Lesson Funding your account

Online bill payments

Learn how to fund your account with an online bill payment.

Bill payments are the most popular funding method, and our recommended method for sending Canadian dollar cash to your Questrade accounts.

Bill payments are also completely free, and the simplest way to send funds to Questrade.

These payments can be set up in under 5 minutes with every financial institution in Canada, and many banks will also allow you to ‘automate’ your bill payments if you’d like to set up regular, recurring deposits.

Bill payments however, are only available for Canadian dollars. For U.S. Dollar deposits, please choose from one of our other funding methods. We recommend using a Pre-authorized deposit (PAD).

Please see below for processing times, instructions and additional details:

Most bill payments are processed by your bank or credit union and typically arrive at Questrade within 1-2 business days.

In some rare cases for smaller credit unions, or during bank holidays, this can take up to 4 business days.

For a brand-new Questrade account, please add 1-2 business days for us to ‘activate’ your account and set up your access for trading.

Canada’s anti-money laundering legislation prevents Questrade from accepting deposits where the name on a bank account does not match the name on your Questrade account exactly.

Please ensure your first and last name listed in your Questrade profile ‘match’ what is on file with your bank or credit union, before you make your first deposit. Otherwise this can lead to delays with accessing your funds.

You can learn more about third party deposits below.

Follow these easy steps to set up your first bill payment:

  1. Log into your bank or credit union’s online banking page.
  2. Navigate to the “Bill payments” area. (This is sometimes called “pay a bill” depending on the institution.)
  3. Add “Questrade Inc.” as the new payee.
    • Some banks such as RBC, may have us listed simply as “Questrade” without the “Inc.”
    • Please do not use the payee named “Questrade currency exchange”, that is for corporate FX accounts only.
  4. Once you’ve added the payee, add your Questrade account number
    • You can use your full 10-digit account number that’s found under “Funding” -> “Online banking”
select destination account funding

Alternatively, depending on your institution, you may be able to use the shorter 8-digit version of your account number found on the summary & trading pages.

10 digit account number summary page

We provide both versions of your account number since a handful of institutions only accept payees with 10-digit accounts. Both represent the exact same account here at Questrade.

  1. Save the payee
    • You can also add a ‘nickname’ for the payee at many institutions, this can be helpful if you have multiple Questrade accounts.
  2. Make a payment to the payee for your deposit amount.

Congrats, you’ve just made a deposit to your Questrade account! Your funds should arrive within 1-2 business days.

Note: The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used or construed as financial or investment advice by any individual. Information obtained from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no representations or warranty, expressed or implied, is made by Questrade, Inc., its affiliates or any other person to its accuracy.

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