Data Energy adopts recurring Pay by Bank for billing

Data Energy has selected GoCardless' Recurring Pay by Bank system for utility billing, automating flexible energy meter top-up payments for the heat network specialist's customers.

The change follows an earlier rollout of GoCardless' Pay by Bank option for one-off transactions, which reached an 82% customer adoption rate within weeks and has since risen to more than 90%.

The agreement focuses on billing for heat network customers, where payments can vary with usage and manual meter top-ups have added administrative work. By moving to recurring account-to-account payments, Data Energy aims to remove manual tracking and billing tasks while reducing payment failures linked to expired or lost bank cards.

For customers, the system removes the need for manual top-ups and is intended to reduce the risk of service interruptions caused by missed payments.

Recurring Pay by Bank operates on the account-to-account payment scheme introduced by the UK Payments Initiative. GoCardless says its system can switch customers to Direct Debit where open banking is not available, using what it describes as intelligent routing.

The payments provider also says its service uses a "bank guess" function, based on payment data gathered over 15 years in the UK market, to pre-fill payment details at checkout. It added that service reliability has been a concern for some early users of open banking-based recurring payments and cited uptime as a key feature of the system.

Utility billing

Data Energy works with building owners, managing agents and operators in the heat network sector, providing metering, billing, resident support, compliance consultancy and data management services. Simpler payment collection should allow its team to spend less time on administration and more time on customer support.

Aaron Beadle outlined the rationale for the change in a statement.

"One of our priorities has always been making life easier for our customers while reducing unnecessary administration behind the scenes. The response to Pay by Bank showed us that customers are ready for a simpler way to pay, so moving to an A2A provider and recurring payments was the obvious next step. It gives customers more control and peace of mind, while allowing our team to spend less time managing payments and more time supporting the people who rely on our service," said Aaron Beadle, Director of IT and Technical Services, Data Energy.

Open banking

The deal highlights a broader push to use open banking for recurring payments in sectors where bills can change from month to month. Energy and utility providers have traditionally relied on cards, Direct Debit and manual payment methods, but account-to-account models are being promoted as a way to cut failed payments and reduce processing costs.

GoCardless, which provides bank payment services in multiple markets, said the launch of its recurring product opens a new route for utility providers handling variable billing. The company processes more than USD 130 billion in payments each year across more than 30 countries.

Pat Phelan set out GoCardless' view of the market opportunity in the energy sector.

"The launch of Recurring Pay by Bank will revolutionise the energy sector. For the first time, providers can access fully automated, flexible utility billing. This offers them a reliable, low-cost way to manage fluctuating usage while providing a more seamless and secure payment method for their payers. We look forward to seeing how Data Energy uses Recurring Pay by Bank to build a competitive advantage as an early adopter," said Pat Phelan, Chief Revenue Officer, GoCardless.