DebiCheck Amounts, Frequencies and Adjustments Explained
Because the consumer's bank verifies every DebiCheck collection against the stored mandate, the amounts and frequency captured in the mandate are not just paperwork — they are hard limits. A collection that exceeds the approved amount, or arrives on a frequency the mandate does not allow, is rejected before it ever reaches the account.
Getting the amount fields right at initiation therefore prevents most collection rejections later. This page explains each field and how changes are handled over the life of the mandate.
What amounts appear in a DebiCheck mandate?
- Instalment amount — the regular amount collected each cycle. For a fixed contract this is simply the monthly premium or repayment.
- Maximum collection amount — the ceiling on what may be collected in any cycle. This is only presented for usage-based or variable mandates (for example utilities or metered services), where the amount changes month to month. It caps what may be collected, and it must be clearly explained to the consumer before authentication so they understand what they are approving.
- First collection amount — where the first debit differs from the regular instalment, for example a pro-rata amount or an initiation fee combined with the first instalment.
For variable mandates, the maximum collection amount is often set as a multiple of the instalment amount — commonly in the region of one and a half times the instalment — but the exact multiple is agreed in the mandate and subject to each bank's rules, not a fixed universal figure.
What frequencies does DebiCheck support?
DebiCheck mandates support the recurring frequencies used in South African collections, including:
- Weekly
- Fortnightly
- Monthly (the most common)
- Quarterly
- Every six months
- Annually
- Once-off, for single collections
The frequency is authenticated as part of the mandate, so a mandate approved as monthly cannot suddenly be collected weekly. The collection day (or day rule, such as "last business day") is also part of the approved terms.
How do date adjustments work?
Salaries do not always land on the same calendar day, and collection days can fall on weekends or public holidays. Mandates can therefore include date adjustment rules agreed with the consumer, for example:
- Collecting on the previous business day when the normal collection day falls on a weekend or public holiday.
- Aligning the collection day with the payer's salary date.
These rules must be captured in the mandate so that adjusted collections still pass the bank's verification. The general principles are the same as for ordinary debit orders — see action dates and processing cycles.
How are amount changes and escalations handled?
Contracts often include annual escalations or rate-linked changes. DebiCheck accommodates this in two ways:
- Authorised adjustments captured upfront. The mandate can record an adjustment category, amount or rate — for example an agreed annual percentage increase. Because the consumer authenticated these terms, collections that follow the agreed adjustment remain within the mandate.
- Mandate amendments. Changes not provided for in the original mandate must be submitted as amendments, and depending on the change and the bank's rules the consumer may need to re-authenticate the new terms. See the mandate lifecycle.
Either way, the golden rule holds: collections are verified against the mandate register, so the mandate must always reflect what you intend to collect before you collect it.
What happens if a collection exceeds the approved amount?
It is rejected. The consumer's bank compares each collection against the stored mandate, and an amount above the instalment (or above the maximum collection amount on a variable mandate) does not match the approved terms. The rejection comes back with a mandate mismatch reason — see statuses and reason codes.
Kwik validates collection amounts against the registered mandate before submission, catching mismatches before they become bank rejections.
Related topics
Statuses and Reason Codes
A guide to DebiCheck mandate and collection statuses and the reason codes banks return, including common decline reasons and what to do about them.
Collections and Tracking
How DebiCheck collections are submitted and processed, how tracking re-presents a collection when funds become available, and the rules for retries.