Introducing Rentalize Pay: Rent Collection via Direct Debit

Rent collection is one of the most time-consuming parts of property management. Whether you manage 10 units or 2,000, the monthly cycle of chasing payments, matching bank statements, and dealing with failed transfers eats into time that could be spent on higher-value work. Today we are announcing Rentalize Pay, a new module within Rentalize Core for collecting rent by direct debit.

What Is Rentalize Pay?

Rentalize Pay is a rent collection module powered by GoCardless, one of the world’s leading open banking and direct debit platforms. It connects directly to the Rentalize Core property management system, so each payment is tracked and matched to its invoice without anyone matching it by hand.

Here is how it works: tenants authorise a Direct Debit mandate once through GoCardless (Growth and above), and each payment collected through it is matched to its invoice automatically when GoCardless confirms it. Rentalize Pay sits in the middle, monitoring each payment’s status and updating your records as it changes.

No spreadsheets. No CSV exports. No logging into your bank to match payments against tenant names.

Why Direct Debit Instead of Card Payments?

Card payments are common in e-commerce, but they are a poor fit for recurring rent. Here is why:

• Cost: Card processors like Stripe charge 1.4% to 2.9% plus a fixed fee per transaction. On a EUR 1,500 monthly rent, that is EUR 21 to EUR 43.75 per payment. Multiply that across hundreds of tenants and the fees become significant. GoCardless charges its own transaction fees on your GoCardless account; check its current pricing.
• Reliability: Credit and debit cards expire, get lost, or are cancelled by banks. Card payment failure rates in subscription billing typically run at 2 to 5 percent. Direct debit mandates stay active until explicitly cancelled, with failure rates well below 1 percent.
• Tenant experience: Tenants authorise the mandate once, with no card details to update.

The Hidden Cost of Bank Direct Debit

Some property managers already use direct debit through their bank. AIB and Bank of Ireland both offer SEPA direct debit facilities. On paper, the per-transaction fees look low: around EUR 0.20 to EUR 0.50 each.

But the real cost is not in the fees. It is in the staff time.

Traditional bank direct debit requires manual batch file uploads (typically every payment cycle), paper mandate forms that need to be posted, signed, and returned, CSV reconciliation where someone on your team matches bank statements against your tenant database, and manual investigation of every failed payment. For a portfolio of 200 units, our calculator estimates this adds up to over 30 hours of staff time per month.

Rentalize Pay removes most of that. Mandates are signed digitally. Reconciliation happens in real time via webhook status updates. Failed payments are flagged and show in arrears straight away.

Key Features

Digital mandate signing: Tenants authorise payments through a secure hosted page. No paper forms, no postal delays.

Instant reconciliation: Every payment event (confirmed, failed, charged back, paid out) is received in real time and matched against your records automatically.

Combined deposit and mandate flow: Collect a deposit via instant bank pay and set up the recurring direct debit mandate in a single tenant interaction.

UK and Ireland coverage: Rentalize Pay handles SEPA direct debit for Ireland and the EU, and Bacs direct debit for the UK, through a single integration.

How It Fits Into Rentalize Core

Rentalize Pay is not a standalone product. It is a module within Rentalize Core, our full housing management system for organisations managing 50 to 5,000 units.

That means rent collection connects directly to your tenancy records, arrears tracking, financial reporting, and contractor management. When a payment is confirmed, the tenant’s balance updates. When a payment fails, the arrears workflow triggers. When a payout lands in your account, the financial report reflects it. No manual data entry between systems.

For property management companies, housing bodies, and larger landlords already using Rentalize Core, Rentalize Pay runs inside Rentalize Core, with Direct Debit mandates on Growth and above. If you are not yet on Rentalize Core, this is another reason to consider the switch.

What Does This Cost?

GoCardless charges its own transaction fees on your GoCardless account; check its current pricing.

We have built an interactive fee savings calculator so you can estimate the numbers for your portfolio size.

When Is It Available?

Rentalize Pay is live and runs inside Rentalize Core. Tenants authorise a Direct Debit mandate once through GoCardless (Growth and above), and each payment collected through it is matched to its invoice automatically when GoCardless confirms it. Tenants can also pay online through the tenant portal.

To see it running on your own portfolio, book a demo.

You can also explore the full feature breakdown, provider comparison, and savings calculator on the Rentalize Pay product page.