A software subscription that is still being debited after you cancelled it, or a supplier that collects a different amount than agreed: that is when you want to stop the direct debit, in Dutch "automatische incasso stopzetten". How you do it depends on the moment. Is it about debits that are still to come, about one announced collection, or about money that has already left your account?
Below you can read which steps there are, which deadlines Dutch law attaches to them and what is different for a business account and for the business (B2B) direct debit. What a SEPA direct debit is and how the Core and the B2B version differ is covered in our article on SEPA direct debits.
In short:
- Stop it for the future: withdraw the mandate with the company that collects. Under the Dutch Civil Code every collection that follows counts as not authorised.
- Hold back one collection: you can revoke an announced direct debit at your bank until the end of the working day before the debit day.
- Block: the SEPA Regulation gives payers the right to have direct debits limited or blocked. If neither payer nor creditor is a consumer, a bank does not have to offer this.
- Already debited: with the SEPA Core direct debit you can ask for a refund for 8 weeks without giving a reason. If there was no authorisation, you report it no later than 13 months after the debit. For a business account, the bank’s terms may depart from these statutory rules.
- Stopping is not cancelling: the contract and any unpaid invoice stay in place.
Withdraw, refuse, block or refund
If you want to stop a direct debit, you have four options. They differ in who you contact and in how much time you have:
| Action | When | Who you contact | What it does | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Withdraw the mandate | You want no new debits | The company that collects | Every direct debit after that is no longer authorised | At any time |
| Refuse one collection | One announced debit is wrong | Your own bank | Only that one collection does not go through | Until the end of the working day before the debit |
| Block direct debits | A company keeps collecting, or you only want to allow known creditors | Your own bank | Direct debits from one creditor, or from anyone not on a list, are refused | As long as the block is set, if your bank offers it for your account |
| Refund (storneren) | The money has already been debited | Your own bank | The amount comes back to your account, the debt remains | 8 weeks for the Core direct debit, 13 months without valid authorisation |
Sometimes you need two of them. If you stop a recurring direct debit because the contract has ended, you withdraw the mandate and keep an eye on the next collection date. If a debit still comes, you refuse it, or have it refunded if the money has already gone. If you only want to correct a wrong amount and keep the supplier, refusing or a refund is enough and the mandate can stay.
Stopping a direct debit in 4 steps
How do you stop a direct debit without a discussion later about what was or was not agreed? This order keeps everything on record:
Open the debit in your banking app or on your account statement. For a SEPA direct debit it shows the creditor’s name, the creditor ID (incassant-ID) and the mandate reference (machtigingskenmerk). With these details you know which mandate you are withdrawing, even if a company collects under a different name than you expect.
Tell the creditor in writing that you are withdrawing the mandate, by e-mail, letter or through the customer portal, and quote the mandate reference. Keep the confirmation. Under article 7:522 of the Dutch Civil Code you can withdraw consent to a series of payments at any time.
Withdrawing the mandate only ends the way you pay. If you also want to end the subscription or the service, cancel the contract separately, with the notice period it sets. You can do both in the same message.
Around the next collection date, check whether anything is still taken from your account. If a direct debit is still scheduled, refuse it at your bank. If the money has already been debited, have it refunded and send the company the confirmation that the mandate had been withdrawn.
Stopping a recurring direct debit
With a recurring direct debit (doorlopende incasso) you gave consent once for a whole series of debits, for example a monthly software licence, an insurance policy or the rent for business premises. To stop it, you withdraw that consent. The Dutch Civil Code says: consent to a series of payment transactions can be withdrawn, with the result that every future payment transaction is treated as not authorised (translated).
For the company on the other side that means: no new mandate, no new direct debit. According to Betaalvereniging Nederland, the Dutch Payments Association, a company can only collect by direct debit after the payer has given a direct debit mandate. If you gave the mandate digitally in your bank’s environment, with Digitaal Incassomachtigen, that bank records your consent and you can easily withdraw it later, the association writes. In any case, keep proof of the withdrawal, so that you can show later from which date there was no consent any more.
Holding back one collection
Sometimes only the next debit is wrong, while you want to keep the direct debit otherwise. Then you refuse that one collection at your own bank. The law sets a deadline: for a direct debit, the payer can revoke the payment order until the end of the working day before the day on which the account is to be debited as agreed (translated). A bank may charge for such a revocation if this has been agreed in the terms of the account.
You can only refuse once the direct debit is known to your bank. How it works differs per bank and per app: look for the scheduled or announced debits and the option to refuse or hold back a direct debit. If you are too late, a refund afterwards is what is left. A refused collection only stops this payment; the next direct debit from the same company can still come, unless you also withdraw the mandate.
Blocking direct debits at your bank
If a company keeps collecting after you withdrew the mandate, or if you only want to allow known creditors, you can block direct debits at your bank. The European SEPA Regulation, no. 260/2012, gives payers the right to ask their bank to limit direct debits to a certain amount or frequency, to block all direct debits, to block those of one or more named creditors or to allow only those of named creditors. The last one is also called an allow list (goedkeuringslijst). The Dutch consumer authority ACM points out that you then have to add a new company to that list yourself, otherwise it cannot collect.
For business owners there is an exception. If neither the payer nor the creditor is a consumer, banks are not obliged under the same Regulation to offer these limits and blocks. Whether you can set them for your business account therefore depends on your bank. Ask before you rely on it, especially if you pay many suppliers by direct debit.
When the money has already been debited
If the direct debit has already left your account, it is no longer about stopping but about a refund, in Dutch "storneren". With the SEPA Core direct debit you have an unconditional right to ask for a refund for 8 weeks after the debit. Your bank then pays back within ten working days or tells you, with reasons, why not. If the direct debit went through after you had withdrawn the mandate, it was not authorised. You report such a collection to your bank without delay, and no later than 13 months after the debit.
For a business account, the bank and the account holder may agree different terms under article 7:550 of the Dutch Civil Code, among other things on withdrawing consent, revoking a single direct debit, the 8 week refund right and the reporting deadline. So check the terms of your account to see which deadlines apply to you. And keep in mind that a refund undoes the payment, not the agreement. If the company is entitled to the money, it can still ask for it, with reminders or formal demands as a result. The ACM advises explaining to the company in a letter why you reversed an unauthorised direct debit.
Note: refusing, blocking or refunding a direct debit stops a payment, not the contract. An invoice you owe stays open until you pay it another way, and the company can send reminders in the meantime.
Stopping the direct debit or cancelling the contract
Cancelling a direct debit sounds like one action, but it is two. The mandate governs how you pay, the contract governs whether there is anything to pay. If you only withdraw the mandate, the subscription continues and the supplier can send you an invoice or a reminder. If you only cancel the contract, the mandate stays in place as long as you do not withdraw it.
So put both steps side by side: cancel the contract with its notice period and withdraw the mandate in the same message, with your customer number and the mandate reference. Rabobank notes that after you hold back or refund a direct debit you may still have to pay an invoice, depending on your arrangements with the company. The Vivid Help Centre also points out that a refunded direct debit does not cancel the contract or subscription with the merchant.
Stopping a business (B2B) direct debit
With the business direct debit, SEPA Direct Debit B2B (zakelijke Europese incasso), neither the payer nor the creditor is a consumer. The rules of the European Payments Council (EPC) are stricter there: the payer cannot have an authorised collection refunded. That is why the payer’s bank has to check every collection against the mandate data the payer has passed on. Betaalvereniging Nederland also notes that the refund right of 8 weeks belongs to the ‘ordinary’ direct debit and not to B2B.
If you want to stop a B2B direct debit, you therefore need to inform two parties. Withdraw the mandate with the company that collects and also report the withdrawal to your own bank: under the EPC rules, banks have to oblige their customers to report changes to and cancellations of a B2B mandate. A B2B collection that is still debited after that is not authorised. For that, you can ask your bank for a refund within 13 months, also under B2B.
Stopping a direct debit at Rabobank, ABN AMRO and Knab
Rabobank, ABN AMRO and Knab describe the steps on their own help pages. Those pages are about personal accounts; in the business app or environment, menus may have other names. This is what the banks themselves describe at the time of writing.
Rabobank
According to Rabobank, you hold back a scheduled direct debit up to and including the working day before the debit, through ‘Kijk vooruit’ and the ‘Weigeren’ button. A payment marked ‘Voorspelling’ (forecast) cannot be held back there yet, because it is not a scheduled payment. A refund is possible within 8 weeks from the debit itself. If a recurring direct debit has to stop for good, Rabobank refers you to the creditor itself.
ABN AMRO
ABN AMRO’s help page points to the ‘rode kaart’ (red card): a form to withdraw your mandate that you fill in, sign and send to the company that collects. Blocking and unblocking is possible in Internet Bankieren, and a refund up to 56 days after the collection date. According to ABN AMRO, you only see a scheduled direct debit there 24 hours in advance. A one-off direct debit can be refused, refunded and blocked, but not stopped.
Knab
Knab refers you to the company itself to withdraw a mandate. A direct debit that is about to be debited and is wrong can be refused. You can refund a debit up to 56 days old yourself in the app or the Persoonlijke Bankomgeving; between 56 days and 13 months this goes through the Servicedesk. If a company keeps collecting, you set up a direct debit block (incassoblokkade) in the app.
Direct debits with your Vivid account
With a Vivid business account you pay SEPA direct debits from a Dutch IBAN. According to the Vivid Help Centre, this is how it works:
Vivid in short: you can get an alert before a direct debit is collected, and after the debit you still have 56 days to return a direct debit that is wrong in the app. Read more about the account and the plans at Vivid Business.
Keep track of direct debits with Vivid
A business account with a Dutch IBAN, an alert for upcoming direct debits and refunds in the app.
Frequently asked questions
How do you stop a direct debit?
Withdraw the mandate with the company that collects, in writing and with the mandate reference. Every direct debit after that is no longer authorised. If you also want to end the service, cancel the contract separately. If a debit still comes, refuse or block it at your bank.
Can you stop a direct debit through your bank?
Partly. Your bank can refuse one announced collection, until the end of the working day before the debit, and block direct debits from a company. You withdraw the mandate itself with the company. If neither you nor the creditor is a consumer, a bank does not have to offer these blocks.
Until when can you refuse one direct debit?
Until the end of the working day before the day on which the amount is to leave your account as agreed. That is in article 7:534 of the Dutch Civil Code. After that you can only have the amount refunded. For a business account, the bank’s terms may set a different rule.
What is the difference between stopping and a refund?
Stopping works forwards: you withdraw the mandate and no new direct debits follow. A refund (storneren) works backwards: you have a debit reversed, with the Core direct debit within 8 weeks. If you want to get rid of a recurring direct debit, you need the first.
Does withdrawing a mandate also end the contract?
No. The mandate only governs how you pay. You cancel the subscription or agreement separately, with the notice period it sets. An invoice you still owe stays open.
Can you get a refund on a B2B direct debit?
Not if the mandate is valid: the business direct debit has no refund right for authorised collections. If a company collected without a valid mandate, you can ask your bank for a refund within 13 months under the rules of the European Payments Council, unless your terms set a different deadline.
What if the company keeps collecting after the withdrawal?
Refuse the next collection or have the company blocked at your bank, if it offers this for your account. A direct debit after the withdrawal is not authorised: report it to your bank without delay, no later than 13 months after the debit, and send the company the confirmation of your withdrawal.
This article provides general information and is not legal or financial advice. The rules mentioned come from the Dutch Civil Code (Book 7, Title 7B), Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 and the SDD B2B rulebook of the European Payments Council, and may change. The steps per bank are as Rabobank, ABN AMRO and Knab describe them on their own help pages for personal customers at the time of writing; Vivid is not affiliated with these banks. Vivid’s payment services are provided by Vivid Money S.A., an electronic money institution authorised and regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg; its Dutch branch is registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) as an electronic money institution. Brands mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
