---
title: "GoCardless"
description: "Connect your GoCardless account to Two Minute Billing: make an access token, connect it, and add the webhook in GoCardless. Bank Direct Debit in eight schemes, and PayTo."
canonical_url: "https://twominutebilling.com/help/guides/connect-a-payment-gateway/gocardless"
---
# GoCardless

> Connect your GoCardless account to Two Minute Billing: make an access token, connect it, and add the webhook in GoCardless. Bank Direct Debit in eight schemes, and PayTo.

Two Minute Billing collects bank Direct Debits through **your** GoCardless account: Bacs in GBP,
SEPA in EUR, ACH in USD, BECS in AUD, BECS NZ in NZD, PAD in CAD, Autogiro in SEK and
Betalingsservice in DKK. In Australia it also takes PayTo. The customer sets up a mandate once on
GoCardless's page, and Two Minute Billing debits each renewal against it. You keep your GoCardless
rates, and GoCardless pays out to your bank as usual.

## Before you start

- A GoCardless account. The sandbox (`manage-sandbox.gocardless.com`) and the live dashboard
(`manage.gocardless.com`) are separate accounts with separate access tokens. Connect the
sandbox token to a test business and the live token to a live business.
- Refunds must be enabled on your GoCardless account. See [Permissions](#permissions). By
default, GoCardless refunds a payment only 7 days after its charge date.
- You need permission to manage payment gateways in Two Minute Billing. The owner and admin
roles have it.

## Find your API keys

In the GoCardless dashboard, open **Developers**, click **Create** and select **Access token**.
Give the token a name and select **read-write** access. Copy the token at once: GoCardless does
not show it again.

<screenshot :height="450" :single="true" :width="1440" alt="The GoCardless sandbox dashboard's access token form, with a name entered and read-write access selected" caption="GoCardless → Developers → Create → Access token. Select read-write access." src="gateways/gocardless-api-keys">



</screenshot>

You need one value:

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Field
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Where to find it
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Looks like
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      <strong>
        Access Token
      </strong>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      GoCardless Dashboard → Developers → Create → Access token. Select read-write access.
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        live_…
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      <strong>
        PayTo purpose code
      </strong>
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Optional. Only for PayTo. The payer's bank shows this category on the agreement. Type one of: mortgage, utility, loan, dependant_support, gambling, retail, salary, personal, government, pension, tax, other. If you leave this field empty, we use retail.
    </td>
    
    <td>
      <code>
        retail
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<warning>

**Keep the access token secret.** Anyone with the access token can collect and refund in your GoCardless account. Paste it only
into Two Minute Billing, which stores it encrypted, and never into an email or a chat.

</warning>

## Permissions

<warning>

**Make a read-write access token and enable refunds.** A **read-only** access token cannot make mandates or payments, and the error shows only when
the first customer sets up a mandate. Select **read-write** access when you make the token.
Refunds are also off on a new GoCardless account: until you enable them, every refund fails.

</warning>

- **Access token:** read-write access. It has every permission Two Minute Billing needs.
- **Refunds:** in GoCardless, open **Settings → Company settings → Refunds** and click **Enable
refunds**. Only an account admin sees this option. **Check credentials** shows whether refunds
are enabled.
- **Webhook:** you add the webhook endpoint in GoCardless and paste its secret into Two Minute
Billing. No other permission is necessary.

## Connect it in Two Minute Billing

1. Open **Settings → Payment gateways** and click **Add gateway**.
2. Select **GoCardless** and paste the **Access Token**.
3. Select the **currencies** and the **payment methods** this account handles.
4. Click **Create gateway account**.

Then open the account and click **Check credentials**. **Healthy** means GoCardless accepted the
token. The result also says whether refunds are enabled on your GoCardless account.

The payment methods you can turn on for GoCardless:

- **Direct Debit (Bacs)** — UK only, GBP. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Direct Debit (SEPA)** — EUR only. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Direct Debit (ACH)** — US only, USD. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Direct Debit (BECS)** — Australia only, AUD. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Direct Debit (BECS NZ)** — New Zealand only, NZD. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Pre-authorized debit (PAD)** — Canada only, CAD. If the customer has a company name, the mandate is a Business PAD. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Direct Debit (Autogiro)** — Sweden only, SEK. The payer signs the mandate with BankID. The debit settles asynchronously.
- **Direct Debit (Betalingsservice)** — Denmark only, DKK. Betalingsservice collects once each month on a fixed cycle, so a payment can arrive some weeks after the invoice date. The payer gives their CPR or CVR number on the GoCardless page.
- **PayTo** — Australia only, AUD. The payer approves the agreement in their banking app. The agreement has a maximum amount for each payment. We do not collect an invoice above that amount.

Each scheme debits in its own currency, so a customer pays by a scheme only when the invoice is in
that currency. When an Australian customer can use both BECS and PayTo, the customer selects one;
without a selection, we set up BECS. GoCardless asks the payer for what each scheme needs on its
own page: a BankID signature for Autogiro, the CPR or CVR number for Betalingsservice, and an
approval in the banking app for PayTo. You do not collect these numbers yourself.

When a debit is collected:

- **Most schemes** collect on the invoice due date, or on the first date the scheme allows after
its notice period. GoCardless tells the payer before each debit.
- **Betalingsservice** collects once each month on a fixed cycle. GoCardless must receive the
payment 8 working days before the month starts, so a renewal can arrive some weeks after the
invoice date. A payment made in the sandbox on 28 October was collected on 1 December.
- **PayTo** has no notice period, and Two Minute Billing sends its own reminder before the debit.
The agreement has a maximum amount for each payment. We set it from the customer's
subscriptions, with room for growth. If an invoice is larger, we do not send the debit: the
payment fails with a message, and the customer must approve a new agreement.
- **PAD** is a Business PAD when the customer has a company name, and a Personal PAD when not.

PayTo also needs a purpose code, which the payer's bank shows on the agreement. Type it in the
optional **PayTo purpose code** field. If you leave it empty, we use `retail`.

## Currencies

Two Minute Billing offers these 8 currencies on GoCardless:

AUD, CAD, DKK, EUR, GBP, NZD, SEK, USD

Each Direct Debit scheme takes the currency of its country. To collect in a currency that is not your own, enable FX in GoCardless or add a payout bank account in that currency.

Each payment method takes one currency:

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Payment method
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Currency
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (Bacs)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      GBP
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (SEPA)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      EUR
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (ACH)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      USD
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (BECS)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      AUD
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (BECS NZ)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      NZD
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Pre-authorized debit (PAD)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      CAD
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (Autogiro)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      SEK
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Direct Debit (Betalingsservice)
    </td>
    
    <td>
      DKK
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      PayTo
    </td>
    
    <td>
      AUD
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

If you leave **Currencies** empty on the gateway account, the account takes each currency of your business that is on this list.

## Webhooks

Every Direct Debit settles days after it is collected, and GoCardless tells Two Minute Billing how
it ended: a debit that is confirmed or fails, a refund, a chargeback, a mandate that the customer
cancels. Add the webhook before you collect the first payment.

GoCardless does not let Two Minute Billing register the webhook, so you add it in GoCardless yourself.

1. In GoCardless: go to Developers → Webhook endpoints → Create.
2. Enter this URL in the URL field: the notification URL on the gateway account page
3. Click Create. Then copy the secret that GoCardless shows for the endpoint.
4. Paste the secret on the gateway account page and click Save.

## Test it

In your test business, create a customer and set up a mandate for it. On GoCardless's sandbox
page, use GoCardless's test bank details for the scheme:

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Scheme
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Test bank details
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Bacs
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Sort code <code>
        200000
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        55779911
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      SEPA
    </td>
    
    <td>
      IBAN <code>
        DE89370400440532013000
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      ACH
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Routing number <code>
        026073150
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        2715500356
      </code>
      
      , checking
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      BECS and PayTo
    </td>
    
    <td>
      BSB <code>
        082-082
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        012345678
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      BECS NZ
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Bank <code>
        12
      </code>
      
      , branch <code>
        3113
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        0003869-00
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      PAD
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Institution <code>
        0003
      </code>
      
      , transit <code>
        00006
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        1234567
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Autogiro
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Clearing number <code>
        5491
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        0000003
      </code>
      
      , personnummer <code>
        198112289874
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Betalingsservice
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Registration number <code>
        345
      </code>
      
      , account number <code>
        3179681
      </code>
      
      , CPR number <code>
        0101701234
      </code>
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Collect an invoice in the scheme's currency: the payment stays pending until GoCardless confirms
the debit, then the invoice is marked paid. **Logs** shows the call to GoCardless and GoCardless's
answer.

To move a sandbox payment forward without waiting, use GoCardless's scenario simulators in the
**Developers** section of the sandbox dashboard.

## Go live

1. In the live GoCardless dashboard, make an access token with **read-write** access.
2. In your **live** business, add GoCardless with that token.
3. Add the webhook in the live dashboard with the same steps as under [Webhooks](#webhooks),
and paste its secret on the live gateway account page.

## Troubleshoot

- **A refund is refused with "Your GoCardless balance for … refunds is …, which is less than the
refund".** GoCardless pays refunds from your GoCardless balance in that currency. Try again
when collected payments have raised the balance. In the sandbox, the balance grows only from
confirmed payments.
- **A refund is refused with "GoCardless refunds a payment only 7 days after its charge date".**
The message says how many days are left. To remove this wait, contact GoCardless support.
- **Check credentials says "refunds disabled".** Enable refunds in GoCardless under
**Settings → Company settings → Refunds**.
- **Setting up PayTo fails with "PayTo needs a maximum amount for each payment".** The request
did not give a currency, so we could not calculate the maximum. Start the setup again from an
invoice or a subscription in AUD.
- **A PayTo payment fails because the invoice is above the agreement's maximum.** The customer
must approve a new agreement with a higher maximum. Ask them to add the payment method again.
- **A Betalingsservice payment is still pending weeks after the invoice.** This is normal: it
waits for the next monthly collection date.
- **A payment stays pending for longer than a few days.** Without the webhook, Two Minute
Billing learns the outcome only from a slower periodic check. Make sure the webhook exists in
GoCardless and that its secret is saved on the gateway account page.

## Related

- [Payment gateways overview](https://twominutebilling.com/help/guides/connect-a-payment-gateway)
- [Recover failed payments](https://twominutebilling.com/help/guides/recover-failed-payments)
- [Handle disputes](https://twominutebilling.com/help/guides/handle-disputes)


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