Pay online by direct debit - you have to keep that in mind
Paying by direct debit is one of the most popular and safest payment methods, both at the checkout and online. In principle, the direct debit procedure is a mirror image of the transfer. The payee instructs his bank from the debtor's account to debit the invoice amount. To do this, the buyer must have agreed in advance. Until 2009, a distinction was made between direct debit authorizations and debit orders in Germany. Today, the SEPA direct debit procedure is used uniformly. As always in online payments, however, you should consider a few points, even if you pay by direct debit. We'll explain what they are here.
Pay by direct debit: The buyer is on the safe side
If money is debited from your account by direct debit, you can generally object to this transfer within a period of 8 weeks after the debit. If you have not made this payment, you can even repeat your money within 13 months. You should also note the following when paying by direct debit:
- You give your account details to the seller in direct debit. You should only do this if you can trust the shop. A good indication of reputable dealers is provided by seals of approval such as "Trusted Shop", "internet privacy standards", "EHI - certified online shop" or "TÜV - shopping".
- Unfortunately, there are also black sheep in online retail, which for example falsify the above-mentioned seal of approval. So that you are also prepared for such fraudsters, we will tell you how to check the seriousness of shopping providers.
- In order to be protected against hackers and malware, you should always have a current antivirus program installed on your computer.
- In addition, you should only transmit payment data via a secure data connection. You can recognize this by the entry "//" instead of "//" at the beginning of the web address of the page via which the shop processes the payment.
- In the SEPA direct debit procedure, the banks must inform their customers if the account does not have the necessary cover for the payment. Bank charges are incurred for the account holder.
- If payments are booked back because, for example, the buyer entered incorrect account details, fees will initially apply to the merchant. However, these can be invoiced to the buyer.
- Even if the deadlines for a chargeback are very generous, you should check your account movements at least every two weeks.
