the use of telecommunications networks to transfer funds from one financial institution, as a bank, to another, or to withdraw funds from one's own account to deposit in a creditor's.
Abbreviation: EFT.
Origin
1970-75
electronic funds transfer in Technology
application, communications (EFT, EFTS, - system) Transfer of money initiated through electronic terminal, automated teller machine, computer, telephone, or magnetic tape. In the late 1990s, this increasingly includes transfer initiated via the World-Wide Web. The term also applies to credit card and automated bill payments. Glossary (https://fms.treas.gov/eft/glossary.html). (1999-12-08)