How do I send an etransfer?

Whether you need to pay rent, pay the babysitter, or split the cost of your friend’s bachelorette party, Interac e-Transfer allows you to securely send, receive and request money using online banking. It’s a popular service – nearly nine in 10 Canadians (88%) have used Interac e-Transfer, according to a March 2022 survey by Interac, and the service surpassed more than one billion transactions over a 12-month period for the first time in April 2022.

Read on to learn more about how to send and receive Interac e-Transfers, plus enhanced features including automatic deposits and the ability to request money from others.

What is Interac?

Interac is a Canadian interbank network, which means it coordinates electronic financial transactions between different financial institutions. You might recognize the Interac name from debit cards – when a financial institution issues a debit card linked to your bank account, it’s through the Interac network that you can withdraw funds from an automated teller machine (ATM) or use your debit card to pay online or at a point of sale.

Launched in 2003, Interac e-Transfer is the primary funds transfer system in Canada and is specifically designed to transfer money between Canadian personal and business bank accounts. The service is a secure way to exchange money directly with people you know.

How do I use e-Transfer?

To send an Interac e-Transfer, both you and the person you want to send money to need to have two things: an account with a participating bank or credit union (Interac currently has more than 250 participating financial institutions, including Canada’s Big Five banks), and an active email address or mobile phone number.

Once you have that information, here’s how to send money using Interac e-Transfer:

1. Log in to your online or mobile banking app as usual and look for “Send Interac e-Transfer.”

2. Choose your recipient’s email or mobile number. If you don’t already have them as a contact, you’ll need to add their information to your contacts list.

3. Enter the amount of money you want to send.

4. Confirm the date you want to send it on.

5. Enter the security question and answer. Make sure to share the answer with your recipient, because they’ll need to answer it correctly to get the cash. If the recipient is registered for the Interac e-Transfer Autodeposit feature, they won’t need to answer the security question and the money will be automatically deposited (more on Autodeposit below).

6. Double-check that all the information is correct, including the recipient’s email address and phone number. Interac e-Transfers cannot be reversed once a recipient has deposited the money.

7. Hit send, and you’re all done! The money will be debited from your account immediately, and the recipient should receive a notification within about 30 minutes.

If someone is sending you money, here’s how to accept an Interac e-Transfer:

1. Check your email inbox, text messages or banking app for the notification that someone wants to send you money.

2. Follow the instructions to login to your bank account.

3. If you have more than one bank account (for example, chequing and savings), confirm which one you want to deposit the money into.

4. Enter the security answer.

If you don’t want to have to answer security questions every time you accept Interac e-Transfers, you can set up the Autodeposit feature and have money automatically deposited into your account. Here’s how to register for Interac e-Transfer Autodeposit:

1. Log in to your account via online banking or mobile app.

2. Under the Interac e-Transfers section, look for “Autodeposit.”

3. Add your email address and link your bank account.

4. You will receive a confirmation email, and will be prompted to click “Complete registration.”

If your bank or credit union offers this feature, Interac e-Transfer can also be used to request money from other people. This can be helpful when you’re planning a trip or in charge of a group outing where you’re splitting costs between multiple people. Requesting money using Interac e-Transfer works similarly to sending money:

1. Log in to your account via online banking or mobile app.

2. Under the Interac e-Transfers section, look for “Request money.”

3. Enter the details, including your contact’s name and email or mobile phone number, the amount of money you’re requesting, the date and the account you want the money deposited in.

4. Review the information and hit send.

5. Once the recipient accepts your request and the funds hit your account, you’ll receive a text or email notification.

How to send an Interac e-Transfer from Koho

First things first: To send an e-Transfer from KOHO, your KOHO account needs to be fully verified. Once your account is verified, here’s how to send an Interac e-Transfer from KOHO:

1. Log in to the KOHO app. Tap the dollar sign symbol ($), then select “Transfer Money.”

2. Tap the “Add a Recipient” icon in the top right-hand corner, then enter the name and email address of the person receiving the money.

3. Note: If you're sending money to an email address linked to a KOHO account, the funds will default to their KOHO account unless you choose “Send an e-Transfer instead” on the last confirmation page.

4. Enter the amount of money you want to send.

5. Enter the security question and answer. Don’t forget to safely share the answer with your recipient so they can easily deposit the money.

6. Double-check that all the information is correct, including the amount of money you’re sending and the recipient’s name and email address.

7. Hit “Send Now.” Done! Remember, Interac e-Transfers aren’t instant, but the recipient should receive the money in about 30-90 minutes.

If the person you want to send money to also has a KOHO account, you can send a free, instant KOHO to KOHO (K2K) transfer. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the KOHO app. Tap the $ symbol, then select “Send Money.”

2. Tap the “Add a Recipient” icon in the top right-hand corner. Enter the name and email address of the KOHO user who is receiving the money.

3. Note: You'll need to enter the email address the recipient uses to login to KOHO with, not their unique e-Transfer email. If the instant KOHO-to-KOHO account option is not available, it means you don’t have the correct email address associated with the recipient’s KOHO account.

4. Enter the amount of money you want to send.

5. Double-check that all the information is correct, including the amount of money you’re sending and the recipient’s name and email address.

6. Hit “Send Now.” With a K2K transfer, there’s no wait – the recipient will get the money instantly.

How to send an Interac e-Transfer to Koho

You can also accept Interac e-Transfers to your KOHO account, whether it’s from friends, family, a business account or your own personal bank account at a different institution. All someone needs to send an Interac e-Transfer to your KOHO account is your unique email address found in the KOHO app.

Once the sender has your unique KOHO transfer email, they can follow the usual steps to send an Interac e-Transfer. Sending an e-Transfer to KOHO works exactly like any other Interac e-Transfer between personal or business accounts.

There are limits for how much a third party can load to your KOHO account via Interac e-Transfer and how many transfers you can accept:

• Up to $999 per transaction

• Up to $999 per day

• Up to $10,000 per month

• Up to 5 daily transactions

• Up to 30 transactions per month

To be eligible to receive third-party e-Transfers to KOHO, you need three things: A fully verified KOHO account, a verified email address and an activated physical KOHO card.

Other factors to consider with Interac e-Transfers

Interac e-Transfer is strictly Canadian, and only works between personal or business bank accounts at participating financial institutions within Canada.

The service cannot be used to send money internationally, but Interac does offer a feature in collaboration with Mastercard and Western Union to send money around the world. To use this feature, you must have an account with National Bank and an active email address or mobile phone number.

Depending on where you bank and the type of account you have, you may be charged a fee for sending Interac e-Transfers. Some banks offer accounts with free unlimited Interac e-Transfer transactions, while others waive transfer fees up to a certain number of transactions per month. Some accounts charge fees for sending or requesting money, depending on the amount.

Interac advises customers to treat e-Transfers like cash, and to only send money to people you know. If you aren’t expecting anyone to send you money, beware of random e-Transfer notifications – try to confirm the source through another channel, and never click on suspicious links.

Whether you’re splitting household bills, repaying a friend for a night out or sending monthly rent to your landlord, having this type of service in Canada is very useful for transferring money to others without needing to write cheques or meet up in person to exchange cash. Just make sure you get all the details right before hitting send, and only send and accept e-Transfers to and from trusted sources.