DebiCheck for lenders: how mandates work and what to do when a collection fails

What DebiCheck is

DebiCheck is the name for Authenticated Collections: a debit order the customer confirms electronically with their own bank before the first collection. The SARB directive defines authentication as the payer confirming the prescribed elements of the mandate and authorising their bank to debit the account in line with it. The bank stores the mandate and checks every collection against it. A collection outside the agreed terms is rejected.

DebiCheck collections run in the earliest processing window, directly after bulk credits such as salaries. For a lender that is the point: on payday the instalment is collected soon after the salary lands.

The SARB asked PASA in July 2013 to fix early debit orders after disputes and abuse grew in the AEDO and NAEDO systems. Directive No. 1 of 2017 set the rules. DebiCheck went live on 31 October 2019, no new AEDO or NAEDO agreements were allowed from 1 May 2021, and both systems stopped on 31 October 2021. Contracts not migrated by then had to be collected as EFT debit orders.

Who runs it now. On 11 August 2026 the SARB began withdrawing PASA's recognition as the payment system management body. From 2 September 2026 PayInc manages the clearing arrangements for EFT debits and credits, Authenticated Collections (DebiCheck), Registered Mandate and PayShap, while the SARB took over rules, authorisation and the registration of system operators and third-party payment providers (TPPPs). Debit orders keep running as normal, and existing authorisations and registrations remain valid unless the SARB decides otherwise.

NAEDO vs DebiCheck and the other debit orders

The column that matters to a lender is the dispute column. When a customer disputes an EFT debit order, the bank must reverse it with no questions asked and without testing whether it was valid. A DebiCheck debit that matches the mandate stays collected.

DebiCheck mandate types: TT1, TT2 and TT3

• TT1, real time. You send the request while the customer is with you, in the branch, on the phone or online. The customer approves on their banking app or USSD menu, normally within 120 seconds. A delayed real-time request can be approved later the same day.
• TT2, batch. Requests go to the banks in a batch and the customer approves later, usually by the next business day. If the customer ignores it, the request expires and you must send a new one.
• TT3, card and PIN. The customer inserts their bank card and enters their PIN on a device at your premises. Approval is immediate.

How the customer approves depends on their bank: banking app, USSD, cellphone or internet banking, ATM, branch or bank card. Banks never send approval links or ask for PINs or passwords, so tell customers to approve only on their bank's own channel, and check that the bank has their current cellphone number.

The mandate carries the details the bank will test: your name as the collector, the contract reference, the instalment amount, the first collection date and frequency, the maximum collection amount, the debit value type (fixed, variable or usage-based), any annual adjustment, and whether tracking and date adjustment are allowed. Under the industry rules as payment providers apply them, the maximum collection amount on a fixed or variable mandate may be at most 1.5 times the instalment.

For loans, get approval before you pay out. Use TT1 or TT3 at signing. A TT2 request the customer never answers leaves you with a disbursed loan and no DebiCheck mandate.

Can a customer reverse or cancel a DebiCheck debit order?

Reverse: not if the debit matches the mandate. A valid DebiCheck debit order is non-disputable, because the customer authorised it electronically through their bank. The customer can dispute only a debit whose amount or date differs from what they approved.

New dispute rules from 13 April 2026. The window to dispute EFT and Registered Mandate debit orders is now 60 days from the debit, down from up to 365 days. EFT debits disputed within the 60 days are reversed immediately; after 60 days the bank no longer handles the dispute and the customer must deal with the creditor directly. Valid DebiCheck debits remain non-disputable.

Suspend: the customer can ask their bank to stop future DebiCheck debits. That does not cancel the loan agreement. The instalments remain owed; the collection simply fails.

Cancel: only the creditor cancels a DebiCheck mandate. Cancel it as soon as the loan is settled: if debits carry on after the contract ends, the customer may dispute or stop them. If a customer rejects a mandate, the loan agreement still binds them and you may collect another way.

Tracking and date changes

Tracking is the automatic re-presentment of a collection that failed for lack of funds, and it works only if the mandate authorises it. You set the number of tracking days per collection, up to 10, and the customer's bank checks the account several times a day for money to arrive.

Date adjustment. If the mandate allows it, a collection due on a Sunday or public holiday can go through on the previous or next business day. If it does not, a collection presented on any day other than the agreed date is rejected.

Payday changes. The collection date does not move when the customer's pay date moves. To collect on a new date or for a new amount, send an amended mandate for the customer to approve; until they approve it, the old terms apply. Example: a customer paid on the last day of the month starts a job that pays on the 25th. Your R1,150 collection on the 30th now arrives five days after the salary, when the money may be gone. Tracking may catch the next deposit within 10 days; an amended mandate for the 25th fixes it for good.

Why DebiCheck collections fail

• Insufficient funds on the collection date, because the salary was late or already spent.
• Payday moved, so the mandate date no longer matches when money arrives.
• Mandate never approved: the request expired or the customer rejected it, so there is nothing to collect against.
• Wrong amount or date on the mandate: the bank rejects any collection outside the approved terms, and a change needs fresh approval.
• Account closed or customer changed banks: a mandate is tied to one account, and the new account needs a new mandate.
• Stop payment: the customer suspended the mandate at their bank.

What to do after a failed collection

1. Read the unpaid reason in your bank's or TPPP's report the same day. The fix depends on it.
2. Let tracking run if it is still active, and do not present a second collection on top of it.
3. Contact the customer within a day or two, in their language. Confirm their pay date, their bank and what they can pay.
4. Fix the mandate: send an amended mandate for a new date or amount, or a new mandate for a new account. Use TT1 while you have the customer on the phone.
5. Agree a plan in writing if the customer is short this month, and match the mandate to it.
6. Escalate if there is no response: deliver a section 129 notice before any legal action, and charge only the costs the debt collection fee rules allow.

Steps 3 to 5 take the most staff time. Planar can do that outreach for you: it contacts overdue customers in their own language, is paid only a share of what it recovers, and customers pay into your own account.

Sponsoring banks, TPPPs and debit order bureaux

A lender does not connect to DebiCheck directly. Either your own bank offers DebiCheck collections, or you use a debit order bureau. A sponsoring bank applies for authorisation in a payment clearing house so that a non-bank can clear through it. A system operator delivers payment instructions for two or more businesses. A third-party payment provider (TPPP) is a non-bank that receives money from payers and pays it over to the business owed. Most bureaux act as one or both of the last two.

Since 11 August 2026 the SARB, not PASA, authorises system operators, registers TPPPs and publishes the lists on its website, so check that your bureau is on them. Before you sign, ask:

• Does it support TT1 and TT3, or only batch TT2 requests?
• Can you set tracking days and date adjustment per mandate?
• How soon do unpaid reasons reach you, and in what format?
• Do collections pass through its account, and how quickly is the money paid over to you?

Questions people ask