Can a customer cancel a VRP mandate?

Yes. Unlike a direct debit, a VRP mandate is visible in the customer's banking app, where they can see it and revoke it. The mandate also carries its own limits: a maximum amount per payment, a maximum per period and a duration. Within those limits, the business collects payments without asking the customer to authenticate each one.

Visible, and revocable

A variable recurring payment mandate is set up by the customer in their own banking app, through open banking. It appears there as a standing consent, with the payee, the limits and the duration. The customer can revoke it at any time from the same place, without contacting the merchant. That is a difference from direct debits, which many customers forget until a charge appears.

What the mandate contains

• A maximum amount per payment.
• A maximum amount per period, for example per month.
• A validity period or end date.
• The payee the business collects for.

What it means for merchants and operators

Within those limits, the business collects without asking the customer to authenticate each payment, which is what makes VRP usable for subscriptions, usage-based billing and installments. Revocation has to be handled gracefully: the platform receives the status change, pauses the subscription or asks the customer to set up a new mandate, and the merchant is told why a collection stopped. Operators that run billing from one engine can treat a revoked VRP mandate the way they treat an expired card, with the same retry and notification logic.