment solutions in FreeAgent.

Taking instant bank invoice payments using GoCardless

Tap the ‘☰’ (mobile app navigation menu) button and select 'Invoices'.

Tap the three dots at the top of the screen, select 'New invoice' and follow the steps for creating an invoice using the FreeAgent mobile app.

In the ‘Payments enabled’ section, select ‘Manage’.

Next, toggle the ‘GoCardless Instant Bank Pay’ option to on.

If you'd like GoCardless Instant Bank Pay to be selected by default when creating future invoices, find out how to set up default payment settings.

Tap ‘Save’ in the top-right.

Then, select ‘Create invoice & add line items’ and enter the necessary details for the invoice.

When you’re sending the invoice to your customer, toggle ‘Include online payment button’ if you’d like to add a payment button to your invoice email.

How this works for your customers

When your customer receives your invoice via email, they can select the 'View and pay' button that you previously added to your email.

This will take them to the Payment Portal where they can see your invoice, along with the option to pay using their banking app or online banking with GoCardless. Any other payment options you enabled while creating your invoice, such as Tyl by NatWest, Stripe or PayPal, will also be available to them.

Your customer will then be taken to the GoCardless instant payment portal which will ask them to enter their personal details, select their bank, and approve the payment in their specific banking app.

They’ll be given a confirmation once the payment is successfully authorised.

Reconciling invoice payments

If you have enabled auto-reconciliation for GoCardless invoices, FreeAgent will automatically mark the invoice as paid once payment has been received. It will also reconcile the charge that GoCardless has issued to you for using the service.

If you haven’t enabled auto-reconciliation, you will need to mark the invoice as paid and account for the GoCardless charge manually.

Find out more about how the GoCardless integration works.