Canada Pay

Modified on Thu, Apr 2 at 6:10 PM

Ottimate now supports native cross-border payments, allowing you to manage your entire North American spend within a single dashboard. Please note that all invoices must be in USD. However, you can seamlessly pay your Canadian vendors in either USD or CAD via digital bank-to-bank transfer or physical check.

Payment Methods & Fees

Method	Currency	Delivery Speed	Best For
iACH	CAD	4–5 Business Days	Low-cost local digital transfers.
Non-FX Wire	USD	4–5 Business Days	Secure, high-value USD transfers.
Standard Check	USD	5–8 Business Days	Vendors without digital banking.
Overnight Check	USD	Next Business Day	Urgent payments with tracking.

How to Get Started

1. Enable Immediate Check Payments

You can start mailing USD checks to Canada once the international feature is turned on for your account. You do not need to verify your bank for this.

Update your vendor’s profile with their Canadian address. Make sure the Postal Code matches the correct style: A1B 2C3.
After saving the address, your vendor will be labeled as a "Global Vendor." You can immediately send a check.

2. Enable Digital Transfers (iACH & Wire)

To enable digital transfers, business identity verification is required. This process usually takes 5–6 business days.

Step A: Business Verification Process (KYB/KYC)

To enable digital transfers, you must verify your business identity:

Business Details: Confirm standard details, including your business name, address, tax ID, and business classification.
Ownership & Personnel: Provide information on owners and key staff, including company Directors or Secretaries. State if anyone is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP).
Address Proof: You must upload a valid proof of business address.
Corporate Ownership: If another company owns all or part of your business, you will also need to upload your company’s organizational chart.

Disclaimer: If KYC/KYB has already been completed for domestic payments, you still need to re-enter the details for international payments with our global provider.

Step B: Bank Account Verification Process

After your business is confirmed, link the bank account you will use for these payments:

Account Details: Enter your bank account and routing numbers.
Bank Statements: Upload about 3 months of recent bank statements to show account ownership and funds.
Debit Authorization: An authorized company officer must sign a Debit Authorization form with DocuSign. This lets our payment system pull funds from your account.
Service Provider Whitelisting: Some business bank accounts have "Debit Blocks." To ensure your transfers are not rejected, you must provide your bank with our authorized ACH Originator IDs (found in your Payment Settings) so they can be "whitelisted" as trusted senders.

Note: Our risk team checks your documents by hand. We may run a small test transfer to ensure your account is connected.

Step C: Canada Vendor Onboarding Process

To send payments digitally, the Canadian vendor must be invited to safely enter their bank information and payment choices.

For full instructions on inviting vendors and what they experience, see our article:
Canada Vendor Onboarding Guide.

The Payment Process

Choosing Your Currency & Scheduling

When paying a Canadian vendor, you choose the currency and timing, based on the payment method:

USD Payments (Check or Wire): Can be scheduled for immediate payment or for a future date.
CAD Payments (iACH): These must be paid immediately. You cannot schedule them for later because the amount depends on real-time exchange rates.

Real-Time Exchange Rates for CAD

For CAD payments, Ottimate displays the current exchange rate on the payment screen.

This rate updates every 12 seconds, so you get the latest conversion.
The final exchange rate applied to your payment is locked in when the final approver confirms it.
Ottimate charges about 1% extra for foreign exchange, which is much lower than most banks (which charge 3–5%).

Bulk Payments

You can select multiple international vendors and pay them all at once. The system will guide you through selecting the payment method for each, displaying the live FX rate for any CAD payments in the batch before final confirmation.

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Frequently Asked Questions: International Payments

Q: Why submit 3 months of bank statements?

A: We need these documents once to confirm that the bank account belongs to your business and has enough money. This follows international anti-fraud rules.

Q: Can I pay a Canadian vendor if they haven't verified their bank via Plaid?

A: Yes. You can always default to a USD Check to ensure the vendor is paid on time. Bank-to-bank transfers (iACH and Wire) are available only after the vendor completes secure verification.

Q: Why can't I schedule CAD payments?

A: To match the live exchange rate you see, CAD payments must be handled as "Spot Payments" and processed right away. USD payments can still be planned in advance.

Q: What is "Whitelisting" and why is it necessary?

A: Some business bank accounts have "Debit Blocks" to prevent unauthorized transfers. To ensure your international payments are processed successfully, you must provide your bank with our authorized ACH IDs (found in your Payment Settings) so they can be marked as trusted senders.

Q: Why does it take 4–5 business days for my vendor to get digital funds?

A: To save you money, we use a standard global cycle: It takes 3 business days for your money to move securely, then 1 more day for your vendor to receive it.

Q: Will my Canadian vendor be charged any fees to receive payment?

A: There are $0 fees for vendors to receive an iACH or a Check. While we do not charge for Wires, a vendor's local bank may occasionally apply an "incoming wire fee" under its specific banking contract.