Codes Used on Canadian ACH Direct Payments (Pre-Authorized Debits – PAD)

With reference to the Payments Canada Rule: H1 Pre-Authorized Debits (PADs), there are four types of PADs and must be identified as follows:

Personal PADs

Business PADs

Cash Management PADs

Funds Transferred PADs

Personal PADs

For personal PADs, use the appropriate Payments Canada transaction codes from the PAD list. A “Personal PAD” means a PAD drawn on the account of a Payor for payments such as but not limited to, charitable donations, non-member investment contributions, mortgage instalments, utility bills, insurance premiums, membership fees, property taxes, credit card billing, line of credits, loans and payment for other consumer good or services.

Business PADs

The Payments Canada transaction type 700 must be used for all Business-to-Business electronic transactions. The Payments Canada transaction type from 701 to 739 must be used for commercial electronic transactions.

A “Business PAD” means a PAD drawn on the account of a Payor for the payment of goods or services related to a Business or commercial activity of the Payor, including, but not limited to, payments between franchisees and franchisors, distributors and suppliers, and dealers and manufacturers.

Cash Management PADs

The Payments Canada transaction type 420 must be used for all cash management electronic transactions.

The Payments Canada Transaction code 420 – Cash Management PAD is a PAD drawn on the account of a payer for the purpose of transferring, consolidating or repositioning funds between their account at one member ("member" means a member of the Canadian Payments Association) to their account at another member, for the same business or closely-affiliated business (e.g. transfers between a parent company or its subsidiary.

This Payments Canada code is only used for business-to-business transactions.

The Payments Canada code 420 is a "restricted" code for debits, requiring authorization from RBC Royal Bank before it can be used.

Funds Transferred PADs

The Payments Canada transaction type 650 must be used for all funds transfer electronic transactions.

The Payments Canada code 650 – Inter-FI Funds Transfer Debit (no recourse provided) can only be used by Payments Canada Members (such as: financial institutions, life insurance companies with an assigned Payments Canada number, etc.). The payer and payee is the same individual, and this code is only for Debit Transactions to consumers' accounts.

The Payments Canada code 650 is a "restricted" code, requiring authorization from RBC Royal Bank before it can be used.

For Funds Transfer PADs with recourse, use the appropriate Payments Canada Transactions codes from the list that is available for PADs (i.e. "260 to 272", or "330 to 449").

Refer to the Payments Canada Rule H1, Pre-Authorized Debits for all the requirements associated with all the above type of transactions.

The Transaction Codes contains a list of all Payments Canada Transactions codes that are available to be used with each type of ACH Direct Payments & Deposits. It also provides a list of Restricted and Non-Restricted Payments Canada codes.