Service Detail: Direct Debit Scheme
Pilot Scheme
Initially Bank of St. Helena is running Direct Debit as a pilot scheme. Once the pilot has been successfully completed other billing organisations will be able to participate. As with all pilot schemes, the bank reserves the right to discontinue the pilot before its scheduled end and has no commitment to carry the pilot forward into a full scheme.
Participants in the pilot scheme are:
Scheme Description
Direct Debit is a way of paying bills automatically. It differs from a Standing Order in that the amount is variable, according to the size of the bill, and in that the debit action is initiated by the Billing Organisation. Banks worldwide offer Direct Debit to their customers.
In essence, to use Direct Debit the customer gives authority to the bank to pay bills automatically from their account. The customer can withdraw this authority at any time, but while the authority remains the bank will settle from the customer's nominated account any properly constructed bill presented to it by the biling organisation.
The scheme contains a number of protections which ensure that:
Only organisations with an organised and reliable billing process can participate in the scheme;
The customer has adequate opportunity to query and have amended the bill before it is settled;
The customer can withdraw the authority at any time.
Papers setting out the rules for Billing Organisations' and Customers' operation of the Bank of St. Helena Direct Debit Scheme can be downloaded from this site.
If you have any queries about the operation of the Direct Debit Scheme please contact the bank.
Scheme Logo
For ease of identification, the Bank of St. Helena Direct Debit Scheme has its own logo, which appears in one of the following forms on all documents:
Eligible Accounts
Direct Debits can only be taken from a Current Account.
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