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Interac e-Transfer®
Just like sending cash, only better.
With one simple transaction, you can send money directly to practically anyone in Canada. There’s no need for cheques or visits to an ATM. Plus, it’s secure – there’s no sharing of bank information, all you need is an email address.†
Sending, requesting and receiving money with Interac e-Transfer® is quick, convenient & easy, from start to finish.
Interac e-Transfer® how-to guides
Send Money
Sending an Interac e-Transfer®
From your online or mobile banking, simply follow these steps and you're on your way!
1. You need to have your recipient's name and email address or mobile phone number, and the knowledge that they have a deposit account at a Canadian bank or credit union (you do not need to know what financial institution they deal with, or what their account number is).
2. Log into online banking. If you’re not set up yet, you can click on the “online banking” button on our website, and follow the registration instructions to create your profile. If you need help, visit your nearest Alterna Savings branch, or call us at 1.877.560.0100 to get your temporary password.
3. Select Pay & Transfer from the top menu, then select Send e-Transfer from Interac e-Transfer®.
4. If you have not set up a Sender Profile, you will be directed to the Manage Profile page to set up your profile. Set up your Sender Profile by following the prompts.
5. Set up your contacts by entering their name and email address on the Manage Contacts page. If you’d like to notify your recipient by text, enter their mobile phone number.
Create a security question that only they will know the answer to. If it's a friend, for example, the question might be: "How do you like your eggs?" (For security reasons, the message field that allows you to leave a note for your contact must not contain the answer to your security question.). Feel free to call or text your friend to let them know what the answer to the security question is (it’s not recommended to email it to them).
6. When your Sender Profile and Contact(s) are setup, select your contact from the dropdown list on the Send Interac e-Transfer® page. Input the amount you'd like to send*. (NOTE: Your account will be debited the amount you have sent once you click Send Transfer. Effective June 1, 2018 Interac e-Transfers® are classified as a day-to-day transaction and if applicable a day-to-day transaction fee will be applied when you send an Interac e-Transfer depending on your banking package or the savings account that you send the Interac e-Transfer from. Please refer to our Personal Service Fee Listing for further information. Business and Community accounts will be subject to a fee of $1.25 for all Interac e-Transfer® sends. Please refer to the Business Service Fee Schedule.
Request Money
Interac e-Transfer® Request Money
Interac e-Transfer® Request Money* allows you to request money from a person or business with:
- a valid email address or mobile number, and
- a bank account at any Canadian Financial Institution that supports this feature.
When you send a request for money, the contact is notified instantly. After the request is accepted, the requested amount will be automatically deposited into your account and you will receive a notification.
How it works:
1. Log in to online banking or the mobile app and navigate to Interac e-Transfer® Request Money feature found within the Pay & Transfer section.
2. Create a new contact (through Manage contacts) or select a pre-existing contact that you wish to send the request for money to.
3. Type in the amount you are requesting, include a personalized message and select the account you want the funds deposited into.
4. After the request has been fulfilled, funds are deposited into the specified account and you are notified.
*Interac e-Transfer® Request Money is classified as a day-to-day transaction and if applicable a day-to-day transaction fee will be applied when you send an Interac e-Transfer® Request Money. Please refer to our Personal Service Fee Listing for further information. Business and Community accounts will be subject to a fee of $1.25 for all Interac e-Transfer® Request Money transactions, please refer to the Business Service Fee Schedule for details.
Receive Money
Receiving an Interac e-Transfer®
Notification will be sent to your contact by email and/or text that you have sent them an Interac e-Transfer®. With the click of a link, they’ll be able to log in to access the funds using their desktop computer, laptop computer, or smartphone. Whatever device they decide to use, your contact will be walked through a very simple and easy-to-use interface to deposit the money right in their own bank account.
In order to claim the funds and complete the transfer, your contact must answer the security question you created correctly.
Autodeposit Money
Autodeposit an Interac e-Transfer®
This feature allows the money you receive from Interac e-Transfers® to be automatically deposited into your account without having to answer a security question. Autodeposit can be utilized if the feature is supported by the recipients’ financial institution, and the recipient has registered their email address or mobile phone number for this feature.
How it works
1. Simply log in to the online banking or the mobile app and navigate to the Autodeposit settings in the Interac e-Transfer® menu.
2. Register your email address or mobile phone number for Autodeposit and select which account to link it to.
3. An email or SMS notification will be sent out by Interac to complete registration. Once completed, you can receive e-Transfers without having to answer a security question.
Personal members can link up to 5 email addresses or mobile phone numbers for Autodeposit and Business members can link up to 100 email addresses or mobile phone numbers for Autodeposit.
Cancel Money
Cancelling an Interac e-Transfer®
Interac e-Transfers® can be cancelled or stopped only if the recipient hasn’t yet received the funds. There is no fee for cancelling e-Transfers, however service fees will not be refunded.
To cancel an Interac e-Transfer®:
1. Sign into online banking
2. Go to Pay & Transfer -> Select View Pending e-Transfers from the Interac e-Transfer® menu
3. Select the Send Money tab or Request Money tab, depending on which type of e-Transfer you wish to cancel
4. Click on the trash can icon beside the e-Transfer you want to cancel
5. Review the details and click ‘Confirm’ to complete the cancellation. If cancelling a Send Money, the funds will be re-deposited to your account
Interac e-Transfers® Limits
Interac e-Transfers® Limits
Personal Members | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sending | Receiving | |||
Per Transaction | $3,000 | $25,000 | ||
24 Hour Limit | $3,000 | N/A | ||
7 Day | $10,000 | N/A | ||
30 Day | $20,000 | N/A | ||
Business & Community Members | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sending | Receiving | |||
Per Transaction | $10,000 | $25,000 | ||
24 Hour Limit | $10,000 | N/A | ||
7 Day | $70,000 | N/A | ||
30 Day | $300,000 | N/A | ||
Interac e-Transfers®
Frequently Asked Questions
Personal Members | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sending | Receiving | |||
Per Transaction | $3,000 | $25,000 | ||
24 Hour Limit | $3,000 | N/A | ||
7 Day | $10,000 | N/A | ||
30 Day | $20,000 | N/A | ||
Business and Community Members | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sending | Receiving | |||
Per Transaction | $10,000 | $25,000 | ||
24 Hour Limit | $10,000 | N/A | ||
7 Day | $70,000 | N/A | ||
30 Day | $300,000 | N/A | ||
- $3,000 per transaction.
- Maximum of 50 outstanding requests
These ‘rolling’ limits apply from the date of a transaction and expire 7 or 30 days after that initial transaction has taken place. For example, if an e-Transfer is completed on January 10th at 12:00, then the 7 day limit will be in effect until January 17th at 12:00 and then reset. At the same time, the 30 day limit will be in effect until February 9th at 12:00 at which time it resets.
Interac e-Transfers® (Send or Request Money) are classified as a day-to-day transaction and if applicable a day-to-day transaction fee will be applied when you send or request an Interac e-Transfer® depending on your banking package or the savings account that you send the Interac e-Transfer® from. Please refer to our Personal Service Fee Listing for further information.
Interac e-Transfers® can be done anytime, day or night, weekends or holidays. Recipients are notified by email usually within 30 minutes after an e-Transfer is sent, and funds are immediately available to be deposited into their account. Funds are withdrawn from the sender’s account on submission of the e-Transfer. Any applicable service fee(s) will be withdrawn from the sender’s account at the end of the business day they initiated the transfer(s), and is non-refundable. Refer to our Service fees for details.
Anyone with an email address, access to online banking and a Canadian bank account can send money with Interac e-Transfer®. If you don’t have these, your options to send money are by wire or cheque. You may send money to someone’s mobile phone if you don’t know their email address or if they don’t have one. Funds may be received by recipients that don’t use or have access to online banking, as long as their Canadian financial institution provides the Interac e-Transfer® service (processing will take longer – visit interac.ca for more information).
You can send an Interac e-Transfer® Request Money to anyone who has a valid phone number or email address and has access to online banking or a mobile banking app. However if the individuals Financial Institution does not support the Request Money feature they will have to decline the request with a message to the requestor.
Yes. The Interac e-Transfer® service allows you to set up multiple receivers, and keeps the information on file. When sending or requesting an e-Transfer, simply select your recipient from the drop-down list. Recipients can be edited or updated at any time.
If the transaction has not yet been received by the recipient, you can choose to cancel the transaction from the Pending e-Transfers screen. If the transaction has already been completed and funds deposited to the receiver, then contact us.
e-Transfers can be cancelled only if the recipient has not yet accepted or sent the funds. Once a transaction is completed, it can’t be reversed. If it is a fraudulent transaction, please contact us.
Online banking keeps a record of e-Transfer history, as well as pending transfers. You can look up past transactions by logging into online banking, selecting the Interac e-Transfer® option, then choosing View History above the e-Transfer entry box. Simply select the period of time you wish to view history for, up to a maximum of 24 months.
If you suspect you’ve been defrauded, contact us.
Interac e-Transfers® expire 30 days after they’re sent or requested. After 30 days, the recipient will not be able to receive and deposit the funds. Senders and requestors can send reminder notices to recipients from the ‘Pending e-Transfers’ screen in online banking. If a recipient fails to receive and deposit funds within the 30-days, the sender will be notified by email to deposit the funds back into their account. For Request Money the requestor will have to make another request for funds). Service fees are non-refundable
To edit a request for money, log back into online banking or the mobile app and go to your payment history and select the Interac e-Transfer transaction you wish to edit. Use the edit option provided to make the change. Please note, that you cannot edit a request for money once it has been fulfilled.
You can decline a request by selecting the decline option when you are notified of a request for money on the fulfilment page. You can also provide a message that is sent back to the individual requesting the funds to explain why you are declining their request.
Yes, you can opt-out of receiving requests from a specific requestor, or from the feature completely by selecting opt out on the fulfilment page.
When fulfilling a request for money, you don’t need to enter a security question because it’s a shared secret between you and the sender of the request. With Request Money once you fulfil the requests the funds are automatically deposited into the account rather then manually having to select deposit.
Yes! Even if the person you’re sending money to doesn’t use a participating financial institution, you can send money through Interac e-transfer® following the same steps you normally would. When the recipient goes to receive the funds and clicks on the link in the notification email, they will see Other Options at the bottom of the Deposit Your Transfer page. They’ll then be able to use the option to “Deposit without using online banking” if they wish to continue once they’ve read the details (NOTE: The service fees, limits, processing time and other requirements when using the “Deposit without using online banking” feature are levied and controlled by Interac and not Alterna). Should you have any questions or concerns about the information on this page, please visit interac.ca.
Unless you share a joint account with the member, you will need to use Interac e-Transfer® services to send money to another member of Alterna Savings.
No, you will need to cancel the e-Transfer and resend. Please note, you cannot cancel a Send money e-Transfer once it has been deposited.
a) Phase 1: Interac e-Transfers® must be accepted through Alterna's previous online banking system.
- Click on the link in the email you received regarding the Interac e-Transfers®
- Login to online banking using your Login ID and previous password. Please note, the new password you created to login to our new online banking platform will not be accepted. You must use your old password.
- Accept the e-transfer by following the on-screen instructions.
- Log out of online banking and return to Alterna's new online banking platform to complete any other banking.
b) Phase 2: To accept an e-transfer you must be registered for online banking and have migrated to Alterna's new online banking platform.
- If you are new to online banking or have not yet migrated to Alterna's new online banking platform, go to our Website and click on the "Log-In" button on the upper right of the screen.
- Click on "Register to Log-in" and follow the instructions to set up your online banking profile.
c) Once you have set up your online banking profile in our new system, follow the steps below to accept an e-transfer.
- Click on the link in the email you received regarding the Interac e-Transfers®
- Sign-in to Online banking
- Accept the e-transfer by following the on-screen instructions.
Online banking keeps a record of e-Transfer history, as well as pending transfers. You can look up past transactions by logging into online banking, selecting the Pay & Transfer menu, then choosing View e-Transfer History under the Interac e-Transfer® heading. History for the past 30 days is automatically displayed, with the option to filter results for a time period up to 24 months.
Ready to make an Interac e-Transfer®?
† Requester or recipient must be a resident of Canada and have an account at a participating Canadian financial institution with access to online banking. Effective April 29, 2019 Interac e-Transfers® are classified as a day-to-day transaction and if applicable a day-to-day transaction fee will be applied when you send or request an Interac e-Transfer® depending on your banking package or the savings account that you send the Interac e-Transfer® from. Please refer to our Personal Service Fee Listing for further information. The email carries the notice, while the financial institutions transfer the money securely.
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