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I don’t know about the UK but in my SEPA country only companies can create pull-based schemes and they can’t do it without authorization of the bank account owner. Mostly used for things like utility bills. So there’s zero danger in sharing your bank account number with someone.

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1. It's easy to setup a company 2. There's no validation that the direct debit is being setup by the account owner

1. It’s a bureaucratic mess. And scammers will also need to deal with the bank first. 2. With a paper form they need your autograph and other ID data. Or when it’s digital you need to authorize the request with your banking app.

In the UK it's £10 to register a company online in minutes.

Direct debit instructions require nothing beyond a name and account number.

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