Stripe BECS Debit Payments

This feature is currently in early access.  If you would like it enabled in your Teachworks account, please send an email to [e-mail].

Teachworks' Stripe Integration supports BECS Debit Payments.  BECS (Bulk Electronic Clearing System) Debit payments are payments that are debited directly from a bank account. 

Requirements

In order to be able to use Stripe's BECS Debit Payments feature, you'll need to ensure you meet the following requirements:

• The Currency in your Teachworks account must be set to "Australian Dollar".
• Your business must be located in Australia.
• You must complete additional identity verification steps with Stripe.

Enabling BECS Debit

1. Click on "Account & Settings" and then click on "Integrations & Add-ons".
2. Click on "Manage" under the Stripe Integration. (If you have not enabled Stripe yet, you can find the steps to do so in the following article: Stripe Integration).
3. Enable the BECS Debit payment feature in the settings page by checking the "Process BECS Direct Debit Payments on Behalf of Clients" box and save your changes.
4. BECS Direct Debit provides a dispute process for bank account holders to dispute payments so you should familiarize yourself with this process if you decide to accept BECS Direct Debit payments.

NOTE: If you don't see BECS as an option under the "Bank Payments" section, it means you haven't completed the identity verification step in Stripe yet.  You can find a guide with more information on verifying your identity here: Stripe Identity.

Adding Bank Details

After you have enabled BECS Debit Payments, your clients will be able to login to their Teachworks account and add their BECS Direct Debit details by following the steps below:

1. Click on "Billing" and then click on "Credit Cards".
2. Under the "Bank Accounts" section, click on "Add Bank Account".
3. Fill out the form.
4. Click on "Submit" to save your Bank Account details.

Processing BECS Debit Payments

If a client has a bank account added to their profile, you will be able to view the "BECS Debit" option under the "Bank Debit" section on the payment form at the bottom of their invoices in your administrator or staff account.

BECS Debit Payment Status

• Unlike credit card payments, which return a result in real time, BECS direct debit payments are not instant. Payments typically takes 2-3 business days to be processed and arrive in your account.
• Payments that are awaiting verification will appear in your Payments table with the status of "Pending".
• If a payment succeeds, the payment will remain in your Payments table and the "Pending" status will be removed.
• If a payment is declined, you will receive an email notification that includes the payment details, which you can use to view the payment in your Stripe account.  When this occurs, the "Pending" payment in your Teachworks account will be removed.  If you would like to view the original attempt, you can navigate to the "Payment Attempts" page in your account, which stores the original attempt and the response received from Stripe for the declined payment.

Refunds & Disputes

• Refunds for payments made with BECS Direct Debit must be issued within 90 days from the date of the original payment. Refunds require additional time to process (typically 3-5 business days). If you accidentally debit your customer, contact them immediately to avoid a payment dispute.
• If you proactively issue your customer a refund while the customer’s bank also initiates the dispute process, your customer may receive two credits for the same transaction. You should follow the refund guidelines to avoid this.
• For up to 7 years, a customer can dispute a debit payment through their bank on a “no questions asked” basis. Their bank honors all disputes within this period. If they dispute a charge and their bank accepts the request to return the funds, Stripe immediately removes the funds from your Stripe account.

Limitations

BECS direct debit transactions have a default limit of $1,500 AUD per transaction and $4,500 AUD per week. If you need higher limits, you will need to contact Stripe's support.