{"id":179653,"date":"2019-03-22T15:18:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T15:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/?p=179653"},"modified":"2026-01-29T04:19:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:19:12","slug":"direct-debit-or-standing-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order","title":{"rendered":"Direct debit or standing order?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At some point everyone has had to use a direct debit or standing order. From paying your rent to handling your electricity bill, you\u2019ll definitely have heard of these terms.<\/p><p>In essence, both are forms of regular automatic payment. So it might be easy to confuse them.<\/p><p>However they are entirely separate payment types. We walk you through their key differences and explain which is better for what \u2013 from your monthly rent to your gym fees.<\/p><h3>What is the difference between a direct debit and standing order?<\/h3><h4><\/h4><h4><b>Direct debits<\/b><\/h4><ul class=\"list-10\"><li>With a direct debit a company or organisation takes money out of your account on a regular basis.<\/li><li>You provide them your account details and generally have to sign a mandate.<\/li><li>The withdrawals might be every month, quarter or year.<\/li><li>The amount taken isn\u2019t necessarily the same each time.<\/li><li>However, the organisation does have to tell you in advance (normally 10 working days) if the amount or date will be changed.<\/li><li>So an example might be your electricity or phone bill, your gym membership or your university tuition fees.<\/li><li>You aren\u2019t charged any extra fees when the direct debit is set up. However, you may incur penalty fees if you don\u2019t have the funds to make the payment.<\/li><\/ul><h4><b>Standing orders<\/b><\/h4><ul class=\"list-10\"><li>A standing order is a payment you set up yourself to automatically send a fixed amount on a regular basis.<\/li><li>You can do this on your banking app, using online banking or by heading into a branch.<\/li><li>People typically use this to either regularly move money between accounts or to send a fixed amount to someone else regularly.<\/li><li>You might use a standing order to move money into your savings account, to pay for rent or to send money to that friend who organises the weekly football match.<\/li><li>You aren\u2019t charged any extra fees for setting up the standing order. However, you may incur penalty fees if you don\u2019t have the funds to make the payment.<\/li><\/ul><div class=\"fin-video fin-video--horizontal\" data-player-type=\"youtube\" data-video-id=\"pKc5CdBTR0Y\" style=\"\">\n    <div class=\"fin-video__container\">\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"fin-video__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/pKc5CdBTR0Y\/maxresdefault.jpg\" data-fallback-sd=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/pKc5CdBTR0Y\/sddefault.jpg\" data-fallback-hq=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/pKc5CdBTR0Y\/hqdefault.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\">\n                            <div class=\"fin-video__duration\">3:59<\/div>\n                        <div class=\"fin-video__play-btn\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Play video\"><\/div>\n                <iframe allow=\"autoplay\" class=\"fin-video__player\" id=\"ytPlayer-pKc5CdBTR0Y\" title=\"Video player\"><\/iframe>\n    <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n<h3>Which is better direct debit or standing order?<\/h3><p>As ever, it depends! One major plus about direct debits is that lots of utility providers give you a discount for using them. So they could save you money.<\/p><p>You can say goodbye to late fees for forgetting a payment too. After all, with direct debits the onus is on the company to sort the payment out.<\/p><p>What about standing orders? Well, they\u2019re good in instances where you can\u2019t use a direct debit \u2013 paying your landlord for instance. Or, if you want to regularly move money from your main account into a savings account, then a standing order is ideal.<\/p><p>Both share a potentially quite costly downside. If you fail to stay on top of your regular payments you could end up wasting money on services or products you don\u2019t need anymore. Or even incur penalty fees if you don\u2019t have enough money in your account to make the direct debit or standing order.<\/p><h3>How to set up direct debits and standing orders<\/h3><p>So you\u2019ve worked out which type of payment is more suited to your needs. Whether you\u2019re paying university fees or sorting out your gas bill.<\/p><p>Find out below how to actually go about setting up a direct direct or standing order.<\/p><h4><b>Direct debit<\/b><\/h4><ol><li>The organisation taking the payment will give you instructions.<\/li><li>Typically you fill out a form and send it to them.<\/li><li>Or you provide them details online or over the phone.<\/li><li>They then contact your bank and set up the direct debit.<\/li><li>You can cancel your direct debit at anytime by contacting your bank or through online banking.<\/li><\/ol><h4><b>Standing order<\/b><\/h4><ol><li>Depending on your bank or building society, set them up online or over the phone.<\/li><li>Or head into a branch and fill out a form. You\u2019ll need the account details of the person you\u2019re paying.<\/li><li>They\u2019re flexible. Cancel or change the amount or payment date anytime.<\/li><\/ol><h3><b>Frequently asked questions<\/b><\/h3><ul class=\"luna-accordionGroup accordionGroup\"><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000000\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000000\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">How do you change a direct debit?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000000\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\">To change details such as the amount you pay or the date of your direct debit payments you\u2019ll have to contact the company. However, you can cancel them yourself \u2013 typically you can do this through online banking. If you do this, it\u2019s best practice to inform the company that you\u2019ve stopped the direct debit.<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000001\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000001\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">Do direct debits or standing orders cost anything?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000001\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\">Your bank won\u2019t charge you for setting either of them up. However, if you have insufficient funds in your account to make the payment, you may be charged for a refused payment, typically between \u00a35 and \u00a325. Or you may go into your overdraft and potentially pay fees for going into the red.<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000002\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000002\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">Is Netflix a direct debit or standing order?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000002\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\">Neither, it\u2019s a recurring card payment. It\u2019s similar to a direct debit but Netflix will use your debit card information rather than your current account details (your account number and sort code).<p>These are sometimes also called continuous payment authority or future card payments.<\/p><p>You\u2019ll use these for making Amazon Prime or magazine subscription payments too.<\/p><\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><li class=\"luna-accordion\" data-accordion=\"accordion\">\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__summary\">\n    <h4 class=\"luna-accordion__heading\">\n      <button class=\"luna-accordion__action collapsed\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"accordion0000000003\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" data-target=\"#accordion0000000003\">\n        <span class=\"luna-accordion__title\">Direct debit or standing order for rent?<\/span>\n        <svg class=\"luna-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-down\" data-accordion-icon=\"show\"><\/use>\n          <use xlink:href=\"#chevron-up\" data-accordion-icon=\"hide\" class=\"is-hidden\"><\/use>\n        <\/svg>\n      <\/button>\n    <\/h4>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"luna-accordion__details collapse\" aria-hidden=\"true\" id=\"accordion0000000003\" data-accordion=\"details\">\n    <div class=\"accordionContent\">It depends on whether your landlord is set up to do direct debits or not. At the moment many still ask for standing orders. One potential downside of this is it makes it easier to pay rent late, incurring late fees.<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/li><\/ul><article class=\"luna-card luna-card--alt\"><div class=\"luna-card__block has-padding-small\">We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms \"best\", \"top\", \"cheap\" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/terms-of-use\" class=\"fin-text-navy\">terms of use<\/a>. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Defaqto. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.<\/div><\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We guide you through the key differences between direct debits and standing orders, and explain which is better for you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":618,"featured_media":147664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3763],"tags":[],"asset_tag":[],"class_list":["post-179653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-accounts"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.9 (Yoast SEO v24.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Direct Debit or Standing Order? | Finder UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We explain the key differences between direct debits and standing orders, and explain which is better for you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Direct debit or standing order?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We explain the key differences between direct debits and standing orders, and explain which is better for you.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Finder UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/findercomuk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-22T15:18:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.finder.com.au\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_546537364.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Felix Thompson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@findercomUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@findercomUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Felix Thompson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Felix Thompson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/27513bf17fe8557f13688daa7fc91421\"},\"headline\":\"Direct debit or standing order?\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-22T15:18:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-26T16:15:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order\"},\"wordCount\":1004,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.finder.com.au\/finder-us\/wp-uploads\/sites\/3\/2018\/11\/shutterstock_546537364.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Current accounts\"],\"inLanguage\":{\"@type\":\"Language\",\"name\":\"English\",\"alternateName\":\"en\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2019\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.finder.com\/uk\/current-accounts\/direct-debit-or-standing-order\",\"name\":\"Direct Debit or Standing Order? 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