According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS,) a direct debit is a preauthorized debit on a payer’s bank account initiated by the payee. It is also known as a pre-authorized debit (PAD) or pre-authorized payment (PAP.)
Data is from the Bank for International Settlements’ Statistics on payment, clearing and settlement systems in the CPSS countries. Report published in January 2013 with figures on 2011.
Use of Direct Debits by Non-Banks (Total Number of Transactions in Millions, 2011)
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* Sum or average excluding those countries for which data are not available. For credit transfers, data for France (prior to 2005) and the United Kingdom include interbank transactions; however, the total number is relatively small.
Use of Direct Debits by Non-Banks (Total Value of Transactions in USD Billions, 2011)*
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* Converted at yearly average exchange rates, except as noted.
** For credit transfers and e-money payment transactions, total transactions during the fiscal year ending March of the following year, converted at average fiscal year exchange rates.
*** Sum or average excluding those countries for which data are not available. For credit transfers, data for France (prior to 2005) and the United Kingdom include interbank transactions. Since the value of these transactions is relatively large, cross-country comparison should be treated with caution; consequently, CPSS figures related to credit transfers have not been calculated.
Direct debits account for a significant portion of the payments market in just a few BIS Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) member countries, mostly Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands and South Africa.
In 2011, they comprised 48.7% of total number of non-bank payments in Germany; 26.4% in South Africa; 23.7% in the Netherlands; and 19.1% in Brazil.
Overall, from 2007 to 2011, the number of direct debits has been on a steady, if slow, rise across CPSS reporting countries . The United States rank first by number of transactions, with approximately 11.7 billion in 2011, up from 10.3 billion in 2006.
In terms of overall value of transactions, Australia had, in relative terms, the most active direct debit market in 2011, with 40.4% of non-bank payments volume being handled via this method. The U.S. came second, with direct debits accounting for 22.4% of total value (in absolute terms the U.S. direct debit market was worth $16 trillion and Australia’s of $6 trillion.)
Overall, there was growth in the value of direct debit markets across CPSS countries. Total volume rose from $37.9 trillion in 2007 to $49.9 trillion in 2011.
