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Canadian Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) payments
Canadian Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) payments

Find out more on direct debit payments in Canada

Nick Dainty avatar
Written by Nick Dainty
Updated over a week ago

Setting up PAD payments

First check you have the payments feature enabled on your account under Settings → Payment Gateway (you will need to have administrator access).

Setting up PAD payments for proposals is simple:


For new or draft proposals

In the "Payments" tab of a proposal, you will now see a toggle to "Allow Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) Payments" as an option in the Payments step of that proposal. Turn on the toggle and your clients will be able to enter their bank details on this proposal. You can also set PAD payments as your default under Settings → Payment Gateway.

To collect payment details from a client

If you don't yet have bank details on record, but a client has accepted a proposal, you can securely collect details from a client using the client payment portal (option 3 in this article).


Signing up clients for PAD payments

When selecting to pay via a bank account, a client will need to:

  1. Enter their bank account details

  2. Select if this is a personal or business account and also

  3. Enter a contact email address (Note: if your proposal was sent to a client who has an email address, this will be pre-populated)

Be sure Payment details are saved by clicking Submit before continuing.

What if my client does not know their bank details?

If your client does not know the details of their bank transit number, institution number, or account number, instructions on how to find these on a cheque are given by clicking on "Where can I find these?" which will show the below pop-up.

Once a client has signed up for PAD payments with you, they will be sent an email confirming this arrangement at the email address entered. See below for an example.



PAD payment pricing

Pricing for PAD payment collections is 1% + 40 c with a $4 cap for each payment.

PAD payment clearing times

After a client enters their payment details and a payment collection commences, it takes 7 business days to reach your account.

The timeline is as follows:

  • Day 0 ("transfer day", T) - a charge is scheduled to collect

  • T + 4 - The charge is confirmed to be successful (or is rejected)

  • T + 5 - Transfer to your account commences

  • T + 6 - Transfer to your account is completed (appears in your bank account)

Please note, all days are business days and do not include weekends.

Please note: If your first PAD payment collection is within 3 days of the client first entering their payment details, it will take up to 3 business days to confirm the PAD mandate before a charge can be made. This will only impact the first payment made on a newly entered bank account.

PAD client confirmation email

After entering payment details, a client will be provided with a confirmation of their PAD agreement by email.

This email cannot be customised and its contents are regulated by the Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS) provided by Payments Canada.


How do I transition my existing clients to PAD?

Send individual payment method requests to your clients within their client file in Ignition. Learn more about payment method requests here.

  1. Click into the specific client → Billing Schedule

  2. Under the Payment method → + Add payment method

  3. Select Request from client → customize the payment settings to have only Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) selected

  4. Click Preview to view a preview of the client email → click Send request to send the notification to the client.

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