The main difference is that a Bank transfer is initiated by the account holder. With a Direct debit on the other hand, the payee becomes active and debits the amount due from the payer's account. Even if customers have given a direct debit authorisation, they can object to the debit for eight weeks. Therefore, the bank transfer is somewhat safer for merchants. Direct debit, on the other hand, is a particularly inexpensive and simple payment method for recurring payments and subscriptions. Read more about subscription commerce in our blog post.