The new DDM functionality provides complete lifecycle Direct Debit collections management for UK businesses. A major enhancement to the market-leading Bottomline PT-X Payment and Business Solution Suite, DDM provides organisations with a highly-automated and cost-efficient way to manage Direct Debit (DD) collections.

Direct Debits provide businesses with better cash visibility and control, reduced risk, and significant improvements in the time and cost related to processing payments. The annual cost savings for UK businesses using DDs over paper based collection methods is conservatively estimated at £3.5 billion*. Despite this, many businesses have yet to experience the benefits of DD collections, including increased customer loyalty, because businesses are frustrated by the complexity of the process or due to challenges connecting to legacy systems.

The Bottomline PT-X™ DDM module addresses these issues, enabling businesses to fully integrate with legacy host Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. The modular PT-X deployment model ensures organisations can quickly obtain the efficiency benefits and cost reductions of managing DDs, payments, collections, cash, and financial documentation through one consolidated online platform.

“Running a small company has its challenges and cash flow is one of the most crucial” comments Emma James of James Corporate Health. “Managing a new contract for a gym facility, I found myself thrown into the world of Direct Debits. Anticipating a complicated process, I started it over two months ago with the bank, but didn’t get very far. I achieved more in less than two days with Bottomline than I had achieved in over two months with the bank.”

This new offering is also attractive to organisations already using Direct Debit collections. As many as 35% of organisations, that have currently embraced Direct Debits, are still managing the process manually. This puts companies at risk of delays in collections, payment errors, and additional expenses which Bacs estimates can cost up to £50 each to repair.** Bottomline’s PT-X DDM module provides bank account verification and validation at point of entry, removing inaccuracies and administrative costs at source and ensuring full Bacs compliance.

“Using Direct Debits, businesses know exactly when the funds are due to arrive. The PT-X DDM cloud offering provides full lifecycle management, designed to fit each customer’s specific business needs and complexities” said Richard Ransom, Product Marketing Manager, Bottomline Technologies. “The combination of ease-of-use, speed of deployment, the highest levels of security, and configurable scalability makes this solution a compelling proposition, whatever the size of your business.”

“Since its launch in January 2015 the PT-X™ suite has been chosen by more than 800 UK corporations” said Nigel Savory, Managing Director Bottomline Technologies Global Business Solutions. “The addition of the DDM module gives corporates a powerful, new, cloud-based platform to automate their collections process, better manage cash control, and provide measureable efficiency benefits throughout the payments and collections process.”