ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFERDIRECT DEBIT AND STANDING ORDER

Not all online purchases require you to pay immediately or in full. For example, if you were buying pet insurance you wouldn't necessarily pay with a credit/debit card or payment service. You may want to set up monthly payments.

To do this, you could give permission to the insurance company to take the money straight out of your account. This is known as a Direct Debit. A different method would be a Standing Order, which is when you set up a payment to the company directly.

Direct Debit

Direct Debits are useful when the amount varies (such as paying a phone bill).

Standing Order

Standing Orders are useful when you know how much you want to pay each month (such as a charity donation).