A bank name check is a useful last line of defence. It is not a payment control on its own.
Confirmation of Payee (UK) and Verification of Payee (EU) check the account holder's name against the account details before a payment is sent, and return a match, close match or no match. Treat anything other than a full match as a stop until you have called the supplier on a number you already hold. A match does not prove the invoice or the request is genuine.
Both schemes answer one question before money leaves: does the name you typed belong to the account you are paying?
| Confirmation of Payee (UK) | Verification of Payee (EU) | |
|---|---|---|
| Checks | Payee name against sort code and account number | Payee name against IBAN |
| Applies to | Payments between UK accounts at participating providers | Euro credit transfers, regular and instant, between payment accounts in the EU and EEA |
| Results | Match, close match, no match, or unable to check | Match, close match, no match, or check not possible |
| Start date | Introduced by the largest UK banks in 2020, now offered by most UK payment providers | Euro-area banks by 9 October 2025; banks in EU countries outside the euro area by 9 July 2027 |
In both schemes the payer can still send the payment after a close match or no match. That decision sits with you, which is why your process matters more than the check.
A name check cannot tell you whether the invoice is real, whether the amount is right, or whether you have already paid it. It also cannot help when the fraudster has persuaded you to pay a genuine account they control, or when the payment goes outside the scheme, for example most international payments. Business email compromise works by making a fake request look routine, so the controls that stop it are callbacks, independent approval and a protected supplier master file.
Under the EU rules, business payers may opt out of Verification of Payee, which some banks offer for bulk payment files. Opting out removes a free check from exactly the payments that move the most money. If your bank offers it, keep the check on and route close match and no match results to a named reviewer before the run is released.
Record the name-check result against the supplier's bank details in your change log, together with who called the supplier, the number they used and when. That evidence is what an auditor, insurer or bank will ask for after an incident. See how to verify a supplier bank detail change for the full callback process.
UK: Confirmation of Payee is run through Pay.UK and is offered by most UK banks and building societies on Faster Payments and CHAPS. EU: Verification of Payee comes from the Instant Payments Regulation and covers all euro credit transfers, not only instant ones. US: there is no national name-check scheme. Banks and payment providers offer account validation services, and Positive Pay protects cheques, but a callback to a known number remains the core control.
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No. A match only confirms the name belongs to the account. The invoice can still be fake, duplicated or inflated, and the account can belong to a money mule with a convincing name. Your approval and callback controls still apply.
Trading names, abbreviations and old company names often differ from the legal account name. Update your supplier master with the exact legal name once you have confirmed it by callback, so the next payment returns a full match.
Business payers can opt out under the EU rules, but it removes a free safeguard from your largest payments. Keep it on and build the review of close match and no match results into the payment run sign-off.
Generally not. Payments outside the scheme get no name check, so cross-border supplier bank changes need your full manual verification every time.
Last updated 18 October 2026. General guidance for finance teams; check it against your own policies, systems and local rules.