Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD)

FastSpring supports Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) as a payment method for buyers in Canada.

Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) gives enterprise buyers in Canada a secure and convenient way to pay directly from their bank account. FastSpring supports PAD for enterprise buyers in Canada purchasing in CAD.

Unlike card payments, PAD does not provide real-time authorization. Banks process PAD requests in daily batches, so payment confirmation can take several business days.

The sections below explain the prerequisites, buyer experience, payment timing, failure handling, refund behavior, and webhook details for PAD. Select a section or use the TOC on the right to jump ahead.

Prerequisites

To use PAD, the following requirements must be met:

• Payment must be in CAD, and the transaction country must be Canada.
• Buyers must have a single-signature Canadian bank account.

Warning: FastSpring does not support dual-signature bank accounts for PAD payments.

Customer experience

Here's what the FastSpring PAD checkout experience looks like for buyers:

1. The buyer selects Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) as their payment method during checkout.
2. FastSpring asks for the required details:
   • Name
   • Bank details: Account type, Financial institution name, Institution number, and Account number
3. After the buyer clicks Pay, FastSpring displays a confirmation page with the payment details the buyer entered. The buyer can edit the details and resubmit the form if needed.
4. The confirmation page includes the PAD consent and declaration, along with the buyer's rights under Payments Canada rules.
5. The buyer agrees to the PAD and FastSpring terms and conditions.
6. FastSpring submits the payment request to the processing channel.
7. Within 3–5 business days, the funds are debited from the buyer's bank account and FastSpring sends a confirmation email to the buyer.
8. FastSpring provisions any fulfillments and licenses after the payment is completed.

Payment timing

The timeline below shows when PAD payments are initiated and when FastSpring receives bank responses.

PAD responses are not real-time. Banks process PAD requests in daily batches, and each step requires clearing through the banking network. As a result, FastSpring may not receive confirmation or failure until several business days after the buyer submits their payment.

Failures and notifications

PAD transactions may fail after the buyer submits their information. Common reasons include:

• Insufficient funds
• Invalid account number
• The buyer blocking debits from their bank account

When a transaction fails, FastSpring cancels the order and sends seller notifications.

Refunds and returns

Process refunds and returns the same way you would for any other transaction. FastSpring will automatically return the funds to the buyer's bank account.

Webhooks

FastSpring includes the following field in the order.completed webhook payload when an order is completed with PAD:

"payment": {
  "type": "pad"
}

For more information on the order.completed webhook, see the Successful Orders documentation.

FAQs