A virtual terminal for EFT and pre-authorized debits in Canada

What the Virtual Terminal does

The Virtual Terminal lets you enter one payment by hand for one customer, one amount and one direction. Use it for a customer on the phone or a one-off payment that did not come through your own software. You can pay a customer or collect from one. After sending, the screen shows the payment’s status, amount and reference, with buttons to take another payment or open all transactions. The payment appears with your other payments in the dashboard and through the API.

Find or add the customer

Find the customer by name, email or reference. If there is no match, create a customer from the name, email and phone number you enter, with an optional postal address. The screen suggests a customer reference, and you can replace it with your own identifier. If the email already belongs to another customer, the screen refuses the new record and points you to the existing customer.

Enter the bank account

For an electronic funds transfer (EFT), enter the customer’s institution, transit and account numbers, plus the account holder’s name. That name defaults to the customer’s name, and an account already on file can be used without retyping it. The customer’s first account is ready at once.

Choose EFT or Interac e-Transfer. The screen offers only the methods available on your account for paying or collecting, and shows a method’s maximum amount where one applies. An Interac e-Transfer goes to the customer’s email address and asks for no bank account. You can add your own reference to the payment, and it appears on your reports. Read more about EFT and Interac e-Transfer.

Choose the day

For an EFT, choose the banking day or leave the date blank to use the earliest available day shown. The method’s cutoff, lead time and the banking calendar determine that day. An Interac e-Transfer takes no date. See how long an EFT takes.

Collect by pre-authorized debit

To collect by pre-authorized debit (PAD), you need the customer’s signed PAD agreement, which you hold.

Before collecting, you must have the customer’s PAD agreement containing the required provisions.¹ A PAD agreement can be written or recorded in another form, and signed or authorized in another way. It stays in force until the payor revokes it.² Authorization requires the payor’s consent after identity verification using commercially reasonable methods suited to the business, the amount, the payee’s payment volume and any existing business relationship.³

Where the agreement covers irregular, as-needed debits, obtain the payor’s authorization for each debit before sending it, and the payor cannot waive that requirement.⁴ Where the agreement covers one debit on a set date, obtain a new agreement for any later debit.⁵ Read about sporadic PADs and PAD agreements.

Give the payor a confirmation, either a copy of the agreement or a summary of its key terms, at least 10 calendar days before the first debit’s due date.⁶ The payor may authorize a shorter period or waive confirmation before that debit. If waived, provide it within 5 calendar days after the first debit.⁷

Send it, or send it for approval

Any user allowed to create payments can open the Virtual Terminal. A user who can also approve payments sends the payment at once. Otherwise, or when your approval limits hold it, the payment waits for another user’s approval. A replacement customer account also needs a second user’s approval before a payment can use it. If the connection drops and the button is pressed again, the payment is not taken twice.

Email the receipt

Once the payment is sent, the customer receives an email receipt unless you untick the box. It gives the amount, method, date and payment reference, plus the account’s last four digits or the email used for an Interac e-Transfer. It also includes your own reference. The email is sent on your behalf in your language, English or French. No receipt goes for a payment that has not been sent or did not go through.