Smart Debit Analyse Direct Debit Trends For 2000-2011 From New BACS Report

Banks Automated Clearing Services) Payment Schemes Limited are responsible for organising and governing electronic payments including Direct Credit and Debit. Bacs/SiteCollectionDocuments/Processing_stats.pdf">report reveals that generally, the number of Direct Debits has steadily increased in the last eleven years (2000-11). The total number of Direct Debits in 2011 stood at a new high of 3.32billion whereas five years ago, in 2006, the total was 2.85bn.

The sectors with the greatest volumes of Direct Debits in 2011 were:
*figures represented are in thousands*

• Telephone billing: 395,665 (221,382 in 2006)
• Non-life insurance total: 362,790 (431,231 in 2006)
• Subscriptions: 300,566 (208,806 in 2006)

The sectors with the greatest volumes of Direct Debit in 2006 were:
*figures represented are in thousands*

• Non-life insurance total: 431,231 (362,790 in 2011)
• Life insurance premiums: 374,009 (281,955 in 2011)
• Telephone billing: 221,382 (395,665 in 2011)

The report backs up the claims that electronic payments, especially Direct Debits, are the preferred method of payment in the UK. The research also supports the general opinion of declining cheque usage which appears to be becoming one-step closer to extinct each year.

The research shows that the sectors that have experienced the most change in the last five years were:
*figures represented are in thousands*

-Telephone billing : up 174,283
-Retail sales: up 99,598
-Subscriptions: up 91,760

Life insurance premiums also underwent a substantial change over the years with a decrease of 92,054 since 2006.

A member of the Smart Debit team shares her thoughts on the change in behaviour of Direct Debits:

“It’s not surprising that the number of Direct Debits has increased across most industry sectors in the last five or ten years, especially considering the fact that most utility providers or subscription services no longer accept non-electronic payments. The report would suggest that following the recession of 2008, people are generally changing their financial behaviours, with many prioritising their income spending less on luxuries and more on necessities. This seems especially true when analysing the figures concerning life insurance, house renting and savings contributions.”
SmartDebit are the UK’s leading Direct Debit Bureau, specialising in payment processing services since 1998. A Bacs approved Bureau, scoring ‘Excellent’ in all five categories of the Bacs audit, and ISO 27001 compliant. Providing a complete range of services: Outsourcing; SmartDebit-Admin cloud based portal; SmartDebit-Online payer sign up; SmartDebit-API integrated solution and SmartDebit-Contingency.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/9/prweb9834666.htm