EFT cutoff times
Your bank's EFT submission cutoff comes before the exchange it uses. Banks exchange files at 09:30, 16:30 and 21:00 Eastern Time on business days.
Updated November 3, 2026
What EFT Rails does
EFT Rails uses the submission cutoff and lead time for the sending method to calculate the earliest banking day your electronic funds transfer (EFT) payment can arrive. It gives the payment an expected settlement date when you create it. If you request a date that is too soon, too far ahead or not a banking day, EFT Rails rejects the request and gives you the earliest or latest date to use. Developers can read the payment fields and scheduling responses in the API reference.
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The three daily exchanges
Your EFT file moves between banks during one of three daily exchange periods, with deadlines of 09:30, 16:30 and 21:00 Eastern Time on business days. The table shows when the receiving bank must get the file for it to count in that exchange.1
At a branch that credits the same day, the money must be available within 2 hours of the exchange that brought it, which produces the availability times in the table.2
| Exchange time, Eastern Time | Files it takes | Credit available at a branch that credits the same day |
|---|---|---|
| 09:30 | Received from 21:00:01 on the previous business day through 09:30 | By 11:30 |
| 16:30 | Received from 09:30:01 through 16:30 | By 18:30 |
| 21:00 | Received from 16:30:01 through 21:00 | By 23:00 |
Your bank's cutoff
Your bank's cutoff is the latest time you can submit a file for a particular exchange. A file counts in the exchange in which the receiving bank gets it, no matter when sending began. The sending bank must send it in time to arrive, and its client cutoff sits before the exchange.3
Your bank sets its own cutoffs by channel and service, and it may not accept files for all three exchanges. Its specification gives the times. Build your schedule from that specification, with enough transmission time for the file to arrive before the exchange.
Keep the file creation number with your submission record so you can identify the file when reviewing its result. If you send through more than one bank or service, keep their cutoffs separate.
The Due Date you can reach
The Due Date is the date your payment is scheduled for, and the lead time tells you how far ahead to send it. A credit goes to a branch that credits the same day on the Due Date or the business day before. For a branch that needs one or two business days, send it that many business days before the Due Date.4 When a file mixes branches, follow the longest lead time in it.
A debit reaches your customer's bank on its Due Date or later.5 The banks settle on the business day after the Due Date. If the payment is exchanged after its Due Date, they settle on the business day after the exchange.6
See how long an EFT takes for the full payment timeline.
Scheduling a file
A workable schedule starts with the payment date and counts backward to your submission deadline.
- Set the Due Date from the business need. Use that date as the fixed point for the rest of the schedule.
- Count back the longest lead time for credits. For a credit file, use the branch that needs the most business days and apply that lead time to the whole file.4
- Pick the exchange and your bank's cutoff before it. Leave time before the cutoff to fix a rejected file and send it again the same day. For a file rejected after the 09:30 or 16:30 exchange, the receiving bank notifies the sending bank within 1 hour of the exchange. The notice includes the File Creation Number, creation date and reason. The file can be sent again in a later exchange.7 Use the reject and return guide when reviewing the result.
- Keep the schedule to business days. A payment dated on a day that is not a business day is treated as dated the next business day.8
- Keep one cutoff calendar per bank and service. Change it when the bank says so, and use it whenever you calculate a submission date.
For the conditions that let a credit arrive today, see same-day EFT. For an overview of sending and collecting, see EFT payments in Canada.
Sources (8)
- Rule F1, Part II, "Exchange Deadlines and Periods" ↩
- Rule F1, Part II, "Credit Transaction Funds Availability" ↩
- Rule F1, Part II, "AFT File Receipt"; Rule F1, Part II, "Transmission Requirements" ↩
- Rule F1, Part II, "Credit Transaction Lead Times and Exchange" ↩
- Rule F1, Part II, "Debit Transaction Exchange Dates" ↩
- Rule F1, Part V, "Settlement" ↩
- Rule F1, Part II, "AFT Initial File Edit and Rejected Files" ↩
- Standard 005, Section D, paragraph 5 ↩
Questions
What time are EFT files exchanged?
Banks exchange EFT files three times each business day, at 09:30, 16:30 and 21:00 Eastern Time. The 09:30 exchange takes files received from 21:00:01 on the previous business day. The 16:30 exchange takes files received from 09:30:01, and the 21:00 exchange takes files received from 16:30:01.1
What is my bank's EFT cutoff?
Your bank's cutoff sits before the exchange you want to reach because the receiving bank must get the file during that exchange's intake window.2 Your bank sets its own cutoffs by channel and service, and its specification gives the times.
What happens if my file misses the cutoff?
The file must reach a later exchange. After the last exchange of the business day, the next exchange is at 09:30 on the next business day.1
Can I send an EFT for a date in the past?
A credit dated more than 30 calendar days before the file's creation date must be rejected. A debit dated more than 173 calendar days before it may be rejected.3
How far ahead must I send a credit?
Send it on the Due Date or the business day before for a branch that credits the same day. For a branch that needs one or two business days, send it that many business days before the Due Date.4 A file mixing branches follows the longest lead time in it.