Email Money Transfer (EMT)

Interac Email Money Transfer (EMT) is a funds transfer service between personal accounts at participating Canadian financial institutions. The provider of this service is CertaPay, a division of Acxsys Corporation. If your bank is in Canada you will be able to send the world's first, interbank-based Interac Email Money Transfers.

How it works

An Email Money Transfer resembles an e-check in many respects. The money is not actually transferred by e-mail. Only the instructions to retrieve the funds are.
The sender opens an online banking session and chooses the recipient, the amount to send, as well as a security question and answer. The funds are debited instantly, usually for a surcharge.An e-mail is then sent to the recipient, with instructions on how to retrieve the funds and answer the question, via a secure website. If the recipient is subscribed to online banking at one of the participating institutions, the funds are deposited instantly at no extra charge.If the recipient's deposit account is not at one of the participating institutions or not subscribed to online banking at all, the funds are deposited within three to five business days, and a surcharge (currently $4.00) is deducted from the amount received.

Benefits and disadvantages

Unlike a cheque, the funds from an EMT are not frozen. An EMT cannot bounce, as the funds are guaranteed. As long as both sender and recipient bank at participating institutions, the funds are sent and received instantly.
However, like any online banking mode of payment, EMTs are vulnerable to phishing. Many Canadians in areas where the Big Five banks have little presence or who do not bank online are penalized by a surcharge when receiving EMTs. Unlike a real giro, an EMT requires intervention from the recipient for every single transaction. An EMT goes stale much faster than a cheque (after 30 days, the EMT is automatically cancelled and the sender is notified by e-mail to retrieve the funds.)

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