Pre-authorized debit in Canada

Fees for PAD donations are 1% + 0.40 CAD, with a 5 CAD cap. An additional 1 CAD is added if instant verification (whereby the supporter logs into their online banking service to confirm the payment). There is a 5 CAD fee for failures and disputes.

Canadian pre-authorized debits may already be active in your Stripe account. To check, log in to Stripe and go to Settings > Payments > Payment methods > Default Your configuration. If Canadian pre-authorized debits appears as an active method, you can skip to Step 2 and Step 3 — no additional setup is required in Stripe.

If it’s not enabled yet, follow the steps below.

1. Log in to your Stripe account.
2. Click the gear Settings icon in the top-right corner.
3. Under Product settings, click Payments.
4. Go to the Payment methods tab.
5. Click the Default configuration labeled Your configuration.
6. Find Canadian pre-authorized debits and do one of the following:
   • If you see Turn on, click it. If prompted, select Turn on anyway.
   • If you see a Request access button, click it and follow the instructions.

If your Fundraise Up account is connected to a Canadian or US Stripe account, the Payment Methods screen will provide options for you to enable PAD. You can enable PAD in Fundraise Up by following these steps:

1. In your Fundraise Up Dashboard, go to Settings.
2. Click Payment methods in the left hand menu.
3. Click on PAD (CA Direct Debit).
4. Click the Enable PAD.

Stripe has a series of emails to assist with account verification and payment confirmation, which are unnecessary if you're using our PAD solution as we allow you to customize versions of those emails from Fundraise Up. If you don’t disable the Stripe PAD email set, supporters will receive two sets of emails that will contain differing content.

1. Go to your Stripe dashboard.
2. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the screen and click Settings.
3. Scroll down to Business settings and, in the Your business block, click Emails.
4. In the Customer emails section, toggle off Send Canada PAD mandate, debit initiation, and micro deposit verification emails.

When a supporter gets to the Payment Options screen in your Checkout modal or Campaign Page, as long as their donation is $2 CAD or more, they'll be see a Bank transfer button.

If they click Bank transfer and their donation is in CAD (or no other ACH options are enabled), they'll be taken to the PAD connection screen with two options for how they can pay for their donation with a bank account:

• Click Agree and log in to their bank.
• Click Manually verify, provide their account details, and then verify the bank account using micro-deposits.

If your organization is set up to skip bank account verification, neither option appears. The supporter provides their account details and completes the donation in the same session.

If the supporter chooses to log into their bank, they'll be able to pay by authorizing their transaction immediately, which will save a significant amount of time.

If the supporter chooses to provide their account number and use micro-deposit verification, they'll be emailed each of the Bank Verification email templates (if set to Send) that include instructions and a button to verify their transaction, once the micro-deposits land in their account in the next 5 business days.

When making donations using the Virtual Terminal, PAD is available as a payment option. Because the supporter cannot give you their bank login details, micro-deposits are the only verification method available there. Enter the supporter’s bank account details when entering a donation for them, and they will be sent the appropriate bank verification email templates, provided those emails are enabled.

If your organization is set up to skip bank account verification, there is no confirmation step at all. You enter the bank account details and complete the donation while the supporter is still on the call.

Fundraise Up can set up PAD donations without checking the supporter’s bank account. Where this applies, the supporter enters their bank details once and the donation is complete — no bank login and no micro-deposits. This works in the Checkout Modal, on Campaign Pages, in Gift Cart, and in Virtual Terminal.

PAD without bank account verification is not enabled by default. To find out whether it's available to your organization, contact us at support@fundraiseup.com.

When bank account verification is skipped:

• The payment method becomes active immediately.
• The donation goes to charge right away instead of waiting for verification.
• The first installment of a recurring plan is charged right away.
• The Bank Mandate email is sent right after setup rather than after verification.
• The PAD Bank Verification emails are not sent.

Because the bank account is not checked, a mistake in the account details shows up only when the charge is attempted. The donation fails at that point, and bank payment methods are not retried within the billing cycle. For a donation taken over the phone, this means you learn about the error after the call has ended.

This applies to new donations only. Earlier payment methods and recurring plans are unaffected. A bank account still in micro-deposit verification stays on that path, and confirmation links already sent stay valid.

Every PAD donation sends a Bank Mandate email first, regardless of verification method. This is a Payments Canada regulatory requirement. The email confirms the mandate and includes the supporter's payment details along with legal text outlining their rights as a PAD payer. It cannot be disabled.

Which emails a supporter receives beyond the Bank Mandate email depends on how they verified their bank account.

• If they logged into their bank:
  1. Donation in progress — confirms the donation was received and is being processed.
  2. Receipt — sent once the donation clears, up to 7 business days later.
• If they verified manually with micro-deposits — either through checkout, or through the Virtual Terminal where manual verification is the only available option:
  1. PAD Bank Verification — sent immediately after the supporter submits their bank details. Stripe sends two small test deposits to their account, and the supporter must confirm the amounts to verify ownership.
  2. PAD Bank Verification Instructions — sent two days later if they haven't verified yet.
  3. PAD Bank Verification Reminder — sent every four days after that until verification completes or the donation fails.
  4. Donation in progress — sent once the bank account is verified.
  5. Receipt — sent once the donation clears, up to 7 business days later.

Of these emails, only the Bank Mandate, Donation in progress, and Receipt emails can be customized — from the Emails section of your Dashboard settings. All other emails are sent automatically and cannot be edited.

If your organization is set up to skip bank account verification, the Bank Mandate email is sent right after setup, no PAD Bank Verification emails are sent, and the supporter receives Donation in progress and then Receipt.