With direct debit you no longer have to top up in advance. Your balance may go negative and the outstanding amount is debited from your linked bank account. You find the setting under Profile › Balance › Direct debit; on the Balance screen it carries the badge On or Off.
When it becomes available
Direct debit becomes available once your account has built a positive payment history. Until then you see Not yet available, with the note that you can top up easily in the meantime using the Top up button. When it is released for you, you get an email with the good news that you can now pay automatically, and the app opens the message Enable direct debits, with a checkbox "Enable direct debit for future parking actions".
How to turn it on
- Go to Profile › Balance › Direct debit.
- Switch on Automatic debit.
- If you have not linked an account yet, Payment method required appears; tap Add payment method.
- Finish the Link payment method wizard with the € 0.01 verification payment through iDEAL.
If your address is missing, the app says: "Add your address before you can turn on direct debit." The wizard asks for it itself in that case, in the Add address step; you can also fill it in beforehand under Profile › Account. How linking works exactly is in Linking a bank account.
When the money is collected
Your parking costs come off your balance; if that goes negative, we collect the shortfall. That happens around the end of the month, or earlier as soon as you reach your account's billing threshold. You start at the lowest threshold and move up once a direct debit has been processed successfully.
| Threshold | When it applies |
|---|---|
| € 25 | From the start, for every new account |
| € 50 | After one successfully settled direct debit |
| € 100 | After the next successful one after that |
Beforehand you get an email announcing the upcoming direct debit; if the threshold is the trigger, that email also says that you have reached the billing threshold. It names the amount and the bank account, and says the amount will be debited in the coming week. The invoice for that credit is attached to the email as a PDF.
Turning it off again
Switch Automatic debit off. If your balance is negative at that moment, Top up your balance first appears: "You have a negative balance. Top up or settle your balance before you can turn on automatic debit." So bring your balance back to zero or above first; after that you can flip the switch and park on credit again. If a collection fails or is reversed, SimplePark can also limit direct debit itself; see Direct debit reversed.