GoCardless + Shuttle

GoCardless is the leading direct debit payment provider, enabling businesses to collect recurring and one-off payments directly from customer bank accounts across the UK, Europe, the United States, and beyond. By operating across multiple direct debit schemes — including Bacs in the UK, SEPA across the Eurozone, and ACH in the US — GoCardless provides a unified interface for bank-to-bank payments without the card network fees that eat into margins on subscription and recurring billing models. Their Intelligent Retries feature uses machine learning to automatically retry failed payments at the optimal time, recovering revenue that would otherwise be lost to payment failures.

Shuttle integrates GoCardless into its unified payment layer, giving platforms the ability to offer direct debit alongside card payments and alternative payment methods through a single integration. When a platform connects GoCardless via Shuttle, their customers can set up direct debit mandates through Payment Links or within an Embedded Payments flow — all managed through Shuttle’s PSP-neutral API. This is especially powerful for platforms serving subscription businesses, property management, or membership organizations where recurring bank debits significantly reduce payment costs compared to card transactions. Shuttle handles the mandate lifecycle, payment status webhooks, and reconciliation across GoCardless and other connected processors.

Because direct debit operates on different timelines and failure modes than card payments, Shuttle normalizes GoCardless events into its standard payment lifecycle, so platforms receive consistent status updates regardless of payment method. Platforms can route recurring low-value transactions to GoCardless for cost efficiency while sending one-off or high-value payments through card-based PSPs — all orchestrated through Shuttle without additional development work. This multi-method approach is particularly valuable for platforms operating across the UK and EU, where direct debit adoption is high and customers expect bank-based payment options alongside cards.