FastPay has been providing clients of all shapes and sizes across the country with an easy-to-set-up, cost effective and efficient Direct Debit service since 2008.
Our many happy clients span numerous industries from schools to IT support, gyms to private healthcare.
We also work with businesses in the equipment leasing sector, including copiersandprinters.co.uk. Read on to find out how setting up a Direct Debit scheme with FastPay helped this equipment leasing company streamline its customer payments, improve cash flow, and save time and money.
Direct Debit from the Start
Alan Clark, Managing Director of copiersandprinters.co.uk, had previously worked in the equipment leasing sector and knew when he set up his own business that he needed to collect customers’ regular payments via Direct Debit.
He said: “Having worked for a supplier previously in our industry I knew that we needed to make collections via Direct Debit a priority. Chasing clients for small and constantly variable invoice values, or in some cases large values, would have made running our organisation a great deal more difficult.”
From the start, Alan outsourced his Direct Debit collections to FastPay, making his equipment leasing business run more efficiently.
FastPay Acts as Credit Control
Alan considers FastPay an extension of his business, acting as his credit control team. The service we provide is branded with the copiersandprinters.co.uk name on bank statements so that Alan’s clients can quickly recognise who is collecting their payment. FastPay also flags immediately to Alan’s finance staff if any Direct Debit is returned or cancelled.
This fast reporting of unsuccessful Direct Debits means Alan and his team can quickly follow up with customers to resolve issues and organise for the Direct Debit to be collected on another agreed date.
As Alan explains, “Direct Debit allows us the freedom to use FastPay as our ‘Credit Control’ Department in the sense that they collect the money in our name, on our behalf. The very few that run into problems are then quickly highlighted and we can deal with that small number.”
Direct Debit Enables Business Growth
FastPay’s Direct Debit service enables leasing equipment businesses to focus on expanding their core offering rather than chasing late invoices.
“Without the facility provided by FastPay, we’d have to chase many invoices which would mean we can’t get on with building future sales, which is the only way our business will grow,” Alan said.
Outsourcing and automating time-consuming tasks, such as collecting payments, allows staff to be more productive and dedicated to marketing and sales growth activities.
Alternative Payment Methods were Non-Starters
Collecting payments using Direct Debit gives control to copiersandprinters.co.uk. Once a customer signs a Direct Debit mandate, they’re authorising their bank to allow payments to be collected by the approved company. These payments can be of varying amounts and on different days, provided the customer is informed in advance.
This control meant that Alan and his team no longer had to rely on the customer changing their Standing Order with their bank, or using unreliable alternative payment methods such as paying over the phone with a debit or credit card, or by posting a cheque.
He said: “Because our invoices can be monthly or quarterly and of varying amounts on each occasion, plus the need for annual increases in charges, it was clear that the restrictions on other methods like Standing Orders (which you rely on a client to implement) made those alternatives a non-starter. With FastPay we have the control.”
The Easy-To-Use Procedure is a ‘Joy’
We’re dedicated to providing a simple and straightforward service to our clients. Our goal is to make payment processes easier by using Direct Debit. Alan can attest to this:
“The fact that we raise invoices to our clients and simply add them to a very simple spreadsheet that we send on to FastPay and the money appears in our account a few days later is an absolute joy.”
A Money-Saving Service
Just as your leasing equipment company helps to save customers money in the long run, FastPay acts in a similar way.
In the long term, it’s cheaper to outsource this service rather than attempt to manage it in-house. Employing an internal credit controller or upskilling staff and investing in the relevant software to directly submit Direct Debits, rather than through a third-party such as FastPay, has large upfront and ongoing cost implications. Just like buying office furniture or equipment.
Alan notes that FastPay is, “cheaper than using factoring companies or employing an internal credit controller.”
Cash Flow Is Better with Direct Debit
Receiving customer payments via Direct Debit improves a company’s cash flow. An anticipated amount clears into your bank account on a known date. This allows you to better manage your cash forecasting and ensure you have the funds to pay your suppliers, staff and business overheads each and every month.
“The few that refuse to join the Direct Debit scheme are a real pain as we end up chasing debt that is many months old. The constant waiting for a cheque to appear through the letterbox day after day means we’re simply not controlling our cash flow effectively. No such problems with the FastPay Direct Debit collections!” Alan said.
Saves a Huge Amount of Time
Our service saves customers a significant amount of time. It eliminates the need to manually process payments each month as well as the time involved in contacting customers with reminders or chasing up unpaid invoices.
As Alan explains, “Having used FastPay for some considerable time now, we just couldn’t or wouldn’t want to live without their very simple and highly effective collection system. The many hours, days and weeks their collection service has saved us has come for a very small price.”
Recommend to Any Business That Regularly Collects Money from Clients
Alan at copiersandprinters.co.uk is just one of our happy customers. We enjoy many new business enquiries prompted by word-of-mouth recommendations from our existing clients.
“We have and will continue to recommend this service to any organisation that needs to collect money from their clients. It only remains for us to add what a great job they do on our behalf,” Alan commented.
Do You Regularly Collect Money from Your Customers?
If you’re looking to streamline the way you collect your customers’ recurring payments, then Direct Debit should be your number one option.
Whether your business is leasing equipment or not, as the endorsement from Alan at copiersandprinters.co.uk proves, outsourcing this job to FastPay is fast, efficient, cost-effective and reliable.
What are you waiting for? Get in touch with FastPay today.
