A common belief about Direct Debit is that it only works for fixed amounts, so clubs with gradings, kit and the odd price change assume they are stuck chasing bank transfers. The opposite is true: a Bacs mandate is the member’s standing permission to collect varying amounts, and it is the single most useful thing a club can set up.
This guide covers the payment methods available to a UK club, what the automated parts (mandates, retries, payouts) actually do, and what collection costs.
The three ways members can pay
- Standing orders: cost nothing and manage nothing. The member controls the amount, a price change needs every member to act, and missed payments surface when someone reads the bank statement. Manageable at 15 members; at 50 the treasurer is doing a second job.
- Card payments: the member saves a card once and the platform charges it on schedule. Instant and familiar, and right for one-off payments like gradings and kit as well as memberships. Typical UK cost is around 1.5% plus 20p per payment at Stripe’s standard rate, more where a platform adds margin.
- Bacs Direct Debit: the member authorises the club to collect from their bank account. Cheapest to process, very low failure rates, protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee. Collections clear in a few days rather than instantly.
Mandates, in plain terms
The mandate is set up once, online, in about a minute. After that, monthly fees, price changes and one-off charges like grading fees collect without the member doing anything. Mandates belong to the payment platform the member authorised, which matters when switching software: members authorise once on the new platform and the old mandates lapse.
The club itself never touches bank details. They pass from the member to the payment processor, so there are no card numbers sitting in a spreadsheet and no payment liability on the club’s books. For a volunteer-run committee club that alone justifies the move.
Failed payments, retries and the arrears conversation
Payments fail for unremarkable reasons - an expired card, an empty account on collection day - and the difference between platforms is what happens next. Automated retry schedules recover most failures quietly. What remains lands on a report, and that report changes the social dynamics of chasing: instead of the treasurer remembering who owes what, the software presents a short list and a date.
Decide the arrears policy before you need it. How many failed collections before training pauses? Two is common. Write it down, put it in the published policies, and let the software enforce it - the policy does the awkward part so a human never has to have the conversation cold at the door of a class.
On OurClub, failed collections retry automatically and the arrears view shows who is behind before it becomes months. Whatever platform you pick, ask to see its failed-payment flow before signing; treasurer hours live and die there.
One club owner put the before-times to us like this: “Monday morning, we’d spend three or four hours confirming who owed this week or next, and checking our personal bank statements to see who did pay or didn’t. It’s impossible to keep personal and gym transactions separate when there’s so many of them.” That last part is the quiet argument for all of this: collection through a platform means the club’s money never routes through anyone’s personal account again.
Payouts: where the money goes
Modern platforms run on payment infrastructure like Stripe Connect. Members pay, the processor aggregates, and the money lands in the club’s own bank account on a rolling schedule, typically a few days behind collection. No pot held by the software vendor, no manual withdrawal step. Check that payouts go straight to the club account on a standard rolling schedule, and that the reporting ties collections to payouts cleanly enough for the treasurer to reconcile the bank statement in minutes.
Setting up your plans
Price monthly and collect monthly; it matches how families budget. Build one plan per real offer - juniors, seniors, family - and resist the plan-per-student sprawl, because discounts and subsidies exist to handle the exceptions. Put grading fees and kit through the same system as memberships so the accounts live in one place and the year-end takes an evening instead of a weekend.
What it costs
Two models, covered at length in our cost guide: a monthly software fee with processing on top, or a single percentage with everything included. For collection specifically, watch platforms that add margin to processor rates - the gap between 1.5% and 2.5% on £3,000 a month is £30 every month, forever.
OurClub, for the record: no monthly fee, one all-in rate from 3.25% with card and Bacs collection included, tapering toward 2.75% as volume grows. Over a quiet summer, the bill shrinks with the takings.
Run your club on OurClub
No monthly fee. One all-in rate, card fees included, and the member app in the box.
