Gigadat Inc on your Interac e-Transfer: who it is, why a casino uses it, and what to check

What Gigadat is

Gigadat is a payment processor. Merchants use it to accept Interac e-Transfers and Interac Request Money payments, and to send money back by e-Transfer or by direct deposit, which it calls eCashout.Source [3]Source [4] You never open a Gigadat account; your side of every transaction happens in your own online banking.

The company appears as "Gigadat Inc" in its privacy policy, with an address in Calgary, Alberta, and as "GigadatSolutions Inc." in the site footer.Source [6] It is registered with FINTRAC as a Money Services Business, number M23430346.Source [2] Its gaming page says it works with gaming businesses, and it offers service in English and French.Source [5]

What you see when you deposit

A casino cashier that uses Gigadat gives you three details: the recipient name Gigadat, a recipient email, and a unique ID to put in the message field.Source [1]

The ID is what connects your transfer to your casino account. Gigadat's FAQ lists the reasons a deposit is not credited:Source [1]

1. The message field has no ID, or a wrong one.
2. The ID belongs to another transaction.
3. The amount differs from the one in the cashier.
4. The e-Transfer was sent without starting a transaction in the cashier first.
5. More than 24 hours passed between starting the transaction and sending the transfer.

If your bank asks for a security question, use the answer the cashier shows. After three wrong answers the transfer is cancelled and should return to your casino account within 24 hours, per the FAQ.Source [1]

The Request Money route

Some cashiers send you a request instead. You confirm your email and phone number, and a message arrives: "Interac e-Transfer®: Gigadat Inc. sent you a request for money". You pick your bank and accept, or decline.Source [1] Interac lets you opt out of requests from a particular requester if you no longer want them.Source [7]

How Gigadat payouts work

The schedule is Gigadat's, not only the casino's. Its FAQ says:Source [1]

• Withdrawals are processed Monday to Friday only, not on weekends or statutory holidays.
• The e-Transfer notice to accept the funds arrives the next day.
• A code word for the transfer comes by SMS or email.

Gigadat's status page adds that an e-Transfer "can sometimes take up to 1 business day to be completed".Source [2] Add the casino's own pending period in front of that. MuchBetter, the mobile wallet, names Gigadat as the company that sends its Canadian e-Transfer payouts, so the same schedule shows up there.Source [8]

What Gigadat does not publish

Two things are missing from Gigadat's pages, and we don't fill them in. The first is the exact descriptor on your bank statement: the FAQ describes the transfer screen, not the statement line. The second is any fee or limit for players; those come from your bank and from the casino.Source [1]Source [7]

Support runs through a "Support & Transaction Inquiries" form, with no phone number on the contact page.Source [9]

Pros and cons of paying through Gigadat

My verdict

Seeing Gigadat on an e-Transfer is normal and says the casino uses a registered Canadian processor. What decides your experience is the message ID on the way in and the weekday schedule on the way out. My advice: copy the ID from the cashier rather than typing it, and request withdrawals early in the week. For casinos that pay out by Interac, see the Interac casino list.