BECS Direct Debit
Reach out to BlueSnap Merchant Support to enable this payment method.
BECS Direct Debit is a popular Australian payment method where money is electronically withdrawn from the shopper’s bank account and deposited into the merchant’s own bank account. BECS Direct Debit transactions are monitored by our built-in fraud prevention capabilities, just like credit card transactions.
Benefits
- Boost your sales in Australia by reaching additional shoppers who do not use credit cards or other payment methods.
- Eliminate the need for paper checks and instead enable customers to provide their payment info online.
- Store shopper account information for easier repeat purchases.
- Enjoy transaction costs that are typically lower than credit card transactions.
- Reduce issues with failed payments due to failed or invalid cards, since bank accounts do not have an expiration date, and your shoppers rarely switch banks.
- Solution for B2B transactions and other payments for high-cost items where a credit card limit could be exceeded.
Supported Currencies
Australian Dollar (AUD)
Supported Shopper Countries
Australia
Transaction Processing
These are the main steps involved in processing BECS Direct Debit transactions:
- On the checkout page, your shopper selects BECS Direct Debit and enters their BSB number, account number, and personal details.
- Once they have entered their info, the shopper accepts the mandate authorizing their account to be debited and submits payment.
- When your shopper submits the transaction, BlueSnap verifies that the BSB number corresponds to a financial institution.
- If the BSB number is valid: BlueSnap creates an invoice in pending status and sends the transaction for processing.
- If the BSB number is not valid: BlueSnap returns an error message and the transaction is not sent for processing.
- Within 2 business days the bank will notify BlueSnap if the payment was declined.
- If the payment was declined: BlueSnap will update the status of the invoice to be canceled and a Decline IPN will be sent.
- If BlueSnap does not receive the notification within this timeframe, the invoice status will be set to approved.
- If the bank sends a declined status after 3 business days, the invoice status will be set to refunded.
Notes
- We have validation criteria in place and will return an error if an invalid account number is entered.
- We recommend delivering the product only after you receive the approval.
Chargebacks
Your shopper has 90 days to dispute the debit on their account. If this occurs, BlueSnap removes the funds from your account, and the invoice status is updated to refunded. Please note that some banks might allow a longer timeframe for reversals. Learn more below.
BlueSnap Declines
We have improved our validation, making it more comprehensive and decreasing the chance of rejection from the banks. You might see higher decline rates from BlueSnap, but keep in mind that these declines act as protection from a rejection fee, since the transaction likely would have been declined by the bank.
Resolving Payment Rejections
Payments can be rejected for a variety of reasons, including insufficient funds. To resolve a payment rejection, the shopper may provide an alternative payment method and resubmit the charge.
BlueSnap Checkout and API Integrations
To process BECS Direct Debit transactions via BlueSnap Checkout or API Integrations, make sure that you enable this payment method. Learn more about how to do that here.
This payment method is only supported with BlueSnap Checkout and automatically appears to shoppers in Australia once it has been enabled.
If you are using BlueSnap's API, please see our API guide for BECS Direct Debit.
Sandbox Testing
You may use the following bank credentials to test various scenarios.
Simulate declined transaction*
Account Number:9990000004
BSB Number:980201
Simulate approved transaction*
Account Number:9990000001
BSB Number:980201
* After the initial transaction request, you will see the status change within an hour.
Transaction Amount Requirements
BECS Direct Debit requires that transactions don't exceed 99,999,999,999 AUD.
Subscriptions
BlueSnap supports subscriptions with BECS Direct Debit.
Note that the following types of subscriptions are not supported:
- Daily Subscriptions
- Weekly Subscriptions
- Subscriptions with Trial
Refunds
Refunds can only be processed after the shopper's account has been debited and the invoice status has changed to approved:
- If you request a refund while the invoice is pending (before the shopper's account has been debited), you will receive an error message informing you the transaction has not yet settled.
- If you request a refund after the invoice status has been updated to approved, BlueSnap removes the funds from your account and updates the invoice status to refunded.
Partial refunds and multi-partial refunds are not supported. If either is attempted, you will receive an error message.
You can issue a refund through the Merchant Portal. For details, see Issuing a Refund.
Chargebacks
Chargebacks can be requested by the shopper after the date on which their account was debited (i.e., debit date). The way chargebacks are handled depends on how long after the debit date the chargeback was requested.
Within 90 days of debit date
Chargebacks requested within 90 days of the debit date are automatically honored. This means that if a chargeback occurs within these 90 days, the shopper's account is credited. BlueSnap removes the funds from your account and the invoice status updates to refunded. Merchants who wish to challenge or represent chargebacks should contact BlueSnap support to request the relevant payment details and then contact the shopper's issuing bank directly.
More than 90 days after debit date
Chargebacks cannot occur more than 90 days after the debit date.
Return Codes
A transaction may be returned or reversed by a bank for various reasons. The following is a list of BECS return codes, or reasons for reversal:
Code: RC02
Reason: 1 - Invalid Bank ID
Code: MD01
Reason: 2 - Authority Cancelled
Code: MD01
Reason: 7 - No Authority
Code: NARR
Reason: 6 - Refer to Customer
Code: NARR
Reason: 9 or any other code - Other
Action: Do not retry. Contact the customer to resolve the issue.
Code: AC04
Reason: 3 - Account Closed
Action: Do not retry. Contact the customer to confirm their account information.
Code: MD07
Reason: 4 - Deceased Account
Action: Do not retry.
Code: AC01
Reason: 5 - Invalid Account Number
Action: Do not retry. Contact the customer for another form of payment or different bank account information.
Updated 2 months ago