# e-Transfer for a home bakery > Practical guidance, not banking, legal or tax advice. Limits, fees and account rules differ by bank and account type. Last updated 19 August 2026. Turn on autodeposit, give every order a short reference and ask for it in the message field, and know that e-Transfer will never tell your calendar anything. ## Why it is the right rail in Canada Your customer already uses it. No account, no app, no card on file: she opens her banking app, types your email address, done. Nobody takes a cut. Card processing runs near 3% once the per-transaction piece is counted, which on a $400 wedding cake is real money. e-Transfer is free on most personal chequing accounts, though many business accounts charge per transfer. Cards still earn their place for customers who want protection, customers outside Canada, and corporate orders. e-Transfer should be the default and the card the exception. ## Autodeposit is the single most useful thing Without it, every transfer carries a security question you have to answer, and that is where this goes wrong: the answer gets sent in the same thread as the transfer, or it is "cake" for the fortieth time, or you are icing something and the transfer expires. With autodeposit, money lands by itself. Two caveats. The sender sees the name registered on the account, so if that is your legal name rather than your bakery name, say so in your instructions. And a deposited transfer is harder to unwind than a pending one. If you are not using autodeposit: never put the answer in the same place as the transfer, do not reuse one answer forever, and state the answer format in advance, because most failed attempts are capital letters rather than fraud. ## The reference is what makes it a system Three transfers land on a Saturday, two are for $50, and the names are a husband, a maiden name and someone's teenager. Give every order a short code and ask for it in the message field. Four characters is plenty. Avoid characters people misread: no zero against O, no one against I. ## Three things e-Transfer will not do - **It will not tell your system anything.** No webhook, no feed for an individual. A person has to notice. Any tool claiming orders update themselves from e-Transfer is parsing your bank email or overpromising, so ask which. - **It will not ignore limits.** Caps exist per transfer, per day and per week, and vary by bank and account. Check yours before quoting a large wedding cake and be ready to say "send it in two". - **It will not reverse.** Once deposited it is effectively final. There is no chargeback button. ## Which is exactly why it suits deposits A card payment can be pulled back months later. An e-Transfer that has landed has landed, and that finality is what makes a deposit mean something. It cuts the other way for a customer who has never met you. A photo of your setup, a written policy and a prompt receipt cost nothing and do most of the reassuring. ## Housekeeping Money arriving by e-Transfer is income and is visible. Keep the date, amount, customer and reference for every one. What you owe, and when GST or HST registration applies, is a question for an accountant. Ask your bank about business use of a personal account before you are taking twenty orders a week. The rules differ between banks. Source: