Mandate lifecycle
Follow a Direct Debit mandate from request to collection, cancellation, and recovery
A Direct Debit mandate has a lifecycle: a request to set it up, an authorisation, the bank lodges it, it becomes Active, you collect under it, and eventually it is suspended or cancelled. This page maps each stage to the guides that document it, so you can jump to the stage you are working on.
- The stages every mandate moves through
- Which starting points create a mandate and which collect
- Where advance notice happens in the lifecycle
- What changes when a mandate is suspended, cancelled, or fails
The life of a mandate
- Request -- you send a mandate request from a customer record, or the customer chooses Direct Debit on an invoice, checkout, or embed.
- Authorise -- the customer completes the hosted mandate page.
- Lodge -- the bank accepts the instruction; the mandate becomes Active.
- Notice -- the customer receives advance notice of the amount and date.
- Collect -- RevKeen submits the collection under the Active mandate.
- End or pause -- the mandate is cancelled, suspended, or fails.
Setup and collection are separate jobs. Completing the setup form never takes money by itself.
Stage by stage
| Stage | What happens | Where it is documented |
|---|---|---|
| Request from a customer | Mandate setup only, no collection | Start from a customer |
| Request on an invoice | Collection once mandate Active and notice given | Start from an invoice |
| Request on checkout | Collection once mandate Active and notice given | Start from checkout |
| Embedded on your site | Mandate capture; collection still needs an amount | Embed |
| Authorise | Customer completes the hosted mandate page | How Direct Debit works |
| Become Active | Bank lodges the instruction | Mandate statuses |
| Advance notice | Customer learns the amount and date | Emails and notices |
| Collect | RevKeen submits the collection | How Direct Debit works |
| Manage or cancel | Customer views, changes, or cancels | Customer portal |
Statuses in the lifecycle
A mandate only collects when it is Active. Awaiting setup, Submitted, Failed, Suspended, and Cancelled all block collections. Expired request means the setup link was not used in time.
If you subscribe to webhooks, wait for mandate.activated — mandate.created is not permission to debit. See Webhook events.
Where advance notice fits
Advance notice sits between the mandate becoming Active and the first collection:
If the amount, date, and frequency are all known at sign-up, the first collection's notice may be combined with the confirmation. Otherwise the customer gets a confirmation first and a separate advance notice later. Any later change to amount, date, or frequency triggers a new notice.
Collection is a separate step
The customer tab never collects. Collection happens only after an Active mandate and advance notice, and only from an invoice, a checkout link, or an eligible subscription renewal:
Ending or pausing the lifecycle
The lifecycle can end several ways:
| Transition | How it happens | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Suspended | Operational or bank pause | Collections pause; can return to Active |
| Cancelled | Merchant, customer, or bank ends the authority | No more collections |
| Failed | Bank or bureau rejects the instruction | Must be corrected or a new request sent |
| Replaced | Change of bank completes a new mandate | Do not collect on the old one |
The customer can cancel a Direct Debit directly with their bank at any time, then tell you so you can agree another way to pay. See Customer portal for how change of bank and cancellation appear in RevKeen.
Read next
Choose the guide for where you are now:
Start from a customer
Send a mandate request without collecting
Start from an invoice
Collect against an invoice when the customer pays by Direct Debit
Start from checkout
Checkout links, sessions, and embed
Customer portal
View, cancel, or change bank on an existing mandate
Emails and notices
Invitation, confirmation, advance notice, and collection outcomes
Operate Direct Debit
Enablement, statuses, recovery, and testing
Customers can read Set up and manage a Direct Debit for a plain-language explanation of the setup page.