The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) started using DebiCheck when the South African Reserve Bank's policy changed in 2013. DebiCheck helps to make banking more secure, as you have to authorise certain new debit orders from your account before the bank can set them up.

DebiCheck puts you in control of the debit orders that you accept. With DebiCheck, you will know when debit orders are going to be processed to your bank account, as you must approve them. You will also have the comfort of knowing that the debit order can only be processed on the terms that you agree to.

You will receive a request (by SMS or email) from your bank for a new DebiCheck debit order. This message will ask you to agree to the debit order for your policy, using your electronic device. Once you confirm that the information is correct and accept the debit order, your bank will register the debit order. Your bank will make sure that the information is correct each time that the debit order is processed to your account. You do not have to do this. DebiCheck does not affect any existing debit orders. They will stay the same.

Yes, DebiCheck will help to reduce debit-order fraud on your account. This is because the bank will check the information with you when the debit order is processed. However, not all companies or service providers use DebiCheck. It is still your responsibility to know the details of your contracts and to check your debit-order mandates with other service providers, to make sure they are correct. Regularly check your bank accounts for any unauthorised debits.

DebiCheck gives you more control over your debit orders. You can confirm or question the debit-order information with your bank. As your bank has a record of all DebiCheck debit orders that you have accepted, you can check that the information is correct before the money comes off your account.

When you accept a DebiCheck debit-order instruction or mandate, you are telling the bank that the debit order from the company or service provider is valid. This means that you have agreed that the amount to be debited from your account is correct. You have also approved how often you will be debited and the date of collection.

For existing debit orders, you don't have to do anything, at this stage. If a new DebiCheck instruction is needed, you will need to approve it. If a DebiCheck debit order changes, you will need to confirm the new DebiCheck information with your bank. You will be informed if this needs to happen.

A contract is the legal business agreement that you sign with a company or service provider for a specific product or service. It sets out the rights and responsibilities of each party (you and the service provider) about whatever it is that is being provided to you or the goods that you are buying. Contracts can be fixed (with a clear end date and a fixed price), usage-based (which means that you pay for what you use) or variable (which means that the contract has no time limit and the price can change).

A debit-order mandate is when you allow someone to take money off your account, usually on a regular basis. It is often set up when you sign a contract for a product or service, and it gives the service provider permission to collect money from your bank account without you having to arrange payment every month. Debit orders may not have a time limit.

For a DebiCheck mandate, you must confirm that you approve the debit order before we can process the debit order on your bank account. A DebiCheck debit order will also mean that your bank checks with you before the money goes out of your account. Paper and voice mandates exist, but they don't count as a DebiCheck mandate.

The DebiCheck process was designed by banks to be safe and secure. As with any other banking products, you must still be careful with your personal information and your cellphone. It is particularly important to make sure that your bank has your correct cellphone number. If your contact number changes, you must update your bank and Discovery Life by sharing the new details with them.

If you did not agree to a new debit order, you should reject the DebiCheck mandate. Additionally, if the details are not correct, you should reject the DebiCheck mandate.

For other debit orders that are not correct, you can talk to your bank. They will have a process that you can follow to stop payment on an incorrect debit order. You will need to contact the company or service provider to cancel the debit-order mandate.

The SMS or cellphone prompt (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) message) from your bank will contain the information of the contract or mandate that you've signed with a company or service provider. Carefully check this information to make sure it is correct, before you accept the DebiCheck instruction.

You need to contact the company or service provider that receives the money from your debit order.

The company or service provider should cancel the debit order from their side when the contract ends. No money should come out of your account after that date. You should be aware of when this date is, and you should make sure that payments do not continue afterwards.

If the debit order continues after this date, you are allowed to stop or suspend the debit order. To do this, you should contact the service provider or the bank and follow the process to stop a debit order.

If you switch banks, you will need to inform the company or service provider that you have changed banks. They will have to send a new DebiCheck mandate instruction for you to approve, with your new banking details.

If there are any changes to the details of the account that is linked to your DebiCheck debit order, you need to inform the company or service provider of these changes.

It means that you are agreeing to, authorising or approving an instruction online, through your cellphone or another electronic device. You can use your banking app or other online tools to accept your DebiCheck debit order. Please refer to your bank for help on the channels that you can use to authorise your DebiCheck debit order.

You will only need to confirm your debit-order information when a new DebiCheck debit order starts, if the collectable amount changes or if your banking details change. If the debit-order information changes and you need to give permission again, your bank will let you know of the changes or ask you to accept the new information.

No. However, you will receive an SMS informing you of the change to the amount. You will only be asked to approve the debit order if your details (for example, your cell phone number or bank account number) change. If you start a new contract, you will need to approve the DebiCheck instruction.

If you have a variable contract (such as a life policy), your monthly payment can increase by a certain amount every year without you having to approve the change. You also don't have to approve the change for a usage-based contract, like a cellphone contract, which can change monthly.

This amount is the maximum amount that your service provider (for example, Discovery) is allowed to debit if you cannot pay your debit orders and the policy falls behind in payments.

If you reject the electronic debit-order mandate through your bank but you have a contract in place, this contract is still valid. You must still pay for the services or products that you receive, but it won't be using the DebiCheck debit order that you have rejected. You will have to find another way to pay.

Please check the DebiCheck mandate details carefully. Reject the DebiCheck mandate if the details are incorrect or if you have not signed up for any new contracts. Note: Rejecting a mandate request without a valid reason may mean that you are in breach of your agreement with the company or service provider. This could cause you legal problems.

Yes, but not by using a DebiCheck debit order. The agreement that you physically signed or approved over the telephone is a legal contract. This means that you have to use the service provider and will have to pay them. The company or service provider may then choose to use an alternative payment-collection method.

One way that your bank contacts you to perform a DebiCheck confirmation is through your cellphone. Remember, DebiCheck is all about putting you in control and allowing you to confirm your DebiCheck debit orders directly with your participating bank. For this to happen, your participating bank has to know what number to contact you on.

Debit orders requiring electronic confirmation with your bank are called DebiCheck debit orders. You can ask the service provider that your debit order is with whether they are part of the DebiCheck system.

Yes, but you will only be able to dispute the DebiCheck debit order if the amount or date of the debit order differs from the amount or date that you approved. Speak to your bank about their channels for disputing a DebiCheck.

Mandates can only be cancelled if certain rules are followed. This is because the mandate can only be processed by the service provider. If the agreement or contract with your service provider is still valid (the mandate is still valid), the service provider will contact you.

If you stop a valid debit order without discussing this with your service provider, you are in breach of your contract with the service provider. This might result in your account being behind on payments, which could also result in you having to pay more interest and charges. This could have a negative impact on your credit profile. If you do this with an insurance policy, you may lose your cover.

In most cases, the name will match. If it doesn't match, this could be because the service provider trades under a different name when processing mandates. Your service provider will inform you what name their debit order will appear as on your bank statement.

Your telecommunication or cellphone costs depend on a number of factors, for example, whether you use the USSD option or banking app to confirm the DebiCheck debit order. The costs also depend on your mobile network costs.

Tell your service or credit provider that you couldn't authorise the DebiCheck, and ask them to send the mandate request again.

Talk to your service or credit provider and ask them to submit the DebiCheck mandate request again.

You can visit www.debicheck.co.za or contact your bank.