How To: Add Support for Interac Payout

Overview

Interac e-Transfer is Canada’s most popular digital money transfer service, allowing users to send and receive money instantly using just an email address or phone number. Coinflow supports Interac e-Transfer payouts for Canadian users, enabling instant CAD disbursements.

Prerequisites

Before implementing Interac payouts, ensure:

1. Your merchant account has Interac payouts enabled. Contact the Coinflow integrations team to enable this feature.
2. Users must complete KYC verification and be Canadian residents.
3. Users must have a valid Canadian phone number (10 digits) OR email address linked to their Interac account.

UI Implementation

If you are leveraging Coinflow’s bank authentication UI, once Interac payouts are configured on your merchant account, your Canadian customers can link an Interac account as a payout destination straight from the UI.

For Merchant Payouts: Pass the linked Interac token into the payout endpoints. This token can be retrieved from the Get Withdrawer Endpoint.

For User Custodial Payouts: This is a configuration setting on Coinflow’s end. No additional implementation is needed to support Interac payouts. Reach out to your point of contact for integrations at Coinflow to enable this feature.

API Implementation

After following your usual KYC verification flow, follow these steps to allow linking an Interac payout destination:

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curl --request POST \
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     --url https://api-sandbox.coinflow.cash/api/withdraw/interac \
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     --header 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY' \
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     --header 'accept: application/json' \
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     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
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     --header 'x-coinflow-auth-user-id: user1234' \
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     --data '
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{
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  "phoneNumber": "4165551234"
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}
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'

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curl --request POST \
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     --url https://api-sandbox.coinflow.cash/api/withdraw/interac \
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     --header 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY' \
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     --header 'accept: application/json' \
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     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
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     --header 'x-coinflow-auth-user-id: user1234' \
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     --data '
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{
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  "email": "user@example.com"
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}
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'

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curl --request GET \
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     --url https://api-sandbox.coinflow.cash/api/withdraw \
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     --header 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY' \
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     --header 'accept: application/json' \
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     --header 'x-coinflow-auth-user-id: user1234'

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{
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  "withdrawer": {
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    "_id": "68aa405463dc197a7d9410cc",
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    "currency": "CAD",
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    "email": "user@example.com",
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    "verification": {
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      "status": "approved"
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    },
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    "wallets": [
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      {
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        "wallet": "user1234",
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        "blockchain": "user"
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      }
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    ],
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    "bankAccounts": [],
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    "cards": [],
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    "interac": {
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      "type": "interac",
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      "alias": "(XXX) XXX-1234",
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      "token": "a8bbb23b-8732-42b0-82d9-afad14f51453"
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    }
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  }
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}

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curl --request POST \
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     --url https://api-sandbox.coinflow.cash/api/merchant/withdraws/payout/delegated \
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     --header 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY' \
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     --header 'accept: application/json' \
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     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
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     --data '
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{
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  "amount": {
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    "cents": 5000
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  },
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  "speed": "interac",
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  "account": "a8bbb23b-8732-42b0-82d9-afad14f51453",
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  "userId": "user1234",
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  "idempotencyKey": "123-abc-456-def"
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}
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'

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{
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  "signature": "47pMMVtHceA8CiJwhuwM9E49Bysgaw5L5YtaBAzTiSotPy2zqBm3Eeg43KE9cnt5jdjMusfrUwEd4BPno36je1Jj"
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}

Interac Verification PIN

Some Canadian banks require users to enter a verification PIN when depositing Interac e-Transfers. This applies to users who do not have Interac Autodeposit enabled on their bank account.

How it works

1. When an Interac payout is initiated, Coinflow automatically retrieves the verification PIN from the payment network.
2. The PIN is stored with the withdrawal record and included in the notification email sent to the user.
3. When the user opens their banking app to deposit the funds, they may be prompted for a verification PIN.
4. The user enters the PIN provided in their email to complete the deposit.

Retrieving the PIN

There are two ways to access the Interac verification PIN:

Option 1: Merchant Dashboard

Merchants can view the Interac verification PIN for any withdrawal in the Coinflow Merchant Dashboard. Navigate to the withdrawal details to see the PIN, which can be copied and shared with the user if needed.

Option 2: API

You can retrieve the PIN programmatically by calling the Get Withdrawal endpoint:

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curl --request GET \
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     --url https://api-sandbox.coinflow.cash/api/merchant/withdraws/{withdrawalId} \
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     --header 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY'

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{
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  "withdrawal": {
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    "withdrawer": "68aa405463dc197a7d9410cc",
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    "transferId": "chk_abc123",
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    "wallet": "user1234",
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    "blockchain": "user",
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    "transaction": "47pMMVtHceA8...",
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    "amount": {
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      "cents": 5000,
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      "currency": "CAD"
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    },
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    "status": "completed",
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    "speed": "interac",
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    "createdAt": "2024-01-15T09:30:00Z",
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    "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T09:30:00Z",
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    "pin": "7392"
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  }
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}

Phone Number Format

When linking an Interac account with a phone number, ensure the number follows these requirements:

Updating Interac Account Details

Each user can only have a single Interac account linked at a time. Users can update their linked Interac account (for example, to fix a typo or switch from phone number to email) before a successful payout has been made. Simply call the Add Interac Account endpoint again with the new phone number or email, and it will replace the existing account.

Error Handling

Testing

In the sandbox environment, you can test Interac payouts using any valid 10-digit phone number or email address format. The sandbox will simulate successful Interac transfers without sending actual funds.