Introduction
Approval workflows help ensure that sensitive actions such as canceling a customer’s direct debit mandate are properly reviewed before they are executed. By adding an approval workflow to mandate cancellations, your organization can maintain better internal control, prevent unauthorized actions, and keep a clear audit trail of all mandate-related decisions.
This guide explains how direct debit cancellation approvals work and what happens when users attempt to cancel a mandate.
How approval workflows for mandate cancellations work
1. Create an approval workflow for mandate cancellation
An admin must first set up an approval workflow specifically for direct debit mandate cancellations.
This workflow determines:
- who receives the approval request
- the number of approval levels
- whether approval must be sequential or parallel
- what conditions must be met before a mandate can be canceled
To set this up, follow the guide here on how to create an approval workflow. Once this workflow is enabled, all mandate cancellation requests will follow the defined process.
2. Attempt to cancel a mandate
When a team member attempts to cancel a direct debit mandate:
- The system detects that an approval workflow is tied to mandate cancellation.
- The cancellation is not executed immediately.
- Instead, the system automatically generates an approval request and sends it to the designated approver(s).
The team member will see a message confirming that the cancellation request has been submitted for approval.
3. Approver receives the request
The approver logs in to the platform and:
- Navigates to Approval requests.
- Reviews the submitted cancellation request.
- Chooses to approve or decline the cancellation.
- If approved: the system proceeds to cancel the mandate.
- If declined: the mandate remains active, and the requesting user is notified.
A full audit trail of who approved or declined the request is captured for compliance and record-keeping.