Switching from paper-based payments like cheques to digital methods—such as Electronic Funds Transfers (EFTs), Wire Payments, and Interac e-Transfer†—can help free up time, reduce manual work, improve visibility, enhance security, and create long-term value.
Still Cutting Cheques? You’re Not Alone.
Many businesses still rely on manual payment processes: cheque runs, courier deliveries, spreadsheet tracking. These familiar methods are expensive, time-consuming, and error-prone, potentially holding businesses back when agility and efficiency matter more than ever.
According to Payments Canada’s 2024 report¹:
- Digital payments now represent 86% of total transaction volume in Canada
- Cheque volumes fell by 35% year-over-year
- EFTs increased by 40% in total value
In today’s competitive landscape, cash management isn’t just operational, it’s strategic. Modernizing your receivables and payables can help you reduce friction, improve visibility, optimize cash flow, and free up your finance team for more valuable work.
Every cheque issued or received carries hidden costs: printing, postage, physical approvals, reconciliation delays, and fraud risk. For finance teams already stretched thin, these inefficiencies add up, especially when leaders are being asked to “do more with less.”
Manual processes also could slow decision-making. Waiting days for a cheque to clear or chasing remittance information across emails undermines your ability to act on real-time data. With cash usage down 20% in transaction volume last year¹, clinging to manual methods comes with growing opportunity cost.
A Flexible Path to Modernization
While the shift away from cheques is well underway, the reality is that some businesses still need to use them—for legacy systems, specific vendors, or internal processes. That’s why we offer a flexible path forward, with options that meet you where you are and help you modernize at your pace. Whether you're just starting to digitize or optimizing existing workflows, we provide a range of solutions:
- Cheque outsourcing for businesses with cheque-dependent suppliers—simplifying and de-risking payables as part of your digitization journey
- Interac e-Transfer for secure, real-time disbursements—ideal for one-time or ad hoc payments without needing banking details on file
- EFTs for recurring payments—streamlining payroll, leases, and supplier invoices with predictable settlement and lower costs
- Wire Payments for high-value or time-sensitive transactions —offering speed, certainty, and global reach
Our goal is to understand your unique pain points and help you build a payment strategy that provides a clearer roadmap to reduce friction and processing costs, optimize cash flow through improved predictability and faster access to funds, and enhance security and fraud protection—all in support of your broader business goals.
Cheque Outsourcing: A Practical Step Toward Digitization
For businesses still reliant on cheques, outsourcing their issuance can be a smart interim step. Scotiabank’s Cheque Outsourcing2 service handles cheque printing and delivery on your behalf, helping reduce manual work, lower costs, and improve security.
Clients can send batch cheque files directly from their accounting systems to Scotiabank via secure channels like ScotiaConnect® or sFTP. Payments can be made in Canadian or U.S. dollars, and cheques can be cashed in Canada or the U.S., depending on account setup.
Cheques are printed with fraud-resistant features and tracked through Payee Match files, with images available for 90 days post-clearance.
Whether you're paying vendors, employees, or landlords, the Cheque Outsourcing service can help simplify your operations and supports your transition to digital payments.
Real-Time Payments with Interac e-Transfer† for Business
As digital payments continue to outpace traditional methods, Interac e-Transfer for Business has become a cornerstone of Canada’s real-time payment landscape. It enables businesses to send and settle payments within seconds, 24/7/365, offering a secure and efficient alternative to cheques and prepaid cards.
Built on trusted infrastructure, Interac e-Transfer for Business supports:
- Transaction limits of up to $25,000 per transfer, depending on your financial institution
- Real-time confirmations
- ISO 20022-enriched remittance data for simplified reconciliation
- Alias-based routing (email or mobile), eliminating the need to collect or store sensitive banking details
- Auto-deposit, ensuring recipients receive funds instantly and securely
- Irrevocability, reducing exceptions, rejections, and fraud risk
Unlike traditional EFTs that require full setup and batch processing, where payments are compiled and settled in scheduled cycles, Interac e-Transfer for Business offers real-time settlement and confirmation. Widely adopted across Canada, it’s especially effective for consumer payments where banking details may not be on file. This makes them ideal for one-time or ad hoc payments such as customer rebates, insurance reimbursements, contractor payouts, or vendor disbursements.
For businesses still using cheques, switching to Interac e-Transfer for Business is a low-friction, high-impact step toward modernization. It reduces manual processing, eliminates the uncertainty of mail delivery, and provides immediate confirmation of payment, allowing finance teams to focus on strategic priorities rather than chasing paper trails.
Whether you’re issuing a single payment or managing high-volume disbursements, Interac e-Transfer for Business offers the flexibility, speed, and security today’s businesses demand.
EFTs & Wires: Everyday Efficiency and Global Reach
EFTs are ideal for recurring transactions like payroll, lease payments, supplier invoices, and subscription fees. When integrated into automated workflows, they reduce manual touchpoints, accelerate processing, and lower fraud exposure; all while providing predictable settlement for better forecasting.
Wire Payments serve a different role: speed, certainty, and global reach. They’re essential for time-sensitive, high-value, or cross-border transactions. With SWIFT gpi tracking3, wires become fully transparent, offering near real-time tracking, fee disclosures, and delivery confirmation across the transaction path.
Scotiabank enhances this with its Wires Remittance Advice feature, allowing financial and invoice data to travel together. Businesses can consolidate up to 20 invoice references within a single wire, streamlining reconciliation and supporting efficient vendor relationships.
Scotiabank’s Approach: Flexible, Scalable, Supported
We understand that digitization isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some businesses are ready to modernize their entire treasury stack. Others are taking first steps, like streamlining EFTs and wires, integrating approval workflows, or enabling ERP-triggered payments.
Digitizing your treasury also frees your finance team from routine tasks like reconciliation. With structured payment data, better visibility, and automated ERP feeds, your team can close faster and forecast better. That’s not just operational efficiency, it’s strategic capacity that enables smarter planning and faster decision-making.
Count on us to provide:
- Banking solutions tailored to where your business is today
- Integrated platforms that connect payments and reporting
- Dedicated support from teams who understand your business, sector, and priorities
Wherever your business sits on the modernization curve, the goal isn’t just digitization, it’s building data-rich, flexible workflows that can help you save time and reduce errors.
Your future of cash management doesn’t require a massive system overhaul. It starts with a simple decision to move away from manual and paper-based payment processes and have Scotiabank assist you with the rest.
Let’s start the conversation.
Reach out to your Scotiabank Relationship Manager or contact us to explore how we can support your digitization journey.
This article is provided for information purposes only. It is not to be relied upon as financial, tax or investment advice or guarantees about the future, nor should it be considered a recommendation to buy or sell. Information contained in this article, including information relating to interest rates, market conditions, tax rules, and other investment factors are subject to change without notice and The Bank of Nova Scotia is not responsible to update this information. All third-party sources are believed to be accurate and reliable as of the date of publication and The Bank of Nova Scotia does not guarantee its accuracy or reliability. Readers should consult their own professional advisor for specific financial, investment and/or tax advice tailored to their needs to ensure that individual circumstances are considered properly, and action is taken based on the latest available information.
