Anyone know why companies don't accept a bank account as a method of payment?

sheramber

I think the OP means for retail,  online shopping 

Migster

There is the Pay by Bank product/service that was acquired by Mastercard and other similar services exist that use Open Banking to allow online merchants to offer an alternative to card payments, unfortunately, the adoption of this has been very limited to date.

https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/personal/ways-to-pay/pay-by-bank-app.html

DullGreyGuy

These things are often heavily dependent on take up by market.

Many years ago, card payments in any form in Germany were much rarer and so when buying online the most common solution was paying the courier in cash when the item was delivered. When we tried setting up a direct insurer many turned up at the office to buy so we had to walk them across the road to the bank for them to make payment to buy the policy.

In other markets paying online by bank transfer isnt too uncommon but dont know many places that buying in store its used.

DD is a bit of a special case, getting access to it is much harder than accepting payment by card. Rules of the DD scheme mean you have to notify the customer in advance of what you will take so there is a long lag between buying and being paid. Unlike cards the customer can simply demand a refund and so payment is less secure. This still works for utilities or insurance because you simply have to pay month on month but Tesco or Asda would have serious issues having to give everyone 28 day payment terms with such easy ways for the customer to cancel given they can transfer to any other shop on will unlike energy suppliers etc

Band7

I noticed yesterday that it is possible to pay HMRC by Open Banking bank transfer

Sarahspangles

The IT bit behind buying stuff is relevant.  

If you’re choosing to ‘push’ a payment to an organisation they need to link it to you and the service you are paying for.  For example you can buy Premium Bonds when logged into your NS&I account with a debit card but you can also make a bank transfer into the account.  In the latter “push’ transaction you have to enter a reference number to associate the payment with the account.  I bet quite a few people get that bit wrong and then you have an expensive human being trying to resolve a problem.  Government departments and agencies have to offer more options because they’re a public service.  I can’t think of any other organisation I pay with ‘push’ apart from my window cleaner and the friend who maintains my car.  Their protection is that they know me and where I live!

What debit and credit card transactions offer is a way to link the payment to the purchase transaction as it’s happening.  The whole transaction fails and the item remains in your basket if the card transaction fails.  Some retailers will let you ring them instead but it’s expensive to have someone taking payments over the phone, especially if you have to set up to follow the full payment card industry standards.

Band7

Here’s a good blog about the  Pay By Bank OP is asking about.

https://www.chargebackgurus.com/blog/pay-by-bank

lr1277

Gobsh said:

Anyone know why companies don't accept a bank account as a method of payment? 

I have trouble with first direct debit cards and constant verifications and then I get my cards blocked and spend two hours on the phone unblocking them.

I have reliable PayPal account, Google pay and several Bank accounts

Now locked out of my 25 year old Amazon account because I couldn't verify the first direct cards... Again.

Edit:

Just to clarify. Direct Bank account payment method as in Sort Code, Bank Account used by PayPal and eBay as opposed to a debit or credit CARD with expiry date and CVC "associated" with an account

OP I know you didn’t ask this question but why can’t you use your cards for online accounts? I get that you don’t want to spend time verifying your details.
I too have FD debit and credit card and use them for online accounts and transactions. About 18 months ago my keypad expired so I was persuaded to use the app. Now when I need a transaction verifying I do so on the app.
In fact a few months ago I registered my FD credit card on my Amazon account. Ir was seamless. I don’t remember if I used the app or not.
.If it was me I would speak to FD to see why you can’t use your card online. I would suggest using the app if you do not already do so.
Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Edited to replace card with the word transaction.