Direct Debit Authority

Direct Debit Authority (DDA) is an authorisation given by a bank account holder allowing agreed payments to be automatically deducted from their account.

In the UAE, DDA is commonly used for mortgage repayments through the UAE Direct Debit System (UAE-DDS), which enables banks to collect scheduled instalments directly from a customer's nominated bank account, including accounts held with another bank.

Banks also use DDA for internal debit authorisations, allowing them to deduct agreed amounts such as mortgage instalments, processing fees, valuation charges or other applicable payments directly from the customer's account.

The term DDA is used interchangeably in both scenarios, whether referring to a UAE-DDS mandate or a bank's internal direct debit authorisation.

In both cases, the customer provides authorisation for the deductions, subject to the terms and conditions of the respective mandate.