Payments Canada requirements for pre-authorized debits

As a pre-authorized debit issuing company, you must comply with the new Payments Canada requirements if you wish to offer your clients direct withdrawal services.

Rules to apply

Responsibilities and obligations with regard to debits are set forth in Rule H1 – Pre-Authorized Debits (PADs) (PDF, 448 KB) - External link. This link will open in a new window.  by Payments Canada and in the Desjardins Direct Withdrawal Service Agreement.

Please read the information made available to you in this section and contact an AccèsD Affaires advisor at 1-888-233-2473 (1-888-AFFAIRE) to update your Direct Withdrawal Service file (Pre-Authorized Debit).

2 mandatory documents

AccèsD Affaires Enrollment Agreement

You must sign the AccèsD Affaires Enrollment Agreement, which contains the terms and conditions of the Direct Withdrawal (pre-authorized debit) Service.

You will get this agreement form from an AccèsD Affaires advisor or at your caisse when you sign up for the service.

Payor's PAD Agreement

You will have to prepare and give effect to a Payor's PAD Agreement to present to your customers.

This is a form, commonly called Direct Withdrawal Authorization, that your customers must fill out to authorize a pre-authorized payment or debit from their account.

This Agreement is commonly presented in paper version and must include the mandatory information elements set out in Rule H1 and specified in your Direct Withdrawal Service Agreement. It is also possible to prepare an electronic Payor's PAD Agreement (Internet, e-mail, telephone), as long as it meets the same requirements.

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Terminological equivalence

The following table shows certain equivalencies between the terms used in Desjardins documentation and those used by Payments Canada.

Terms used by Desjardins Terms used in the Payments Canada Rule H1
PAD issuing company or PAD issuing organization Billers or Payee (of PAD)
Direct Withdrawal Service Agreement Payee Letter of Undertaking
Desjardins caisse and AccèsD Affaires Sponsor member (financial institution member of Payments Canada that sponsors a payee)
Financial institution that holds the payor's account Processing institution Processing member (financial institution member of Payments Canada that processes the PAD)