On the other hand, he said the bank has no control over safety protocols at other financial institutions and some allow customers to cancel e-transfers after they've been sent. Once its customers hit "send" to an account that has autodeposit activated, they can't cancel the transaction. She says the manager said TD wasn't the problem - the bank has safety protocols for e-transfers. "Even when you're on hold on the phone it will say, 'Consider doing autodeposit because it's safe' … that's what's so frustrating." ![]() She says, on the call, a manager told her that e-transfers - even to accounts with autodeposit - can sometimes be cancelled, even up to 24 hours later. Go Public takes a closer look at how prevalent this problem is.Īt her branch, she was told to call a toll-free customer service number and that's when she learned something surprising. Despite seeing that the buyer hit send, she later discovered the transaction was cancelled, leaving her out hundreds of dollars. "And then the conversation was cut off."ĭuration 2:10 A woman who was selling some tools has learned that not all e-transfers are final. ![]() Mason says she was repeatedly put on hold and then told to go through the bank's fraud department. The customer service rep also said the sender's first name was actually Riley, not Steve, but couldn't say where he banked, for privacy reasons. She says she was told $480 had indeed been earmarked for her account shortly after 9 p.m., but the transaction was cancelled about 90 minutes later. "It kept me up all night."īy morning there was still no notification, no money in her account. That's not how e-transfers are promoted online by the big five banks - Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank, Scotiabank and TD.Īll of them call e-transfers "safe" and/or "secure," with no mention of the possibility the sender might stop the transaction even after the transfer appears to have been completed.Īfter "Steve" drove away with the tools, Mason checked the banking app on her phone, expecting the notification of deposit to show up any minute. The man who bought these power tools from Mason was able to cancel the e-transfer more than an hour later. "You're not really protected until you've seen that money settle inside your account. "It's good for people to know that there's risk involved," said Mattias Eyram, who's studied how money gets transferred from one financial institution to another. Got a story you want investigated? Contact Erica and the Go Public teamĪutodeposit is advertised as being "fast" and "secure." Mason added it specifically for the e-transfers she'd get selling items online, so she was confident the money would soon show up.Ī Go Public test has since found that some e-transfers can be cancelled, even when the recipient has autodeposit, depending on what financial institution the money is sent from.Ī software engineer who's worked in fintech and banking says the Interac system - used for e-transfers in Canada - "is not bulletproof.".She'd set up her TD Bank account with autodeposit - a feature designed to protect against the risk of fraudsters intercepting funds, because money is directly deposited into an account, with no additional steps needed, such as answering a security question. ![]() Mason entered her email, watched him type in $480 and hit "send." She then read a confirmation number, indicating the transaction was done. "He was in the trades and I thought, 'OK, that's fine.'"Īfter inspecting the tools, "Steve" opened a banking app on his phone. "It sounded plausible to me," said Mason. ![]() Christine Mason of Edmonton says she was pleased last September when someone wanted to buy the power tools she'd advertised on Kijiji - a cordless grinder, charger and two batteries.Ī man who said his name was Steve said he'd head over after work and would pay $480 by e-transfer, since he didn't carry a lot of cash.
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