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How Does Bank Direct Debits Work

Delayed payment methods such as SEPA and BACS Direct Debits direct debits follow a different flow compared to instant payments such as cards or digital wallets, because there is a time gap between when a payment is initiated and when the money actually arrives.

Here’s how it works:

Recurring Memberships

When a student purchases a membership using a Direct Debit, their membership will immediately "Successful""Active" in MAAT and Stripe, but you will see the payment as "Pending" in Stripe and an invoice with the status "Open".

This happens because:

  • The payment has been requested

  • But the funds have not yet been received in the account

During this period the student is allowed to train


What Happens Next

If the payment is successful:

  • The membership remains active in MAAT and Stripe

  • The Invoice appears as "Paid" in Stripe

  • The Payment appears as "Successful" in Stripe

This will be repeated each month: payments will renew automatically without delay in MAAT, but will show as "Pending" in Stripe.

The system assumes the payment will go through unless it fails

If the payment fails:

  • The membership will be marked as Unpaid

  • The student will not be able to attend classes

  • They must retry the payment until it is "Successful" and the money is collected.


Drop-Ins with Delayed Payments

When a Drop-In is purchased with a Direct Debit via MAAT it will appear as "Pending" in the App.

They will be able to book classes accordingly to the Drop In bundle they bought

  • If the payment is successful, they are marked as "Active" inside MAAT.

  • If the payment fails, they are marked as "Unpaid" inside MAAT; you or they have to retry the payment, and this status will persist until the payment is marked as "Successful" in Stripe, meaning the money was recovered correctly


Membership Upgrades & Downgrades

When a membership is upgraded or downgraded:

  • The change is immediately reflected in MAAT

  • However, it is only confirmed in Stripe once the payment is successfully processed

If the payment fails:

  • The student will automatically revert to their previous membership

Note:

For delayed payment methods such as BACS and SEPA Direct Debit, there is no automatic retry for failed payments; you can retry the payment, but this has to be done manually by you on MAAT or Stripe, or by the students on MAAT.

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