In reply to a post by Wagstaff:

In the Direct Debit system, the originator/recipient controls the transaction.

Must disagree as I can cancel DD, in seconds on line, and have guarantee.

Once you give continuous authority on a credit or debit card you lose all control

In reply to a post by Oldjim:

Once you give continuous authority on a credit or debit card you lose all control

Can you set up a continuous authority on a debit card?

AFAIK that wouldn't be the same as setting up a Direct Debit, which can be cancelled at a moment's notice and carries a guarantee.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

Not according to this link

Thanks for the link. I've taken a paragraph from the website which is patently not true.

"The organisation will update their payment records and forward the Instruction onto your bank or building society. The Instruction, to your bank or building society, gives the organisation authority to collect varying agreed amounts from your account on dates agreed with you."

The direct debit mandate you fill out never reaches your bank, even though it is supposed to be your authority for payments to proceed.

In reply to a post by billford:

In reply to a post by Oldjim:

Once you give continuous authority on a credit or debit card you lose all control

Can you set up a continuous authority on a debit card?

AFAIK that wouldn't be the same as setting up a Direct Debit, which can be cancelled at a moment's notice and carries a guarantee.

Not sure why you linked to my post which was referring to the pitfall of continuous authority but in answer to the question you raised http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/recurring-p...

Recurring Payments. You give companies your card details

The key to Recurring Payments, known as Continuous Payment Authorities until a few years ago, is the company will ask for the long number across the centre of your credit or debit card rather than your bank details. If this happens, you need to be aware an entirely different set of rules come into play.
Q. Why are Recurring Payments so dangerous?

A. Recurring payments effectively mean you give a company your debit or credit card details and say 'take a payment whenever you think I owe you".

While money comes out regularly, each payment is a seperate transaction, so there's no easy 'off-switch' at your bank. The company's registering a charge on your card, and if it wants to keep charging, it can. In other words....

You CAN'T CANCEL them. Only the company you're paying can do that!

This is because there's no automatic right to ask your bank to stop the payment, it's all about your relationship with the company you're paying. So if you have a problem, you need to dispute it rather than just cancel.

Hopefully, reputable companies will stop filching money when asked. Yet issues galore can crop up - it only takes a small glitch for it to become a nightrmare... if the company's difficult to contact, going into administration or, worse still, dodgy, you could be stuck paying again and again for something you don't need or want with no recourse.

At that point you need to get into a dispute procedure with the bank, and it can sometimes mean huge effort to stop it.

The worst cases come from when it's a little known company, based outside the UK, so there's less legal recourse. Speaking frankly, one of the biggest danger zones is some pornography websites, they exploit the embarassment factor which stops people complaining, leaving some paying unnecessarily for years.

I beg to differ there mate - I recently had an 'Account Review' and during said review, the Bank Manager produced a copy of a DD that I'd agreed to some months before (with Argos I believe it was.)

So obviously some DDs do get through to the Bank!

the long number across the centre of your credit or debit card

I didn't know you could do that on a debit card, one lives and learns

Thanks.

Don't think I'll bother though, I'll stick with Direct Debits

In reply to a post by nadger:

Must disagree as I can cancel DD, in seconds on line, and have guarantee.

You mean after the transaction event - by which time the originator has your money.

In reply to a post by WelshWArrior:

I beg to differ there mate - I recently had an 'Account Review' and during said review, the Bank Manager produced a copy of a DD that I'd agreed to some months before (with Argos I believe it was.)

So obviously some DDs do get through to the Bank!

So you saw the original piece of paper that you signed giving your authority for payments. I am surprised and stand corrected. Can't understand how the fully automated BACS would cope with all these little pieces of paper flying around the system !
Did this apply to all your DDs?

guarantee you get it back from your Bank.