When we launched Flinks Pay over a year ago, our goal was clear: simplify the payment experience. While we addressed the fragmented processes with a unified payment experience, one major challenge persisted: the delays and inefficiencies of Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs).
Despite being a cornerstone of Canada’s financial ecosystem, EFTs can take days to process, causing frustration and disruptions for Canadians and inefficiencies for financial institutions. That’s why we’re excited to announce Guaranteed EFT, a major enhancement to Flinks Pay that modernizes EFTs by enabling near real-time, risk-free account funding.
The state of standard EFTs & account funding
EFTs are the backbone of financial transactions in Canada, facilitating over 3.2 billion transactions totalling $7.2 trillion in 2023. Today, it’s one of the main payment rails for account funding and deposits. Despite their widespread use, the traditional EFT process comes with significant drawbacks:
- Long processing times: Payments can take up to 7 days to process with required holds at many financial institutions
- Customer frustration: Delays disrupt financial planning, lead to missed investment opportunities and more, often leading to deposit drop-offs
- Operational strain: Financial institutions face inefficiencies due to manual verification and risk assessment processes, which further delays the fund transfer times
66%+ of Canadians expect near-instant fund availability
The result? A growing demand for faster, more reliable account funding. Canada’s reliance on the outdated EFT infrastructure has left a gap in the financial services market–a gap Flinks aims to fill with Guaranteed EFT.
Introducing Guaranteed EFT
Guaranteed EFT revolutionizes account funding by addressing the inefficiencies and risks of traditional EFTs. It’s a significant enhancement to the Flinks Pay platform, providing real-time, risk-free, and secure account funding–eliminating delays and uncertainties.
How it works
Guaranteed EFT is powered by Flinks’ data connectivity, enrichment, and open banking capabilities, which seamlessly integrate into financial institutions’ banking platforms. Here’s how it works:
- Account linking: Customers can securely connect their external bank accounts via Flinks’ intuitive interface, accessing a vast network of 250+ Canadian banks and credit unions
- Real-time verification: Flinks retrieves critical financial data to conduct instant identity, balance, and risk checks, ensuring each transaction is verified and serviceable
- Same-day fund availability: Verified transactions are guaranteed by Flinks and processed within the same day, enabling financial institutions to provide near-instant access to funds to their customers
How it enhances user experience and drive deposits
Guaranteed EFT redefines the account funding experience for financial institutions and their customers:
- Improved conversion rate: Real-time fund availability reduces delays, minimizing drop-offs during account funding and onboarding. Customers gain greater confidence and control over their financial planning
- Increased deposit volumes: Eliminating transfer delays fosters trust and encourages customers to complete the funding process seamlessly
- Operational efficiency: Eliminate the manual verification processes for backend teams, freeing up resources for higher-value activities
Transform your account funding experience
Guaranteed EFT marks a major milestone in our journey toward delivering real-time, open banking payments. By addressing and overcoming the long-standing inefficiencies of traditional payment systems, Flinks Pay empowers financial institutions to meet modern demands for faster, more secure, and more reliable services.
Ready to transform how your customers fund accounts? Speak to us today to learn how to get started.
Get started with Guaranteed EFT today
