A PayTo agreement is the digital permission a customer gives before you can collect recurring or scheduled payments from their bank account. It is sometimes called a mandate. Getting the agreement set up correctly matters, because it defines exactly what you are allowed to charge, how often, and for how long. This page breaks down each part of the agreement so you can configure it correctly for your use case.
For how PayTo works overall and how it compares with older direct debit, start with PayTo for recurring payments and PayTo vs. direct debit. This page focuses on the fields inside the agreement itself.

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What the agreement is

Unlike an old paper direct debit form that the business keeps, a PayTo agreement lives inside the customer’s own banking app. The customer reviews and approves it there, and can view, pause, or cancel it at any time. Each agreement is a structured record with a set of defined fields.

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The agreement fields

The Agreement ID is the most important field for reconciliation. Hello Clever uses it to match each incoming payment to the agreement it came from, automatically.

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Fixed vs. maximum amounts

The payment amount can be set in two ways, depending on your billing model.

Fixed amount

The same amount is collected each time, ideal for a flat subscription or membership fee where the price never changes.

Maximum amount

You set a ceiling, and each collection can be any amount up to it, ideal for usage-based billing, such as a utility bill that varies month to month.

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How an agreement moves through its life

1

You create the agreement

Your system sends a PayTo agreement request through the Hello Clever API, setting the amount, frequency, start date, and end date.
2

The customer approves it

The customer gets a prompt in their banking app, checks the terms and your business name, then approves or declines.
3

The agreement becomes active

Once approved, the agreement is stored in the customer’s banking app, and both you and the customer are notified in real time.
4

You collect payments against it

You initiate each payment through the API on the agreed schedule, within the amount and frequency the customer approved.
5

Changes stay in sync

If the customer pauses, changes, or cancels the agreement in their app, that update flows back to you automatically.
Set the frequency and amount to match what customers actually expect to see. A clear agreement (accurate business name, sensible amount, and a frequency that matches your billing) reduces the chance a customer declines it or cancels later.