Darlo Fans Lottery – important update

Darlington FC Supporters Group was this week informed that the online payment merchant GoCardless, which is used to collect lottery subscriptions, has made a change to its terms and conditions that prohibit the use of the platform for gambling transactions including lotteries. The lottery currently has 135 entrants who use GoCardless as a means to pay their monthly subscription. As a result of the change in T&C’s we can no longer take payment with immediate effect; the last payments that were successfully taken were on the 9^th March.

This only affects those lottery players who pay via GoCardless. If you play the Darlo Fans Lottery via standing order (or another method) you are unaffected.

All GoCardless DD’s normally taken after 9^th March have been suspended. As a result the team have been looking at way in which we can continue to take lottery subscriptions via an online method with as little disruption as possible and also with the best customer experience possible – a solution has been found to the issue for existing subscribers however all new entries have been temporarily suspended until further notice.

We also use GoCardless for other fundraising initiatives such as Community Shares and Boost The Budget amongst others – these will remain unaffected as they are not gambling related. It is only the lottery that is affected.

What this means

• For those who subscribe to the lottery via the GoCardless platform we can no longer process your payment in this way and will need to use an alternative payment merchant which will mean us having to contact you directly by email with a new link to set up a new payment with a new payment provider.
• For those who have a monthly standing order set up through you bank you will not be affected by this as your monthly payments will continue to be received as normal by DFCSG.
• In terms of the impact on the overall prize fund there may be a slight reduction depending on how many of the GoCardless entrants sign-up to the new scheme. Whilst we have tried to make this as easy as possible it is inevitable that there will be some players who don’t resubscribe. At the moment we do not have a clear idea on what the impact will be – the impact on the March prize will not be fully known until the end of March and the impact on the April prize will not be known until 10^thApril. As soon as we have calculated the impact we will inform all players.

What happens next

1. Firstly we will be cancelling all lottery Direct Debit mandates within GoCardless. We have been assured that no further payments will be taken but we will also cancel the mandate. You will receive an email to confirm that the mandate has been cancelled to the email address you subscribed with originally.
2. In order to set all GoCardless players up onto the new payment system, we will be issuing invoices which will contain a link for you to enter your payment details. Once the payment details are entered (debit/credit card) you will be billed on a one monthly recurring basis exactly as you have been previously billed.
3. For those whose payment date is on or before 9^thMarch, we will have received your payment for the March draws and we will send you a link to set up a new payment arrangement when your April payment is due. For example if your DD was successfully taken on 6^th March, you will receive an email on around 6^th April to set you up on the new system. It is not possible to sign you up earlier as it would mean you would be overpaying.
4. For those whose payment date is after 9^thMarch, we will not have received your payment for the March draws and for those who usually pay between 10^th March and 21^st March you will receive an email in the next 2-3 days. For those who usually pay after 21^stMarch your invoice will be received on or around the date you usually pay. Provided the new payment link is activated before 31^st March you will be eligible for the March draws.
5. We will continue working on how we offer new subscriptions to the lottery and will let you know as soon as we find a feasible solution.

The board of Darlington FC Supporters Group apologise for any inconvenience this may cause which unfortunately is completely out of our control, and hope that those playing via GoCardless will sign-up via the new payment merchant in order to limit the impact on the crucial funds that are raised for Darlington FC through this draw each month.