What an Interac purchase looks like on your statement

What Interac says the payment is

Interac's debit guide says Interac Debit is a way to purchase products or services by moving money in real time from your bank account to a merchant's. You can use the debit card from your financial institution, a mobile wallet such as Google Pay or Apple Pay that stores the card, or online checkout, depending on what the merchant offers. Interac says the transaction is approved by your financial institution.

At a contactless terminal, Interac's steps are: tell the merchant you are paying with debit using the contactless method, let them enter the amount, confirm the amount, and hold the card, phone, or wearable over the terminal. Contactless may not be offered. At chip and PIN, you tell the merchant you are paying with Interac Debit, confirm the amount, insert the card, select the account, enter the PIN, and press OK. Interac says transaction limits are set by your financial institution and vary. The guide does not print a dollar cap.

Interac's page for merchants says that once the customer's financial institution authorizes a contactless payment, the funds are transferred within seconds. If the customer has reached a cumulative spend limit, they insert the card and enter a PIN. Those are the merchant's steps. Your statement is the bank's record of the same payment.

The full list of these short names is on statement codes. CHECKCARD and POS DEBIT are labels used on many US debit lines. An Interac purchase is the Canadian debit network at the terminal.

What the statement is allowed to say

People search INTERAC POS because a line contains those letters. Interac's debit guide and chip and PIN page do not print INTERAC POS as required statement text. POS on Interac's merchant pages means the point of sale terminal, which is the machine at the counter. A bank can include the word POS because that is where the purchase happened. That is not the same as Interac publishing a mandatory descriptor.

One Interac news page does say how a wallet payment is labeled. The November 2017 notice about Interac Debit on Samsung Pay says those transactions will appear on a customer's bank statement the same way as any Interac Flash payments currently appear. It does not quote the Flash wording. So a phone tap and a card tap can share a description, and the description is still the one your bank uses for Interac Flash.

Match the merchant name, the amount you confirmed on the terminal, and the day. The receipt from the store is the detailed record. The statement may shorten the store. If the amount is wrong, start with the receipt and the merchant. If you do not know the store, use unknown charge on a statement.

Not an e-Transfer, and not a bill payment

An Interac e-Transfer is money you send to an email or a phone number. Fees and how that product works are on Interac e-Transfer fees. A purchase at a terminal does not use that flow. Mixing them up leads people to look for a transfer they never sent.

A bill you paid in online banking is a bill payment, not an Interac Debit purchase. Those lines are on MISC PAYMENT and bill payment. A company pulling a pre-authorized debit is on ACH debit and pre-authorized debit. Three different ways for money to leave the account can sit on one statement. The terminal receipt is what makes this one a purchase.

If the card was used and you did not allow it, the Canadian dispute steps are on dispute a charge in Canada. Interac's chip and PIN page says the PIN verifies that you are the account holder. A contactless tap can be a real purchase below the limit your bank set. Check the wallet on the phone before you dispute a tap you forgot.

Upload the statement on Expenvo. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo lists the lines so you can match a short name to a date and an amount. It does not call the bank, and it does not dispute a charge.

Questions

Does Interac require the statement to say INTERAC POS?

No. The Interac Debit pages opened for this guide do not print INTERAC POS as required text. POS on those pages is the point of sale terminal. Your bank chooses the description.

When does the money leave my account?

Interac says an Interac Debit purchase moves money in real time from your bank account to the merchant, and that a contactless payment is transferred within seconds after your financial institution authorizes it.

Is a phone tap a different line from a card tap?

Interac's Samsung Pay notice says Interac Debit on Samsung Pay appears on the bank statement the same way as Interac Flash. The notice does not quote the Flash wording.

Is this the same as an Interac e-Transfer?

No. An e-Transfer is a payment to a person by email or mobile number. An Interac purchase is a debit payment to a merchant at a terminal or checkout.

Sources

• Interac: what Interac Debit is
• Interac: chip and PIN
• Interac: Samsung Pay statement appearance

Related guides

• Interac e-Transfer fees
• CHECKCARD and POS DEBIT
• MISC PAYMENT and bill payment