The minimum e-Transfer amount.

Why there is no single answer

Interac operates the rails. It publishes a maximum for receiving ($25,000 per transfer) because that ceiling is enforced network-wide, but it does not specify a lower bound. Each participating institution decides its own floor when it builds its send screen.

In practice almost all of them set it at one cent, which is the smallest amount the Canadian dollar can express. CIBC and Simplii Financial both allow $0.01. A handful of institutions — more often insurers and smaller players than the Big Five — require $10.

There is no reliable published list, because banks treat the minimum as an interface detail rather than a disclosed limit. The dependable way to find yours takes ten seconds: open your banking app, start a transfer, type 0.01, and see whether the Send button stays enabled. Nothing is sent until you confirm.

The trap: fees do not scale down

This is the part that catches people. Interac e-Transfer fees are charged per transfer, not per dollar. If your account charges $1.00 a send, a one-cent transfer costs $1.00 — a hundred times the amount you moved.

Most personal chequing accounts at major banks now include unlimited free e-Transfers, so this is usually academic. It stops being academic on accounts that still charge:

• Savings accounts. RBC charges $1.00 per e-Transfer sent from a personal savings account even though chequing is free.
• Basic and pay-per-use chequing plans at several institutions.
• Credit union accounts whose package does not bundle transfers — commonly $1.00 each. See credit union e-Transfer limits and fees.

Check which banks charge for e-Transfers before making a habit of small sends.

The one-cent test transfer

The usual reason to send a tiny amount is to confirm something works before committing real money — that you have the right email address, that Autodeposit is configured, that a new client can actually receive.

It is a reasonable instinct, and there is usually a better version of it:

• Check Autodeposit instead of testing it. If the recipient has Autodeposit registered, your banking app tells you so on the confirmation screen, before you send — the security question fields disappear and the registered name is displayed. That name is the confirmation you wanted.
• Send the real amount with a security question. If the address is wrong, the transfer sits unclaimed and returns to you after 30 days. You can also cancel it immediately at no cost at most banks.
• Watch the count, not just the cost. Some institutions cap the number of sends rather than the dollars — Neo allows 50 outgoing transfers a month. A test transfer spends one of them.

Minimums on the receiving side

There are none. If a transfer was permitted to leave, it can be deposited. The limits that matter when receiving are ceilings, not floors: $25,000 per incoming transfer network-wide, plus whatever daily or monthly receiving caps your institution applies. Those are laid out in e-Transfer limits by bank.

If you are invoicing clients

Small e-Transfers are common in service businesses — a top-up, the balance after a deposit, a partial payment on a larger invoice. The awkward part is not sending them, it is matching them back to the right invoice weeks later when the memo field says "thanks!".

Biller records each payment against the invoice it settles, so a $12 balance and a $480 deposit on the same job stay connected. You can see the approach in the free e-Transfer income tracker.

Related guides

• Interac e-Transfer limits by bank
• Which banks charge e-Transfer fees
• Business e-Transfer limits by bank
• Why was my e-Transfer declined?