To eliminate fraud and stay up to date with security and privacy best practices, CanadaHelps uses Flinks, a Canadian company that enables secure verification of banking information, for all banking detail change requests.
Below are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the use of Flinks to verify banking information with CanadaHelps.
Flinks is the most efficient way to deal with financial information.
Backed by the National Bank of Canada, a major Canadian financial institution, Flinks allows users to safely and reliably connect their banking data to the application or service of their choice. In this case, CanadaHelps.
The quick and secure process eliminates the need for legacy processes such as micro-deposits, PDF documents or picture uploads, and even unsafe processes such as identification document sharing.
Therefore, CanadaHelps is increasing its online security measures to eliminate fraud and stay up to date with security and privacy best practices. Flinks allows us to securely verify the EFT information provided by charities which in turn protects charities by ensuring that donations are being disbursed to a bank account that has been confirmed to be owned by the charity.
1. The charity member selects the financial institution from a list of common banks, or uses the search bar if the institution is not listed.
2. Once a financial institution has been selected, the charity member is asked to securely enter the bank card number and password (this is the same information used to log in to the online banking account).
3. If the bank account has two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled, the charity member is prompted to receive a code by text or email to complete the 2FA process.
4. Once login is complete and/or 2FA is accepted, the charity member will be prompted to choose which account within their overall bank account they would like to use to receive disbursement of donations from CanadaHelps.
5. After the application is submitted, an email is sent to the main email address on file. This email guides the charity member to complete the application by signing a banking form under the Account Info tab.
Important: The application remains valid for 60 days. If the signature is not submitted within this period, the application will need to be restarted from Step 1.
6. Internally, a CanadaHelps representative reviews the Flinks information against the banking form to confirm that the details match and that the bank account belongs to the charity.
7. Once the CanadaHelps Finance team approves the verification, a confirmation email is sent to the charity for its records.
Neither CanadaHelps nor Flinks can see the bank card number or password that you enter, nor is this information stored anywhere.
Flinks uses Interac’s Sign-In-Partner which allows you to sign in using information you already have. This is comparable to the CRA’s GCKey; GCKey requires you to enter your user ID and password, while the Sign-In Partner option requires you to enter your online banking credentials.
Flinks is a very safe way to transfer financial information. Charity members are sharing sensitive data that’s only meant to be used by CanadaHelps in a specific manner, so Flinks keeps this information secure by using the 256-bit encryption method.
Charity bank account login credentials are never displayed, viewed or shared with CanadaHelps.
Flinks also engages with the best security firms to routinely audit their processes, ensuring security standards are always at the highest level. For instance, Flinks has maintained a SOC 2 report for years. This is the gold standard for companies dealing with customer data, and it confirms the effectiveness of their security practices.
It is your and your charities personal data. Not CanadaHelps’ and not Flinks’, or anyone else. You have control over it.
No one can access your information without your knowledge or permission. It is encrypted using the highest industry standards, moved through secure channels, and stored on protected servers.
Charity members can request to correct, updates or erase information in Flinks’ records at any time. Consent can be withdrawn at whenever by requesting a data deletion at privacy@flinks.com.
If the bank that your charity uses is not listed as an option to verify with Flinks, please contact us and we’ll offer a secondary option for completing the required verification.
If no bank accounts appear after completing the banking information and login with Flinks, please contact us and we’ll offer a secondary option for completing the required verification.