Overview

An EFT debit is a type of electronic funds transfer where funds are withdrawn or debited from a bank account. This is commonly used for bill payments, subscription services, or any scenario where a business needs to collect payments directly from a customer's bank account. It's a secure and efficient way to automate recurring or one-time payments, improving cash flow and reducing administrative overhead for businesses.

How it works

Payment Flow

Customer Authorization: The customer initiates the process by providing you with their bank routing information and authorizing you to debit their bank account. VoPay can manage this entire process with the customer via eLinx Connect.
Payment Initiation: Your application sends the payment instructions (amount, bank account details, etc.) securely via our EFT Fund endpoint.
Payments Canada Network: VoPay processes payment instruction through the Payments Canada network, which facilitates electronic funds transfers between financial institutions in Canada.
Funds Settlement: The funds are transferred from the customer's bank account to your VoPay account.

Timing

When using EFT, there's a delay before funds appear in your VoPay balance. This is called the "settlement time". See the tables below for EFT settlement times.

Settlement Type	Settlement Timing	Last Cutoff Time
T+3	3 business days from payment creation	6:00pm EST
T+2	2 business days from payment creation	6:00pm EST
T+1	1 business day from payment creation	6:00pm EST
Same Day	Midnight EST on the day of payment creation	1:00pm EST

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EFT Debit Transaction Statuses

Status	Description
Pending	Transaction received by VoPay
In Progress	Transaction being processed by the FI
Successful or Failed	Funds have cleared or transaction was unsuccessful
Cancelled (by VoPay)	Transaction cancelled by VoPay’s risk team before it was submitted to the FI
Cancelled (by merchant)	Transaction cancelled by the merchant before it submitted to the FI

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EFT Debit Failures

An EFT debit may fail at different stages of processing. Failures fall into two categories:

Validation Failures (Edit Rejects) – Occur before submission to ACSS
Return Codes – Issued by the receiving financial institution after presentment

Validation Failure (Edit Reject)

Validation failures occur when a debit file does not meet formatting or structural requirements.

Code	Description
900	Edit Reject – File failed validation due to formatting errors, missing mandatory fields, or invalid institution, transit, or account number structure.

Edit rejects occur before clearing and are not customer-initiated returns. The transaction must be corrected and resubmitted.

Administrative Return Codes

Administrative returns are issued by the receiving financial institution after the debit has been presented through ACSS.

Code	Description
R901	Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) – Insufficient available funds in the account.
R902	Account Not Found / Cannot Trace – The account number does not exist.
R903	Payment Stopped – The payor placed a stop payment on the debit.
R904	Post-Dated or Stale-Dated – The transaction date is invalid or outside the allowable processing window.
R905	Account Closed – The account is no longer active.
R907	No Debit Allowed – The account does not permit debit transactions.
R908	Funds Not Cleared – Funds are on hold and not yet available.
R909	Currency / Account Mismatch – Transaction currency does not match the account denomination.
R910	Deceased – The account holder is deceased.
R911	Account Frozen – The account is legally restricted or frozen.
R912	Invalid Account Number – The account number structure is invalid.

PAD (Pre-Authorized Debit) Return Codes

PAD returns relate to authorization disputes under Payments Canada Rule H1.

Code	Description
R915	No PAD Agreement – No valid authorization agreement existed.
R916	Not in Accordance with Agreement (Personal PAD) – Debit did not comply with the personal PAD agreement (e.g., incorrect amount or timing).
R917	Authorization Revoked (Personal PAD) – Consumer revoked authorization before processing.
R918	Required Pre-Notification Not Provided (Personal PAD) – Required notice or confirmation was not provided.
R919	Not in Accordance with Agreement (Business PAD) – Debit did not comply with the business PAD agreement.
R920	Authorization Revoked (Business PAD) – Business revoked authorization.
R921	Required Pre-Notification Not Provided (Business PAD) – Required notice was not provided.

Return Timing

Return eligibility depends on the return type:

Administrative returns: typically within 2 business days
Business PAD disputes: within 10 business days
Consumer PAD disputes: within 90 calendar days

Integrators should not assume a debit is final until the applicable return window has passed.

Important Notes

Canadian EFT processing is based on institution number, transit number, and account number. Name mismatches do not typically trigger clearing returns.
EFT debits cannot be unilaterally “recalled” once processed through ACSS. Returns must follow standardized Payments Canada return codes and defined timing rules.
Internal processor statuses may differ from official ACSS return codes. For reconciliation purposes, rely on the official return reason code when provided.