When money moves for a lender

Pick the day an advance lands

The date you put on a payment is its Due Date, the day an advance is to be credited to the borrower's account or a repayment is to be debited from it.¹

A payment can go by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or Interac e-Transfer, and you choose the method each time. For an advance, set the banking day the borrower should have the money or take the earliest available day. If your chosen day is too soon or is not a banking day, EFT Rails refuses it and gives you the earliest day that works.

Banks exchange files on business days at 09:30, 16:30 and 21:00 Eastern Time. A file sent after 21:00 goes into the next business day's first exchange, which closes at 09:30.²

When you send an advance

Your position shows what you can send now and what is on its way out. When you send an advance, it moves from the first group to the second, whether it is waiting for approval or already with the bank.

The borrower's branch determines how far ahead the file must be exchanged and when the money becomes available. Banks decide which of their branches credit the same day.³

The banks settle the advance on the business day after its Due Date, or on the business day after the exchange if it was delivered late. The borrower can have the money before the banks settle it.⁵

See how to send loan advances by EFT and how EFT cutoff times affect your file.

When a repayment comes in

A repayment starts with a pre-authorized debit (PAD) on the Due Date you choose. The debit is not delivered to the borrower's bank before that date.⁶

Settlement follows on the next business day. A repayment due Friday settles the next Monday, or Tuesday if Monday is not a business day. A transaction dated on a non-business day is treated as dated the next business day.⁵⁷

See how to collect loan repayments by PAD.

If a repayment comes back

A repayment can be returned after it reaches the borrower's bank. A repayment the borrower's bank cannot post or refuses comes back with a reason code, no later than the business day after it reaches the part of the bank that refuses it.⁸ The payment then shows as returned in the API and the dashboard.

You can re-present a debit returned as "Non-Sufficient Funds" (901) or "Funds Not Cleared" (908) once within 30 calendar days after the return. Use the same amount with nothing added, and do not re-present it after a second dishonour.⁹

A borrower can dispute a debit through their bank for up to 90 calendar days for a personal PAD, or 10 business days for a business PAD. The amount comes back to you as a return. After that, a claim is between you and the borrower.¹⁰

See how to handle insufficient-funds returns and the PAD dispute windows.

Keep or sweep your collections

You can keep collections with EFT Rails to fund new advances or have them sent to your own bank account every business day or on Thursdays.

Each settlement shows the period, what was collected, what went out on your instruction, the fees and the amount sent. Closed days remain as statements that never change, giving your accountant a fixed record for reconciliation. See how to reconcile EFT payments.

Follow each payment

Each payment shows its state and expected settlement date, so you can follow an advance or repayment without reconstructing its timing.

Through the API, the payment list answers what changed since a time you supply. Your loan system can ask for changes instead of checking payments one by one. See how EFT Rails supports lenders.