Re:Direct debit (Score -1)

As others have said, it is common throughout Europe. In Jan2008, The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) went live, meaning all participating players (all major banks) use the same clearing process, whether for Credits(manual payments) or Direct Debits. The aim is to have all institutions migrated by 2010. Some more info at http://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/content.cfm?page=sepa_vision and http://www.sepa.eu/