Formerly | Interac Email Money Transfer |
---|---|
Industry | Funds transfers |
Founded | 2003 |
Headquarters | Canada |
Parent | Interac Corporation |
Website | interac |
Interac e-Transfer (formerly Interac Email Money Transfer or EMT) is a Canadian funds transfer service between personal and business accounts in participating Canadian banks and other financial institutions, offered through Interac Corporation.
From inception until early 2018, the service was provided by Acxsys, a for-profit consortium backed by most of the major partners of the nonprofit Interac Association, and using the Interac brand under licence. In February 2018, the activities of both organizations were combined into a single for-profit organization under the Interac name. [1]
Most Canadians who use online banking can send funds. These include personal deposit account holders with the big five banks (Bank of Montreal (BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) (and its digital banking division Simplii Financial), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), and TD Bank Group (Toronto Dominion-Bank)), Desjardins, Tangerine, National Bank, HSBC Bank Canada, President's Choice Financial, EQ Bank and many credit unions and other institutions, [2] as well as some small-business account holders. [3] In 2015, 105 million money transfers were sent using the platform totalling over CA$44 billion in value. [4]
Any personal account holder in Canada can receive funds.
An e-Transfer resembles an e-cheque in many respects. The money is not actually transferred by e-mail. Only the instructions to retrieve the funds are.
Unlike a cheque, the funds from an e-Transfer are not frozen in the recipient's account. An e-Transfer cannot bounce, as the funds are guaranteed, having been debited from the sender's account immediately upon initiating the transfer. As long as both sender and recipient bank are participating institutions, the funds are sent and received instantly. However, in some cases, for example two people with different banking institutions, transfers may take anywhere between near instant, or up to a few hours for the receiving party to get their emailed notice.
However, like any online banking mode of payment, e-Transfers are vulnerable to phishing. Many Canadians in areas where the Big Five banks have little presence or who do not bank online are penalized by a surcharge when receiving e-Transfers. Unlike a real giro, an e-Transfer requires intervention from the recipient for every single transaction, unless the recipient has signed up for Autodeposit. An e-Transfer goes stale much more quickly than a cheque (after 30 days, the e-Transfer is automatically cancelled, and the sender is notified by e-mail to retrieve the funds). [6]
In 2019 several articles published by Erica Johnson (CBC News) reported that e-Transfers had been intercepted and/or redirected via different means such as guessing security questions or impersonating e-Transfer customers. In many cases, the customers were not reimbursed. [7] [8] [9] In the same year, a paper published on arxiv.org examined the security and privacy of Interac e-Transfer and came to the conclusion that "Standard e-Transfers are potentially insecure against redirections" and that "the platform fails to protect its customers' privacy" due to relying on technologies such as e-mail and SMS. [10] [11]
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either the front or the back. Many new cards now have a chip on them, which allows people to use their card by touch (contactless), or by inserting the card and keying in a PIN as with swiping the magnetic stripe. Debit cards are similar to a credit card, but the money for the purchase must be in the cardholder's bank account at the time of the purchase and is immediately transferred directly from that account to the merchant's account to pay for the purchase.
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance inquiries or account information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff.
TD Canada Trust, commonly shortened in marketing to simply TD, is the Canadian commercial banking division of the multinational TD Bank Group. It is the second-largest commercial bank in Canada by assets, behind only the Royal Bank of Canada. TD Canada Trust offers a range of financial services and products to more than 10 million Canadian customers through more than 1,100 branches and 2,600 ATMs.
A transaction account, also called a checking account, chequing account, current account, demand deposit account, or share account at credit unions, is a deposit account or bank account held at a bank or other financial institution. It is available to the account owner "on demand" and is available for frequent and immediate access by the account owner or to others as the account owner may direct. Access may be in a variety of ways, such as cash withdrawals, use of debit cards, cheques and electronic transfer. In economic terms, the funds held in a transaction account are regarded as liquid funds. In accounting terms, they are considered as cash.
Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offence.
Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds transfer network via its e-Transfer service. There are over 59,000 automated teller machines that can be accessed through the Interac network in Canada, and over 450,000 merchant locations accepting Interac debit payments.
Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institution's website or mobile app. Since the early 2000s this has become the most common way that customers access their bank accounts.
Canadian Western Bank, also operating as CWB Financial Group, is a Canadian bank based in Edmonton, Alberta. The bank serves clients both in Western Canada and in other provinces. It was announced on June 11, 2024 that it would be acquired by National Bank of Canada in 2025.
Manulife Bank of Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manulife. As a direct bank, it offers high-interest chequing & savings accounts, credit cards, lines of credit and mortgages, including Manulife One. Since it was established in 1993, Manulife Bank has grown to more than $29 billion in assets and serves customers across Canada. Manulife Bank headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario.
A giro transfer, often shortened to giro, is a payment transfer between current bank accounts and initiated by the payer, not the payee. The debit card has a similar model. Giros are primarily used in Europe; although electronic payment systems exist in the United States, it is not possible to perform third-party transfers with them. In the European Union, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) allows electronic giro or debit card payments in euros to be executed to any euro bank account in the area.
President's Choice Financial, commonly shortened to PC Financial, is the financial service brand of the Canadian supermarket chain Loblaw Companies.
A cheque is a document that orders a bank, building society to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing the cheque, known as the drawer, has a transaction banking account where the money is held. The drawer writes various details including the monetary amount, date, and a payee on the cheque, and signs it, ordering their bank, known as the drawee, to pay the amount of money stated to the payee.
In economics, float is duplicate money present in the banking system during the time between a deposit being made in the recipient's account and the money being deducted from the sender's account. It can be used as investable asset, but makes up the smallest part of the money supply. Float affects the amount of currency available to trade and countries can manipulate the worth of their currency by restricting or expanding the amount of float available to trade.
Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as a bank, to a customer that enables its owner to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names, including bank cards, ATM cards, client cards, key cards or cash cards.
A standing order is an instruction a bank account holder gives to their bank to pay a set amount at regular intervals to another's account. The instruction is sometimes known as a banker's order.
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ATM usage fees are what many banks and interbank networks charge for the use of their automated teller machines (ATMs). In some cases, these fees are assessed solely for non-members of the bank; in other cases, they apply to all users. There is usually a higher fee for the use of White-label ATMs rather than bank-owned ATMs.
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
BMP Global Distribution Inc v Bank of Nova Scotia, [2009] 1 S.C.R. 504, 2009 SCC 15, is a significant case of the Supreme Court of Canada on the law of restitution and tracing, in this case dealing with a bank's right to recover funds paid by mistake on the deposit of a fraudulent cheque.
Simplii Financial is a Canadian direct bank and the digital banking division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). It offers no-fee chequing and savings accounts, a VISA credit card, Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), mortgages and mutual funds. These savings and investment products are also eligible for registration under a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) or a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).
Some participating financial institutions offer the Interac e-Transfer service to their small business online banking customers. Please check with your financial institution to find out more.
The Recipient can attempt to correctly answer the Security Question three times. If the Recipient is unsuccessful after the third attempt, the Interac e-Transfer will be declined an returned to the Sender. Therefore, it is important that you check the spelling and format (e.g., when using dates) of your response and contact the Recipient by phone or in person to inform them of the correct answer.