In Canada we have something called an Interact E-Transfer that the major banks all support. You add a recipients email address and create a "secret question" they can answer. Then, you simply fill our a form that says "Send $X From Account Y to Recipient Z". Depending on the bank the email is sent between 0-60 minutes later, the recipient clicks the link, logs in, and picks which account to deposit it to. The whole process is super easy to use.
Most banks charge about $1 per Interact E-Transfer, but some accounts will get a certain number of free transfers.
With all that being said, I just received an email from TD Canada Trust (One of the major banks) stating that they are now imposing a $5 fee to cancel an E-Transfer (previously free). I can't remember the last time I cancelled an E-Transfer, but I'm still most likely going to close all my accounts with them over it. I find it absolutely outrageous that they would charge you $5 to cancel a completely automated process. The only explanation I can think of is to nickle and dime their customers.