FreeAgent integrates GoCardless tools for faster payments

This development builds on an existing partnership between the two companies. With the integration, FreeAgent users can now combine one-off payments through Instant Bank Pay with existing recurring Direct Debit functionality, offering a more streamlined approach to collecting payments across various billing scenarios. 

Instant Bank Pay uses Open Banking to enable direct bank-to-bank payments. It allows businesses to collect funds without requiring customers to manually input bank details, which can reduce delays in payment and minimise the need for follow-up. The feature is aimed particularly at handling higher-value one-off invoices that would otherwise be subject to card transaction fees.

Minimising payment failure and delay 

Success+, also now available in FreeAgent, uses machine learning to optimise the timing of payment retries after a failure. GoCardless reports that this tool typically recovers around two-thirds of failed transactions. It is designed to help businesses limit involuntary churn and reduce time spent manually chasing payments. 

FreeAgent officials noted that this is the platform’s first integration of an Open Banking-based solution for accounts receivable and described the tools as addressing long-standing challenges faced by small businesses, namely the cost of payment failure and the friction in one-off invoice collection. 

Representatives from GoCardless said the expanded integration would give a wide range of small businesses and accounting professionals access to more cost-effective alternatives to card payments while improving the reliability of revenue collection. 

FreeAgent, a subsidiary of NatWest Group since 2018, operates independently and focuses on accounting tools for small businesses, freelancers, and accountants. According to the official press release, GoCardless, which is headquartered in the UK with operations in over 30 countries, processes more than USD 130 billion in payments annually across both recurring and one-time transactions.