Glossary
Australia BECS Direct Debit
Australia BECS Direct Debit is a bank debit that pulls AUD from a customer’s Australian bank account under a Direct Debit Request, with the payment confirmed two business days after submission and open to a no-questions-asked dispute for up to 7 years.
Also called: BECS, BECS debit, Australian direct debit, au_becs_debit, Direct Debit Request, DDR
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Definition
BECS Direct Debit is a pull payment. Instead of the customer sending money, the business asks the customer’s bank to send it, under an authority the customer gave in advance. The debits run through Australia’s Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), which is why the Stripe API calls the payment method au_becs_debit.
On Stripe, only accounts in Australia can accept BECS Direct Debit, and only in AUD. The customer gives their name, BSB number and account number, and accepts the Direct Debit Request (DDR) and its Service Agreement, which Stripe can generate for you. The payment then sits in a processing state, and Stripe says it can take up to three business days to learn whether it succeeded or failed.
The defining feature of BECS is the gap between how fast it settles and how long it stays open. Funds are usually available two business days after submission, but the customer can dispute the payment through their bank for up to 7 years, and the bank honors every dispute in that window.
Key points
- +BECS Direct Debit collects AUD only, from an Australian bank account, for Stripe accounts in Australia.
- +Payments created before 18:30 Melbourne time on a business day are submitted that day. The customer is debited at T+0, and Stripe marks the payment successful and makes the funds available at T+2, at 00:00 UTC.
- +New users have a default limit of 10,000 AUD per transaction and 10,000 AUD per week. Stripe support can raise it.
- +The mandate is called a Direct Debit Request. The customer can cancel it at any time through you or their bank, and Stripe sends mandate.updated when it becomes inactive.
- +Customers can dispute a payment for up to 7 years on a no-questions-asked basis. Disputes are final and cannot be appealed.
- +Refunds must be issued within 90 days of the payment and take 3 to 5 business days. A refund does not stop a later dispute.
- +With Direct Debit retries switched on in Stripe Billing, Stripe retries an insufficient-funds failure up to 4 times, within 30 days of the original attempt.
- +Stripe’s Australian pricing is 1% + A$0.30 per payment, capped at A$3.50, plus A$2.50 per failed payment and A$2.50 per disputed payment.
How a BECS Direct Debit moves through Stripe
A BECS payment is generally submitted on the day it is created. A payment created after the 18:30 Melbourne cutoff, or on a non-business day, is submitted the next business day. The customer’s account is debited at T+0, and Stripe’s standard settlement marks the payment successful and makes the funds available in the Stripe balance at T+2, at 00:00 UTC. That is 11:00 in Melbourne during daylight saving time.
The two business days are where month ends get awkward. A run submitted on Friday 30 October succeeds on Tuesday 3 November, so the customer’s money left their account in October but the payment is only final in November. Stripe also exposes an expected_debit_date on the charge, an estimate of when the customer’s account is debited that can differ from the actual date.
BECS works with Checkout, Payment Links, Elements, Invoicing, Subscriptions and Connect. For a subscription, one Direct Debit Request covers every billing period until the customer cancels it.
Direct Debit Requests, notifications and the lodgement reference
In Australia a direct debit mandate is called a Direct Debit Request, or DDR. It records the customer’s name, BSB and account number, and the customer must also accept the DDR Service Agreement. A customer can cancel a DDR at any time by contacting their bank or your business, and a cancelled DDR invalidates every future debit until you collect a new one. Stripe sends mandate.updated when a mandate becomes inactive, whether the customer cancelled it or a permanent debit failure ended it.
The scheme advises telling the customer when the mandate is set up and each time you debit their account. Stripe sends these emails by default, with the pre-debit notice going out the day before the debit. The scheme’s guidelines suggest 14 calendar days of notice, but that is not mandatory.
Each debit shows the business name and a lodgement reference on the customer’s bank statement. The reference is the first 9 alphanumeric characters of your statement descriptor followed by a unique ID, so a descriptor of ROCKETRIDES appears as ROCKETRID_ followed by the ID. Some banks print it in all capitals or all lowercase.
Failures, retries, disputes and refunds
A failure happens before the payment is final, typically because of insufficient funds. Each failed payment costs A$2.50. With Stripe Billing’s Direct Debit retries switched on, Stripe retries an insufficient-funds failure up to 4 times, no more than 30 days after the original attempt, and does not charge a failure fee for the retries it starts automatically.
A dispute happens after the payment succeeds, through the customer’s bank. For up to 7 years the customer can dispute a payment on a no-questions-asked basis, and the bank honors every dispute in that window. Stripe removes the funds from your balance immediately, deducts the A$2.50 dispute fee, and sends charge.dispute.created and charge.dispute.closed. You cannot appeal. If the customer later agrees to pay, they make a new payment.
A refund is your choice, but only within 90 days of the original payment. It takes 3 to 5 business days and reaches the customer as an unlabeled credit that references the original statement descriptor. A refund on a payment that has not completed waits until the charge succeeds, and is cancelled if the charge fails. Because a refund does not prevent a dispute, a customer who also calls their bank can be credited twice. Stripe’s advice is to tell the customer you are refunding, tell them how long it takes, and refund only after the original payment has fully settled.
What it costs
Stripe’s Australian pricing page lists BECS Direct Debit at 1% + A$0.30 per successful payment, capped at A$3.50, plus A$2.50 for each failed payment and A$2.50 for each disputed payment.
The cap takes over at A$320, because 1% of A$320 plus A$0.30 is exactly A$3.50. Every larger payment costs the same A$3.50, so a A$1,200 monthly retainer costs A$3.50 to collect and a A$89 membership costs A$1.19.
The failure and dispute fees are costs with no sale attached. A ledger that tracks only sales and processing fees drifts from the Stripe balance by A$2.50 every time a debit bounces or a customer disputes, so those fees need a line of their own.
How BECS Direct Debit payments reach QuickBooks with Acodei
When Acodei’s daily scan finds a pending charge, such as a BECS payment that is still processing, it creates an individual transaction for it and sends it through the same real-time path as any other sale, rather than putting an unsettled amount into a daily summary. The charge is marked succeeded when Stripe’s webhook confirms settlement. If it fails, the entry is reversed on the failure date and included as a line item on the daily balance summary.
Disputes are a different balance transaction type. Stripe records them as adjustments, which you map once in Acodei under Balance Transaction Mapping on the Account Mapping page, either to your refunds account or to a separate expense account for disputes. Acodei then processes them in the daily balance summary or with the payout, depending on your settings. If Adjustments are not mapped yet, the payout that contains the dispute does not sync, and you resync the deposit once the mapping is in place.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does a BECS Direct Debit take on Stripe?
Stripe debits the customer on the day the payment is submitted and marks a standard BECS payment successful two business days later (T+2, at 00:00 UTC), when the funds also become available. A payment created before 18:30 Melbourne time on a business day is submitted the same day. Stripe says it can take up to three business days to learn of a failure.
How long can a customer dispute a BECS Direct Debit?
Up to 7 years. Stripe states that a customer can dispute a BECS payment through their bank on a no-questions-asked basis for up to 7 years, and the bank honors every dispute in that window. Stripe removes the funds and a A$2.50 fee immediately, and you cannot submit evidence or appeal.
What is a Direct Debit Request?
A Direct Debit Request (DDR) is the BECS name for a mandate. It records the customer’s name, BSB and account number, and comes with a Service Agreement the customer accepts. It authorizes you to debit the account until the customer cancels it through you or their bank. Stripe can generate the DDR for you.
Where do BECS Direct Debit disputes go in QuickBooks with Acodei?
Wherever you map Stripe adjustments. In Acodei, disputes are mapped once under Balance Transaction Mapping on the Account Mapping page, either to your refunds account or to a separate expense account. Because BECS disputes cannot be won and can arrive years after the sale, a dedicated dispute expense account keeps those losses visible on their own line.
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Related reading
- Stripe BECS Direct Debit in QuickBooks
- Stripe PayTo in QuickBooks
- Canadian Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD)
- SEPA Direct Debit
- Stripe Mandate
- Stripe balance transaction mapping in QuickBooks
More glossary terms
- Undeposited Funds
- Stripe Balance Transaction
- Available vs Pending Balance
- Stripe Dispute
- Stripe Dispute Evidence
- Stripe Fee
- Stripe Balance Adjustment
- QuickBooks Credit Memo
- Stripe Tax
- QuickBooks Tax Code
- Stripe Reserve
- Stripe Tax Rate
- Stripe Fee Credit
- Stripe Credit Note
- QuickBooks Product/Service Item
- Stripe Payout
- QuickBooks Sales Receipt
- QuickBooks Bank Deposit
- QuickBooks Transfer
- Stripe Authorization Hold
- QuickBooks Refund Receipt
- QuickBooks Payment
- QuickBooks Expense
- QuickBooks Journal Entry
- Stripe Financial Account
- Holding Account
- Accounts Receivable
- Bank Feed
- Deferred Revenue
- Stripe PaymentIntent
- Stripe Checkout Session
- Stripe SetupIntent
- Stripe PaymentMethod
- Stripe Charge
- Stripe Refund
- QuickBooks Invoice
- QuickBooks Class Tracking
- QuickBooks Location Tracking
- QuickBooks Project
- QuickBooks Closing Date
- Stripe Invoice Line Item
- Stripe Proration
- Stripe Invoice Status
- Stripe Shipping Rate
- Stripe Transfer
- Stripe Mandate
- Stripe on_behalf_of
- Stripe Invoice Item
- QuickBooks Estimate
- Stripe Invoice Payment
- Stripe Invoice Payment Settings
- Stripe Billing Meter
- Stripe Invoice Template
- Stripe Price
- Stripe Subscription Schedule
- Stripe Subscription Item
- QuickBooks Recurring Transaction
- QuickBooks Sub-Customer
- QuickBooks Audit Log
- QuickBooks Bank Rule
- Stripe Subscription Status
- Stripe Mixed Interval Subscription
- Stripe Trial Settings
- QuickBooks Payment Terms
- Stripe Pending Update
- QuickBooks Tags
- QuickBooks Credit Card Credit
- QuickBooks Vendor Credit
- QuickBooks Bill
- QuickBooks Delayed Charge
- Stripe Billing Mode
- QuickBooks Billable Expense
- Stripe Customer Cash Balance
- QuickBooks Purchase Order
- QuickBooks Opening Balance
- QuickBooks Account Type
- QuickBooks Sales Tax Center
- Stripe Webhook
- Stripe Metadata
- Stripe Outbound Payment
- Stripe Received Credit
- Stripe Outbound Transfer
- Stripe Inbound Transfer
- Stripe Received Debit
- Stripe Payout Method
- Stripe Financial Account Transaction
- Stripe Financial Address
- Stripe Application Fee
- Stripe Connected Account
- Stripe Destination Charge
- Stripe Separate Charges and Transfers
- Stripe Direct Charge
- Stripe Payment Method Configuration
- Stripe Dynamic Payment Methods
- Stripe Payment Method Rules
- QuickBooks Bundle
- Stripe Account Capability
- Stripe Merchant of Record
- Stripe Data Pipeline
- Settlement Currency
- Hosted Invoice Page
- Stripe Customer
- Stripe Product
- QuickBooks Home Currency
- QuickBooks Exchange Gain or Loss
- QuickBooks Trial Balance
- QuickBooks General Ledger Report
- QuickBooks Retained Earnings
- QuickBooks Profit and Loss Report
- QuickBooks Balance Sheet Report
- QuickBooks Account Register
- QuickBooks Reclassify Transactions
- QuickBooks A/R Aging Report
- QuickBooks Sales Tax Liability Report
- QuickBooks Sales Tax Payable
- Stripe Tax Transaction
- Stripe Tax Location Report
- Stripe Tax Summarized Export
- Stripe Tax Itemized Export
- Stripe Product Tax Code
- QuickBooks Vendor
- Economic Nexus
- Reverse Charge
- Stripe Statement Descriptor
- Stripe Taxability Reason
- Stripe Tax Filing Currency
- Stripe Tax Cross-Border Goods Option
- Stripe Tax Threshold Monitoring
- QuickBooks Uncategorized Income
- QuickBooks Sales by Product/Service Report
- QuickBooks Sales by Customer Report
- QuickBooks Group Tax Rate
- Form 1099-NEC
- SEPA Direct Debit
- Bacs Direct Debit
- Canadian Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD)
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