Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments: what really matters for Canadian SMBs

If you run a small or mid-sized business in Canada, you hear the terms (Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments)
a lot.

They show up on processor quotes, bank pages, and cash flow reports. Yet many owners still feel unsure which one actually helps their business day to day. Fees seem vague. Timing feels unclear. And every provider claims their way is best.

This guide walks through the three methods in plain language. It also explains how to make sense of Interac EFT credit-card payments Canada options in a way that fits real SMB cash flow. The goal is simple: help you choose a mix of Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments that fits your customers and keeps your cash flow steady.

Quick definitions: Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments

Before we look at pros and cons, it helps to pin down what each method does in Canada.

Interac

Interac covers two main things for SMBs:

1. Interac Debit at the terminal
   • Customer pays by tapping or inserting their debit card.
   • Money comes straight from their bank account.
   • Banks and processors price Interac Debit with low flat per transaction fees, often in the range of 0.05 to 0.15 dollars, which works out to roughly 0.1 to 0.3 percent on a typical retail ticket.
2. Interac e-Transfer
   • Customer sends funds to your email or phone number through online banking.
   • You receive a notice and funds can land within minutes, even evenings and weekends, especially with auto-deposit turned on.
   • Banks often charge a small flat fee per transfer, such as 1 to 1.50 dollars, or bundle a number of free transfers into a business account plan.

Interac feels familiar to most Canadian buyers, so it often plays well at the counter and for peer style payments.

EFT

EFT stands for electronic funds transfer. It is a broad term that covers bank to bank transfers done through Canadian clearing systems.

In practice for SMBs, EFT often means:

• Pre-authorized debits for subscriptions and invoices
• Direct deposit for payroll and vendor payments
• Batch payments through your bank or a payment platform

Guides from Vopay, QuickBooks and Square point out a few common traits in Canada: EFT payments usually clear in 1 to 3 business days, can move larger amounts than most Interac e-Transfers, and often cost less per dollar moved than cards.

Credit-card payments

Credit-card payments run on networks such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

For a Canadian SMB this usually covers:

• In person card present transactions at a terminal
• Online or phone payments through a gateway
• Card on file for recurring billing

Recent data from Clearly Payments and QuickBooks shows:

• Typical blended fees for small merchants in Canada sit in a band from about 1.4 to 3.0 percent per transaction, depending on brand, card type, and whether the card is present or online.
• Interchange cuts from the federal small business program have lowered domestic Visa and Mastercard consumer credit interchange to roughly 0.95 percent for many eligible merchants, yet total fees still depend on processor markup.

So Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments use different rails, clear at different speeds, and carry very different cost profiles.

Why the choice matters for cash flow

On paper, payment options look like a customer experience issue. In practice, they sit right in the middle of cash flow.

• If most sales run through credit cards, you pay higher percentage fees yet you get strong card acceptance and often quick deposits.
• If you steer local clients to Interac or EFT, you reduce cost per dollar moved, though you may deal with manual work, bank limits, or slightly slower clearing.

For a Canadian SMB that runs on thin margins, a one or two percent swing in effective fees over a year is real money. So is a one or two day change in settlement speed. Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments shape both sides of that trade.

This is where tools such as Vitality Cash start to matter.

Vitality Cash focuses on AI-driven cash flow management for Canadian SMBs. It pulls income and expense data from linked accounts and forecasts future balances, based on your actual history.

That means you can:

• See how much revenue flows through Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments each month.
• Map fee impact across methods.
• Test scenarios such as “What if I move half my local B2B clients from cards to EFT” before you change invoices or terminals.

You keep customer choice yet you stop guessing about the cash side.

Interac EFT credit-card payments: side-by-side comparison

Here is a practical comparison that reflects common patterns for Canadian SMBs. Numbers are broad ranges; your bank or processor may quote slightly different figures.

This table already shows that no single method wins every time. Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments all have a place. The trick is to match them to real situations.

Interac for SMBs: where it shines and where it struggles

Where Interac Debit helps

Interac Debit works well where you have steady volumes of local, lower ticket sales. Think cafés, salons, convenience stores, smaller clinics, local retail.

Key points from Interac and Clearly Payments data:

• Effective rates for Interac Debit often land between 0.1 and 0.3 percent of the ticket, far below credit cards.
• Contactless debit is now standard on most terminals in Canada, and customers use it daily.

That means every time a customer taps debit rather than credit, your blended processing cost likely falls. Over a year that shows up in the margin, especially in high volume businesses.

Where Interac e-Transfer fits

Interac e-Transfer can feel messy for high volume retail. Yet it fits well for:

• Trades and home services that issue invoices
• Freelancers and consultants
• B2B relationships where both sides use Canadian banks

Benefits from recent guides: low flat fees, fast settlement, and strong trust with Canadian payers.

Limits appear once volume grows. Manual acceptance, weak integration with POS and accounting tools, and bank limits all push larger SMBs to more structured flows such as EFT or credit-card payments.

EFT for SMBs: quiet workhorse in the background

EFT rarely appears in ads, yet it moves a huge share of business money in Canada. Industry guides describe EFT as cost effective for recurring bills, payroll, rent, and supplier payments.

For a small or mid-sized firm, EFT matters in three ways:

1. Predictable settlement
   • Standard EFT runs in 1 to 3 business days, based on bank cut off times and type of payment.
   • You can plan payroll and vendor runs around that window.
2. Low relative cost for large amounts
   • A flat fee of a few cents or a small per item charge quickly beats a two percent card fee on large invoices or bulk payouts.
3. Good fit for cash flow planning
   • Since you control the batch file or schedule, you can time payouts against expected inflows.

Here, a tool such as Vitality Cash adds real value. It can read past EFT runs, spot patterns in payroll and vendor cycles, then project how those runs line up with expected card and Interac receipts.

You move from “I hope this clears in time” to “I can see where the balance will sit on the 15th if I run EFT on the 12th”.

Credit-card payments: reach, sales lift and honest costs

Credit cards carry higher fees, yet they bring benefits that Interac and EFT cannot fully match.

Why SMBs keep cards in the mix

From QuickBooks, Clearly Payments and federal summaries:

• Card payments still cover a large share of Canadian consumer spend.
• People tend to spend more on cards than on cash or debit, especially on discretionary items.
• Online and phone sales rely heavily on cards, since EFT and Interac still feel clunky for many shoppers in that context.

So even though Visa and Mastercard may cost 1.4 to 2.4 percent and Amex even more, merchants keep them because they drive revenue and match buyer habits.

Where the pain shows up

The pain is clear on thin margins. Restaurants, convenience stores, and some service trades watch card fees eat into monthly profit. Surveys cited by Clearly Payments show that more than three quarters of Canadian SMB owners see credit-card fees as too high.

Recent federal changes cut average small business interchange by up to 27 percent for eligible merchants, yet cards remain more expensive than Interac or EFT.

That tension is why many Canadian firms steer local regulars to Interac or EFT yet still accept cards for convenience and reach. Once again, cash flow tools like Vitality Cash can show the fee impact by method, so you can set fair surcharges or discounts that match real data rather than a rough guess.

How to choose a mix that fits your Canadian SMB

Now that Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments feel clearer, the next step is to fit them into your day to day. Here is a practical way to think about it.

1. By customer type

• Local walk in customers
  • Offer Interac Debit and credit cards at the terminal.
  • Encourage debit for small tickets, keep cards open for larger or rewards oriented buyers.
• Canadian B2B clients
  • Use EFT for recurring contracts and larger invoices.
  • Keep Interac e-Transfer as a simple option for ad hoc work or small projects.
• Online retail and services
  • Accept credit cards through a solid gateway.
  • Add Interac e-Transfer instructions or bank transfer options for high value orders where card fees would pinch.

2. By ticket size

• Small tickets (under 50 dollars)
  • Interac Debit often gives the best cost profile.
• Medium tickets (50 to 500 dollars)
  • Mix of debit and credit, with clear pricing policies.
• Large tickets (over 500 dollars)
  • EFT or Interac e-Transfer can save meaningful fees, as long as both sides are comfortable with the method and timing.

3. By cash flow impact

Here is where you bring Vitality Cash into the picture in a more direct way:

1. Connect your business accounts and cards.
2. Let the tool ingest your past Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments along with other inflows and outflows.
3. Review the AI-generated forward cash flow, watching for:
   • Days when large card batches clear
   • Days when EFT payroll hits
   • Periods of heavy Interac receipt

From there you can test simple changes. For example:

• What if I give a small discount for EFT on invoices over 2,000 dollars?
• What if I set my online checkout to nudge Interac Debit or Interac based methods where possible?

Vitality Cash can show how those small rules change your fee spend and your day by day balance over the next few months.

Key takeaways for Canadian SMB owners

Here are the main points to carry forward as you think about Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments for your own business:

• Interac gives low cost, trusted payments. Debit works well in person, while Interac e-Transfer suits invoices and one off B2B deals, as long as you handle bank limits and manual steps.
• Credit cards cost more, yet they support e-commerce, tourism, and buyer habits that lift revenue, especially online and for discretionary spend.
• No single method wins everywhere. A smart mix of Interac, EFT, and credit-card payments gives customers choice while you control fees and timing.
• Vitality Cash helps tie all of this back to cash flow. By reading your real data and projecting balances, it gives you a clearer view of how each payment method affects your runway, your ability to invest, and your comfort with risk.

If you treat your Interac EFT credit-card payments mix as a set of levers instead of simple checkboxes on a feature list, you gain room to improve both customer experience and financial stability. That is where the details in this guide, and tools like Vitality Cash, start to pay off in a very direct way for Canadian SMBs.

FAQ: Interac, EFT, and Credit-Card Payments for Canadian SMBs