A mandate is an authorization given to a bank or corporation (a broker, fund house, lender, etc.) to debit your bank account for recurring (or one time) payments. The payer’s authorization (physical signature/eSign/Debit Card or Net Banking auth) is required to register the mandate and is sent by the financial institution to your bank for registration on your behalf. Once the mandate is registered with your bank, the bank will allow the institution to withdraw the amount at the frequency pre-defined, or as and when the mandate is presented. Once a bank/merchant is authorized/approved, the recurring payment debit is completely automated and all payments will proceed without user intervention.