[gpvos]

Yes, I was highlighting the difference with the US system.

Another difference is that if you know someone's account number, you can send them money but not take any out of their account. I understand it's more or less the other way round in the US.

[lxgr]

In many European countries, "anybody" can take money out of your account, but you can return a direct debit for up to 13 weeks in case of unauthorized payments, and for 8 weeks for no reason whatsoever (including you just feeling like spending the money on something else).

Practically, the bank allowing a merchant to submit direct debits takes on significant credit risk as a result, so they grant that permission pretty carefully, similarly to how card processing merchant accounts require some level of trust.