Table of Contents Direct Debit Overview... 2 Payments... 4 Clarification of Terms... 4 Features... 6 Rejections... 8 Contact Methods & Filters... 8 Contact Status... 9 Printing Letters... 9 Viewing the message... 10 Reports... 11 Running a report... 12 Output Options... 13 Settings... 15 General Settings... 15 Approval & Release Settings... 17 Rejection Fees... 19 Notifications... 20 Security... 27 Pending Accounts in Links... 28 Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 1
Direct Debit Overview The Direct Debit Module is a unique module of Links Modular Solutions that also operates as a separate application. The Direct Debit Module can be installed to work as a part of Links or standalone. The Module provides the viewing of direct debit transactions, as well as the view of automated SMS s and E Mail s sent. Auto prepared mail merges can also be run, along with a range of reports that will display everything from settled amounts through to repetitive rejecters. The Direct Debit Module operates within links, however requires additional entry of a user id and login for added security. The Direct Debit Module provides a range of services and features including; Direct Debit Run financial information o Pending Amounts o Cleared Amounts o Rejected Amounts o Settled Amounts Complete customer breakdowns by debit run Automated SMS and Email messages for rejected customers Automated SMS and Email messages for sent and settled payments Auto Prepared Letter Mail Merging Rejection & Settlement Reports Repetitive rejections report Run comparison Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 2
With the exception of processing a letter mail merge, the Direct Debit Module is primarily used for viewing of past and upcoming debit runs and their relevant details along with report viewing. The preparation of direct debits and the run process, resides within the main Links application. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 3
Payments This section of the module provides a breakdown of past runs processed, as well as a listing of the individual customers within that run. Colour coding assists with the display of run or customer status and numerous breakdown columns display amounts sent (pending), cleared, rejected and settled. The options available in this section of the Direct Debit Module are controlled by security settings in Admin. Clarification of Terms Run Status Not sent Being Sent Sent Partially sent Will Retry Sent with errors Requires Approval The submission of the run to Links Pay has not yet commenced. The run can be reversed in Admin if the run has not yet been sent The transactions have commenced sending All transactions have been sent An interruption to the transaction sending process occurred, and once re connection can be established, the run will continue to send. All transactions that could be sent, have been sent. Some records may have incurred errors that cannot be resolved This run is ready for sending, however it requires that it be approved by an authorised user Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 4
To view the individual transactions double click or right click on the run you wish to view. Transaction Status Not sent Pending Cleared Rejected Settled Transactions are ready for processing but have not left yet and can be reversed or cancelled. Transactions have been sent to Links Pay and are awaiting processing, or awaiting response from the customer s financial institution. Applies to Credit Cards only. The financial institution has provided a response that funds are available, however these funds have not been release at this stage. The customer s account cannot be debited for reason supplied the amount requested has been debited from the customer s account and has also been deposited into your nominated business account Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 5
Features The payments window is designed to show all runs that are processed by LinksPay. At any time you can see the status of a run, from both its sending status through to the momentary amounts included for that run. Run Status The dollar amounts and a percentage of what has is pending, cleared, settled or rejected are show for each run. Release Data & Time The release date and time is set based on the parameters in the settings section of this module or if it is altered during the process of the run. If it needs to be altered at a later date this can be done by a right mouse click on the run you wish to alter. View Transactions To view the individual transactions that combine to create a run, a right mouse click or double click will provide this option. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 6
Polling In the Payments section of the Direct Debit Module is a prompt bottom right to show you that your service is polling. If you see Service Polling Disabled you must contact your IT Contact urgently to rectify, as you will not be able to process payments or rejections within the Module. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 7
Rejections The rejections window of the Direct Debit Module has two main functions. The automated SMS and Emails sent to customers can be viewed here, and it is also used for mail merge and phone lists functions. Any templates used for the rejection process (SMS, Email and Letter) are setup in the settings window. Contact Methods & Filters When a customer s payment is rejected the Direct Debit Module can automatically contact the customer via SMS or Email to notify them of the rejection. Alternatively, their details can be added to a mailing list ready for quick mailing through a single push button. If you wish to contact customers by phone individually their details will be available on the phone list. By default when the rejections screen is opened only those requiring further action will display on the list. These usually are phone and letter customers. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 8
You can change the view of the list using the following features: Actioned Type Type Method Date Contact Status When a customer has been sent an SMS or Emailed they are automatically marked as contacted. Once a letter has been mail merged/printed for a customer they too are marked as contacted. If you are contacting them by phone, then a contacted check box is available to check once each customer is contacted. Printing Letters Before letters can be printed, this option must be turned on and setup in Direct Debit Module settings. After rejections have been received for a run, the letters can be sent via a few simple steps 1. Select the button from the main rejections screen Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 9
2. The following screen will display 3. You can change the document default if required 4. You can chose to deselect customers if required 5. Once any filters you require have been set click on PRINT LETTERS Viewing the message When a customer has been sent a SMS or Email the actual message that was sent is saved for future reference. To view this text, double click on the customer name to view. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 10
Reports A range of reports are available from the Direct Debit Module. As a LinksPay customer you are automatically sent a Settlement Report and Rejections report after each run is processed. These reports can also be generated here if required. The following reports are available for viewing in the Module: Rejection Report period Settlements Report Run Comparison Report Repetitive Rejecters Displays the customers that rejected for a selected Shows the funds settled to your bank account Compares the amount of each debit over a given time period (Compares category against category) Shows customers who meet the set criteria for consecutive or number of rejections in a given time frame Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 11
Running a report To run a report you will first need to choose the report you wish to run from the drop down menu on the left hand side of the screen Once you have selected a report the filter options for that report will appear for example Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 12
Once you have set the selection criteria click on OK to save the settings. You will then need to select from the report options screen. The following will display whilst the report is loading: Output Options Printing To print a report click on the print icon seen below Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 13
Export to Excel Reports can be exported to excel using the SAVE As function The following will display before a selection screen for where you wish to save the export file Export to PDF Each report generated can be exported to PDF. Once the report is viewed click on the SAVE as icon and chose the PDF option, where you will be prompted to choose where to save the PDF. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 14
Settings To assist with the automation of feature within the Module there are a range of settings that must be first decided upon before using LinksPay. These settings control everything from the Till the transactions are completed through; right through to the template for automated SMS s and Emails. General Settings If you run a multi location site, the option to change locations is available here, for single location sites this simply displays as a label. Location Till You can choose which Till the transactions for your Direct Debit are processed through. Extra tills can be setup in Admin > Site Menu > Setup Locations/Other Site Parameters. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 15
Communication Errors If continued problems with the internet connection are seen by the Direct Debit Module then an email will be sent to the selected staff member informing them of the possible issues. The email address for the staff member must be set in links prior. (Admin > Security Menu > Staff Members) DD Run Reminders If you would like to be reminded when a run is due for processing or has been missed the below parameters can assist this. First you need to choose what you consider the due date for your run. Most sites will choose that the due date is the same as the start of the debit period; however others may choose that this is earlier. For example the Run period is from the 1 st through to the 31 st of the month, but you process this run on the 25 th of the month. You can also choose which reminders you would like to be sent to the nominated staff member. The below settings are for this example; We process our run 4 days before the start of the period and we would like to be reminded if we forget to process the run Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 16
Approval & Release Settings Release Date When the direct debit run is processed, Links will automatically calculate the date and time to release the transactions to LinksPay for payment. This setting controls what should be the default release date. In most cases the release date will be the same day as the start of the period. Again this could be prior if you wish to collect monies prior to start of a period. Approval By default once a run is processed through Admin and the release date and time is met the transactions will be sent off to LinksPay for processing. However if you wish to apply a secondary level of approval this can be applied here. By selecting that approval is required, this will require that a staff member of relevant authority will log into the module and mark the run as approved for sending. A non approved run will NEVER send to LinksPay, regardless of when it is due for release. This can be done for the following Direct Debit Runs: Classes Memberships Items added to Customer Account for Direct Debit A notification when an automatic debit run is processed for Customer Accounts Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 17
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Rejection Fees Rejections are automatically added to a customer account through the Direct Debit Module there is no manual intervention required. For this reason then we need to setup what service code we wish to collect rejection fee monies to, along with the amount to charge. You can chose which reasons you wish to apply a fee to the customer account. The rejection fee service code must be first setup in Admin > Products/Services > Services. In Links, the rejection fee amount must be entered under the pricing tab in the Advertised Price field. Once the Advertised Price has been entered click Save. For more information regarding how to setup a new service please see the Admin User Guide. Once the rejection fee service code has been setup in Links, in LinksPay the service code and rejection fee amount must be entered under the Rejection Fees Tab. Please note to successfully charge your customers a rejection fee the amount MUST match in both Links and PayLink. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 19
Notifications Overview To allow SMS messages and Emails to be automatically sent out through the Module users must first setup a template that is going to be used by the automatic process. It is important to note that SMTP details must also be entered for emails. These are entered in Admin > Site > Site Setup. You can also chose which methods you wish to utilise. For example if you only want customers to be sent a SMS and then you will phone the customer, you would only select the SMS option. Debit Notifications You can inform customers by SMS or Email for payments sent to LinksPay for processing. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 20
You can also inform your customers once their payment has settled. Rejection Notifications You can SMS, email or send your customer s a letter if their Direct Debit rejects. The process will only send one form of contact and for each customer it will move through the methods until it finds one it can contact by. For example if all options were selected but the customer didn t have a mobile number or an email address then they would be placed on the list to send a letter to. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 21
If you would like an email to be sent and then you will print a letter for those that do not have an email address then the options would look like this: Setting up SMS & Email Templates The setup of SMS and Email templates is almost identical. To begin select either of the below two buttons The setup templates screen will appear Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 22
1. Click on to activate the description field 2. Type in the description of the template 3. You will now need to compose the text of the template. TO add merge fields, select the field from the drop down and then click on Add Field Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 23
Setting the Letter Templates The letter templates whilst they run through word are saved into the links database so there is no need to setup a word letter prior to commencing this process. 1. To begin chose the button The following screen will appear 2. Click on the Document Name drop down to choose NEW DOCUMENT 3. Enter the document name and description 4. Click on 5. The following (or similar will display in Microsoft Word). You will need to use these merge fields to create your letter Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Create your letter below using the merge fields available «GroupPayGUID» «RejectDateTime» «PeopleId» «Surname» «Givennames» «Address» «Suburb» «State» «Postcode» «HomePhone» «MobilePhone» «Email» «Amount» «RejectionFee» «TotalAmount» «ErrorDescription» --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Once you have created your letter template, save the Word Document as you would any other word document (Don t SAVE AS), using the icon will be suffice. Once saved you can close down Microsoft Word. 7. You will now see that you have the option to save the template into the links database. Once you have clicked on SAVE the template will be available for use in the module. Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 25
Assigning the templates Once the templates are setup you will then need to choose which notification options you wish to use and the relevant template Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 26
Security The security settings for the Direct Debit Module are controlled from the Admin Module with all other security options. The available options are displayed as a separate tab in Security Group Setup. This is located in Admin > Security > Security Groups. The security options are self explanatory. Note: The control page is the payments page The user can open the Pay.Link application Select if they can The user can see the Control Page Select if they can The user can see and update the Rejection settings Select if they can The user can see the Reports Select if they can The user can approve batches in the Control Screen Select if they can The user can see the dollar amounts in pages and reports Select if they can Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 27
Pending Accounts in Links When a customer s account is sent to LinksPay for processing, the charge line of their account will show as pending until the payment is either rejected or paid. If Rejected: The pending flag will remove itself automatically and the charge will be payable. If applicable an additional charge line will also be added for the rejection fee If Settled: The pending flag will remove itself automatically and also a payment line will be added to show the payment made When an amount is pending it does not display in any outstanding reports, or upon visit entry. A pending amount cannot be paid manually until it is rejected if applicable. Example of a members pending account: Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 28
Example of a family pending account Direct Debit User Guide April 2015 29