GoCardless

Connect GoCardless to PayLexer to accept Direct Debit, SEPA, ACH, and Open Banking payments globally.

GoCardless is a UK-based fintech company founded in 2011, specialising in bank-to-bank payments through Direct Debit and Open Banking. It is trusted by over 90,000 businesses worldwide and supports recurring and one-off bank payments without requiring card details. GoCardless operates across the UK, Eurozone, US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Supported Regions (Merchant Accounts): UK, EU, US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand - view full list
Supported Currencies: GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CAD, NZD, SEK, DKK - view full list

Supported Features

Direct Debit payments (BACS - UK)
SEPA Direct Debit (Eurozone)
ACH Direct Debit (US)
BECS Direct Debit (Australia)
PAD Direct Debit (Canada)
Instant Bank Pay via Open Banking (UK)
Recurring and one-off payment collection
Real-time payment event notifications via webhooks
Sandbox environment for testing

Before You Start

Make sure you have:

GoCardless Account - Don't have one? Sign up for GoCardless →
PayLexer Account - Required to configure the integration. Create your account →
A website where you want to integrate

Looking for a different payment processor? View all supported gateways →

Configuring GoCardless

You need a Live Access Token and a Webhook Secret from GoCardless for this integration.

Getting API Credentials

Go to manage.gocardless.com and sign in.

For sandbox credentials, use manage-sandbox.gocardless.com instead.

Navigate to API Tokens

In the left sidebar, click Developers, then click Access token.

Create a new token

Enter a descriptive name such as "PayLexer", then choose Read-write access and click Create.

Copy the token immediately - GoCardless only shows it once. Store it somewhere secure before closing the page.

Adding Credentials to PayLexer

Open PayLexer Dashboard

Enter your credentials

Paste the Live Access Token and Test Access Token you copied from GoCardless.

Understanding Live/Production and Sandbox Settings:

Environment	Purpose
Live / Production (Mandatory)	Used for real transactions. Cannot be empty, even when testing.
Test / Sandbox (Optional)	Used for testing only. No real money is processed.

How PayLexer selects credentials:

Debug/Test mode ON → Test credentials are used
Debug/Test mode OFF → Live credentials are used

Test and save

Click Test Connection to verify your credentials, then click Save Configuration.

Configuring Webhooks (Mandatory)

Webhooks enable real-time payment updates and significantly improve reliability.

Benefits of Webhooks:

Instant payment status updates
Automatic refund processing
Dispute notifications

Go to Webhooks in GoCardless

In your GoCardless dashboard, navigate to Developers -> API settings. Click Create and then Webhook endpoint

Add a new webhook endpoint

Fill the Name and URL of the endpoint. Select Generate a secret for me

You can find this URL in your PayLexer dashboard under Payment Gateways → GoCardless → Webhook Settings.

Repeat this step in your GoCardless sandbox dashboard using the sandbox webhook URL from PayLexer if you want test events delivered during development.

Copy the Webhook Secret

After creating the endpoint, GoCardless displays a Webhook Endpoint Secret. Copy it.

This secret is only shown once. Copy it before navigating away.

Paste the Webhook Secret into PayLexer

Back in your PayLexer dashboard under Payment Gateways → GoCardless, paste the secret into the Webhook Secret field and click Save Configuration.

Integrate GoCardless to Your Website

If you have already added and configured your site, you can enable GoCardless in your existing setup.

Go to Websites

Navigate to Websites in your PayLexer dashboard.

Edit your website

Click the Edit Icon of your added website.

Enable GoCardless

Click the checkbox to enable GoCardless for the website.

If you haven't added a website yet, Continue to Add Your Website →

Troubleshooting

Confirm GoCardless is enabled for the website under Websites → Edit → Payment Gateways
Check that your Live Access Token is saved and valid
Verify the currency selected at checkout matches a currency GoCardless supports for your region

Confirm the Webhook URL in your GoCardless dashboard matches the URL shown in PayLexer exactly
Check that the Webhook Secret in PayLexer matches the one generated by GoCardless
Verify the webhook endpoint is active and not paused in the GoCardless dashboard
Check GoCardless webhook logs under Developers → Webhooks for delivery errors

Direct Debit payments are not instant - they can take 1-3 business days to confirm
Check your PayLexer dashboard under Orders for the transaction status
If using Instant Bank Pay, confirm the customer completed the bank authorisation flow

Confirm you have a Test Access Token saved in PayLexer
Ensure Test/Debug mode is enabled on your platform
Use credentials from your GoCardless sandbox account at manage-sandbox.gocardless.com - live credentials will not work in sandbox mode

Best Practices

Test all payment flows in GoCardless sandbox mode before enabling live credentials
Set up webhooks before going live - Direct Debit relies on asynchronous events and will not update payment status reliably without them
Use descriptive names for API tokens (e.g. "PayLexer - Production") to identify them easily in the GoCardless dashboard
Monitor the GoCardless webhook log under Developers → Webhooks regularly during initial setup
Note that Direct Debit payments are not instant - set customer expectations accordingly on your checkout or confirmation pages

FAQs

Live credentials are mandatory to save the configuration. Test credentials are optional but highly recommended so you can safely test payments before going live.

Check the Debug Mode setting in your platform. When Debug Mode is ON, PayLexer uses your Test credentials. When OFF, it uses Live credentials.

Transactions appear in three places: your platform's booking or order pages, PayLexer Dashboard → Orders, and GoCardless Dashboard. All three show the same transactions with different IDs.

Payments will still process, but status updates may be delayed. Check webhook logs in GoCardless Dashboard under Developers → Webhooks to troubleshoot.

Standard Direct Debit payments (BACS, SEPA, ACH) typically take 1-3 business days to confirm. Instant Bank Pay (Open Banking) confirms in real time. Payment status is updated automatically via webhooks once GoCardless processes the transaction.

PayLexer supports all bank payment methods GoCardless offers in your region - including BACS Direct Debit (UK), SEPA Direct Debit (EU), ACH (US), BECS (Australia), PAD (Canada), and Instant Bank Pay (UK Open Banking). The methods available at checkout depend on the currency and country of your GoCardless account.

Still Have Questions?

GoCardless Support: GoCardless Help Center
PayLexer Support: Contact Support

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