Getting Started with EFT

Learn how Flinks Pay uses EFT to collect or send funds via Pre-Authorized Debit transactions.

Work in progress

This section is currently under active development as part of improvements planned for 2026. Content may change as we expand product capabilities.

If you’re interested in early access or want to learn more about what’s coming, feel free to reach out to the team.

When you use EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) as your payment method, Flinks Pay collects or sends money using Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) transactions through Canada’s EFT rail.

Choose this payment method if:

• You need to collect recurring payments from customers on a set schedule.
• You want to initiate one-time debits or credits to customer bank accounts.
• You want to transfer large sums of money via the EFT network.

What is EFT?

EFT allows you to initiate debit or credit transactions against a customer’s bank account. Each transaction is backed by a Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) agreement completed by the customer during the payment flow.

• Debit (PAD): Withdraw funds from a customer’s account into your account. Supports one-time and recurring schedules.
• Credit: Send funds from your account to a customer’s account. One-time, same-day only.

Key Features

Payment Directions

Direction	Use Case	Scheduling
DEBIT	Collect payments from customers	One-time or recurring (Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly)
CREDIT	Send funds to customers	One-time, same-day only

Recurring Schedules

For debit transactions, you can set up recurring payment schedules with the following frequencies:

• OneTime — A single debit on a specified future date
• Weekly — Every week starting from the start date
• Biweekly — Every two weeks starting from the start date
• Monthly — Every month starting from the start date

Recurring schedules require either an end date or a maximum transaction count (up to 300).

PAD Requirement

Before a debit can be processed, Flinks must have a valid Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) agreement completed by the customer. During onboarding, you work with Flinks to customize the PAD agreement terms presented to your customers.

EFT Processing Windows

Flinks follows Payments Canada EFT processing windows:

Window	Cutoff Time	Submission Time	Days
Window 1	2:30am EDT	9:30am EDT	Mon–Fri
Window 2	1:30pm EDT	4:30pm EDT	Mon–Fri
Window 3	6:00pm EDT	9:00pm EDT	Mon–Fri

No processing occurs on weekends or statutory holidays. Payments created before a cutoff are submitted in the next window.

EFT Status Lifecycle

Each EFT transaction progresses through the following statuses:

Status	Description
Received	Transaction request received by Flinks
Created	Transaction created and queued for processing
Submitted	Submitted to Payments Canada
Reconciled	Confirmation received from the payment network
Settled	Funds have settled
Cancelled	Transaction was cancelled before submission
Rejected	Transaction was rejected by the payment network

Integration Flow

A typical EFT integration follows these steps:

1. Authenticate — Obtain an API key from Flinks during onboarding.
2. Create a transaction — Call POST /api/v1/transactions with payment details and schedule.
3. Monitor status — Poll GET /api/v1/paymentrequests/{requestId} for status updates, or use webhooks.
4. Manage schedules — Cancel upcoming payments with the schedule or payment request cancellation endpoints.

Getting Started

To implement EFT in your application:

1. Setup Guide — Complete setup and implementation walkthrough
2. API Documentation — Technical API reference and endpoints

Requirements

Before starting your EFT integration:

• Onboarding — Complete the standard Flinks onboarding and verification process
• PAD Agreement — Review and customize your Pre-Authorized Debit agreement with Flinks
• Sandbox Access — Use the sandbox environment (payments-uat.flinksapp.com) for testing
• API Credentials — Flinks provisions your API key (x-client-id) during onboarding

Contact your Flinks representative to begin the onboarding process for EFT.