If you would like to make sure to be paid on time by your clients, you can automate payment collection. In order to activate this feature, you must match our eligibility criteria. If you qualify, you will then be able to start setting it up on your account.
To do so, you need to have a SCI (SEPA Creditor Identifier), a unique reference requested to collect payments by direct debit.
For French-based companies, you can add your SCI or request it. In this case*,* Qonto will request it to The Banque de France, which charges 50EUR for it. This will take up to 2 business days.
For German-based companies, you will need to request it by yourself. You can find more information about the SCI on the dedicated page on the Deutsche Bundesbank website and request your SCI here.
For companies based in Spain and Italy, we create your SCI automatically within the flow and you can start using the feature straight away.
Please visit How to collect money from my clients? if you are already eligible to start setting up direct collection on your account.
What are the main eligibility criteria?
We assess your eligibility with these criteria:
• Your company must be registered for at least 9 months.
• You must have been a Qonto customer for at least 6 months.
• Your company must be fully operational and not in the process of closing.
• 2-step authentication must be activated on your Qonto account.
• Nonprofit organizations are not eligible.
• Your account has never been debtor.
• You have never received a seizure on your account following a debt contracted with a company, an individual or the financial authorities in your country.
⚠️ Also, the refund rate has to be lower than 20%. The refund rate is the percentage of direct debits that were refunded, at your client’s request, since you started using the feature. This percentage refers to the direct debits refunded.
Can the eligibility change with time?
Yes, we assess your direct debit collection on a monthly basis. In that sense, your eligibility may evolve.
A potentially non-eligible organization may become eligible, and vice versa. Qonto reserves the right to revoke your access to direct debit collection, in accordance with your contract terms. The loss of eligibility could also mean in some cases the automatic cancelation of upcoming transactions.
We invite you to check your eligibility status at the beginning of every month.
How to know if I am eligible?
If you are the Owner or an Admin on the account, go to the Business Account section and click on Incoming direct debits. If the button Start setting up displays on the screen, it means that you are eligible for direct debit collection.
💡 Need to automate the payment collection of a recurring invoice? Learn how to set up a direct debit for your recurring invoices.
What if I’m not eligible?
If you do not qualify for Qonto’s direct debit collection feature, this does not mean this will be forever. You can check your eligibility status at the beginning of every month from the Business Account section > Incoming direct debits.
If you are not eligible at the time, you will see the button I’m interested. Please click on it and fill in the Typeform to let us know if you are interested in automating payment collection and we will notify you if you become eligible.
