EFT Cut-Off Times

EFT cut-off times refer to the deadlines set by financial institutions for processing EFT transactions.

Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) is Canada’s primary means of moving money between bank accounts. It’s a secure and reliable way to send and receive money, as long as participants understand how cut-off times affect the service.

What Are EFT Cut-Off Times?

EFT cut-off times refer to the deadlines set by financial institutions for processing EFT transactions. The clearing body in Canada is Payments Canada, and they enforce their own deadlines that financial institutions must adhere to.

Financial institutions will then give their customers and partners their own cut-off times to ensure they send payment requests to Payments Canada in a timely manner.

In general, if a transaction is initiated before one of the daily cut-off times, it is typically processed on the same business day. However, transactions submitted after the cut-off times are processed on the next business day.

These cut-off times are crucial for time-sensitive payments like payroll, vendor payments, or settling invoices, as missing the deadline could result in delays.

Remember that clearing and settlement times also play a part in total transaction processing times, in addition to meeting the cut-off times.

EFT Days Of Operation

EFT payments are only accepted for processing on business days, and are not processed on public holidays - see our holiday calendar here.

This means that EFTs are not processed on weekends and Canadian statutory holidays.

Most FIs will accept requests on these days and queue them for processing in the next available window.

Canada EFT Cut-Off Times

EFT payments can be submitted for processing within 3 daily payment windows. Note that the time zones are in Eastern Standard Time. If you are in other time zones, you will have to account for the time difference.