Recurring payments are no longer time-consuming and tough; with advanced methods like GIRO transactions, you can manage all your recurring bills from your account with ease. However there are also many other ways in which you can make recurring payments, but there are a few things about GIRO transactions that make it an ideal method to handle recurring bills.
In this article, we will mention some of these highlights and also point out a few things that you must know before setting up a GIRO transaction.
- You Only Need A Bank Account
As mentioned above, there are a plethora of cashless payment options available these days, which gives rise to questions like: Why is GIRO the ideal method to make recurring payments?
One of the biggest reasons is the fact you only require one bank account for all your GIRO transfers. This means you don’t have to go through the hassle of shuffling through multiple debit cards, credit cards, smartphone apps, and more.
Plus, you don’t have to set up an internet banking account.
- No Fees
It can be quite frustrating to keep paying an amount to set up accounts. Thankfully, if you want to set up a GIRO account in Singapore, there are currently no fees being charged for that service. As long as you have enough balance in your account to facilitate the recurring payment, you don’t have to worry about additional charges.
However, if you fail to maintain the minimum balance required to make a recurring payment, some banks might charge an additional fee.
- Your Billing Organization and The Bank Must Have A Partnership
A tripartite relationship between you, your bank, and the billing must exist for a GIRO payment to be set up.
This implies that a partnership between your bank and the billing organizations is crucial for the payments to take place through GIRO transactions.
- Once the proper directions are provided, the bank does not require any further input.
One of the most frustrating things about recurring payments is having to manually fill in the same details again and again for the same payments. This eats up your valuable time and also increases the chances of making errors. In a GIRO transaction, you only have to put the instructions once, and your bank won’t ask for any further details from your end.
Deductions occur on each billing due date, depending on the fact that you’ve granted authorization. This permission allows the billing organization to withdraw the bill amount directly from your account every month, irrespective of the specific amount.
- What Happens When Deductions Are Incorrect?
There can be two scenarios where the decision might be wrong. In such cases, here is what you should do:
- Scenario 1: If the bank makes an error and deducts the wrong amount, you need to raise a query, after which the bank will investigate and rectify the error.
- Scenario 2: If there is an error made by the billing organization, you will have to raise a different query where the billing organization will investigate the error and give confirmation within 3 working days. If the deducted amount is more than the agreed amount, the billing organization will initiate a refund of the extra funds.
If you find discrepancies in the billed charges, it’s crucial to immediately get in touch with your billing organization, irrespective of whether deductions have been initiated or not. If deductions haven’t occurred, the billing organization will suspend the deduction during the investigation period.
- Termination Of GIRO Arrangement
There is uncertainty regarding the procedure for ending a GIRO arrangement. From a technical standpoint, GIRO constitutes an agreement between customers and their service provider or billing organization. In this setup, customers have previously given authorization to their bank to settle bills with the billing organization by deducting the required amount from their bank account upon the organization’s request.
Customers desiring to terminate the GIRO arrangement must initiate communication with their billing organization first. They need to request the cessation of instructions to the bank for payments and discuss alternative payment methods. Simultaneously, customers should inform their bank not to entertain any further instructions from the billing organization for deductions from their bank account.
Conclusion:
GIRO transactions are one of the most convenient ways to handle recurring payments. They are fast and easy to set up. The best part is that you have to provide the right set of instructions once, and the system will handle the rest. Make sure that you have a sufficient amount in your account for the transactions to take place.
