BECS direct debit in Australia

This article will walk you through the steps needed to enable BECS in Fundraise Up, including the steps you’ll need to take in Stripe to ensure that transactions are processed and handled correctly. It will also give you an insight into the donor experience when giving via BECS in your Checkout form.

Overview

Please note that BECS will not appear for supporters outside of Australia or who wish to donate in a currency other than AUD.

Processing fees

Payment processor fees on BECS donations are 1% + 0.30 AUD with a 3.50 AUD cap. The fee is 2.50 AUD for failures and disputes.

Step 1: Enable BECS in Stripe

In order for BECS to work in Fundraise Up, it must first be enabled in Stripe.

1. Go to your Stripe dashboard.
2. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen and click Settings.
3. In the Payments section, select Payment methods.
4. Locate BECS Direct Debit and click Turn on.

Step 2: Disable Stripe's BECS emails

Stripe has a series of emails to assist with account verification and payment confirmation, which are unnecessary if you're using our BECS solution as we allow you to customize versions of those emails from Fundraise Up. If you don’t disable the Stripe BECS email set, supporters will receive two sets of emails that will contain differing content.

Take the following steps to disable Stripe's BECS debit emails.

1. Go to your Stripe dashboard.
2. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen and click Settings.
3. Scroll down to Business settings and, in the Your business block, click Emails.
4. In the Customer emails section, toggle off Send BECS Australia mandate and debit initiation emails.

Step 3: Enable BECS in Fundraise Up

If your Fundraise Up account is connected to an Australian Stripe account, the Payment Options screen will provide options for the enabling of BECS. You can enable BECS by following these steps:

1. Go to the Fundraise Up Dashboard.
2. Click your name in the top right, and choose Settings from the dropdown menu.
3. Click Payment methods in the left-hand menu.
4. Click on to BECS (Australian Direct Debit).
5. Confirm that you've done the following, as instructed on the setup screen and as covered above:
   • enabled BECS within Stripe
   • disabled Stripe's default BECS emails
6. Click the Enable BECS button. Supporters with Australian bank accounts will now be able to donate directly from those bank accounts in your Fundraise Up Checkout forms.

Step 4: Review how supporters pay with BECS

When a supporter gets to the Payment Options screen of the Checkout form, as long as their donation is 2 AUD or higher (which most recurring donations will be, as the default minimum amount is 5 AUD), they'll see a Direct Debit button.

If they click the button to pay via BECS, they'll be taken to a screen where they can provide their BSB Number and Account Number, as in the following example screen taken from a Checkout modal.

BECS in the Virtual Terminal

The Checkout experience is mirrored in the Virtual Terminal; for donations made in AUD, you can select BECS Direct Debit as the payment method and provide the supporter's BSB Number and Account Number to process their donation via BECS.

Step 5: Customize confirmation and verification emails

When supporters make BECS donations, they will receive emails from Fundraise Up. These emails can be managed and customized from your Fundraise Up account. They can be adjusted both centrally from the Emails section of your Dashboard Settings, and on a per-campaign basis using the controls in each campaign's Emails tab.

Supporters giving via BECS will always receive the "Bank Mandate" email containing the details of their mandate, as an email containing this information is required by regulators. It also includes legal text (sourced from Stripe) below their agreement, outlining the donor's entitlements in regards to their BECS payment. The mandate details are added below the content configured in the Bank Mandate email settings tab.

The "Donation in progress" email is separate and can be turned off if desired. To configure and view this text, navigate to the Email Templates section of your Dashboard Settings and click Donation in progress in the left-hand menu.

Receipt delivery timeframes

Supporters will only receive the applicable "Receipt" email templates once their donation has been marked as Successful, which can only be done once Stripe lets Fundraise Up know that the donation is past the window where Stripe could have been sent (and passed along) any notifications of payment failure.

As such, for new donations and first installments of new recurring plans, receiving the "Receipt" email can take up to 4 business days. For subsequent installments of recurring plans, receiving the "Recurring installment receipt" email can take up to 3 business days, because the initial authorization is already complete.