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]
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.
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]
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.