What is the Confirmation of Payee (CoP)?

Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is a name checking service for UK-based payment, introduced by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) which has now been successfully implemented by a number of UK banks, building societies and other payment service providers (PSPs). The aim of the service is to reduce certain types of fraud as well as misdirected payments and to give confidence in a transaction knowing it will go to the correct beneficiary.

Prior to this service being implemented, a payer would provide their PSP with all the payee's details, including their bank sort code and account number together with the name of the person or organisation they were intending to pay. The sort code and account number were then used to route the payment in accordance with the instructions given, however, there was no facility for the payer to check and confirm the name on the account being paid ahead of the payment being sent.

CoP is a way of giving payers greater assurance that their payments are being routed to the intended recipient and therefore are not being accidentally or deliberately misdirected.

A CoP check will be performed all new and existing beneficiaries where:

• You are paying to an account you do not own
• The account sort code resides in UK, Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey
• There has been no CoP check performed against the beneficiary
• The CoP check has expired (this happens after 12 months)

How does it work?

1. New beneficiary account details

You will be asked to add the new beneficiary bank account details on this screen.

2. Existing beneficiary account details

3. Account details match

The account details provided match the details the corresponding bank has for the payee.

4. Close match

The details you have provided are a close match to the details held by the corresponding bank. We will provide you with the name on the account the bank has for you to decide to continue or not.

5. No match

The details you have provided do not match with the details held by the corresponding bank. You have an option to continue or not.

6. Account type mismatch

The details you have provided do not match with the type of account at the corresponding bank. You have an option to continue or not.

7. Account not found

The account details do not match any real bank account. You will not be able to continue.

If you have any questions or issues with Confirmation of Payee please do not hesitate to contact our team via: [email protected]