How an e-Transfer moves money
Both parties need an account at a participating Canadian financial institution. The sender needs the recipient's name plus an email address or mobile number, and sometimes sets a security question. The message only notifies the parties and carries a link: the banks move the funds over their own payment networks. With Autodeposit switched on, money lands in the account straight away with no question to answer, though Interac says timing can vary because the two banks run routine fraud checks.
Limits and fees
Each institution sets its own per-transaction limit, which Interac describes as typically $2,000 to $3,000 for consumers. Sending fees also vary, and some banking packages include a set number of transfers or unlimited ones.
What provincial sites say
PlayNow lists Interac e-Transfer among its deposit methods and says it replaced Interac Online, which it stopped taking because many major banks and credit unions no longer supported it. A first e-Transfer deposit may meet a standard bank security check that delays the credit by up to 72 hours. Espacejeux charges no fee for e-Transfer deposits and notes that some institutions, Desjardins among them, do not support it. That Quebec page carries no date, so its current terms should be confirmed there.
Interac e-Transfer and the gambling rules
Neither Interac's pages nor the AGCO's standards say whether a gambling operator may accept e-Transfer, and no rule names the method as required or barred. A related product, Interac Direct, pays from a chequing or savings account at participating merchants and is offered only through the Konek payment solution.
Scams around transfers
Interac advises confirming an unexpected e-Transfer notice with the sender through a different channel. FINTRAC's bulletin on online gambling lists excessive email money transfers among the patterns banks associate with laundering. See payments at Canadian online casinos for the wider rules.