EU payments · checked 17 October 2026
Verification of Payee for businesses
Since 9 October 2025, banks in the euro area must check the payee's name against the IBAN before you send a euro credit transfer, and tell you the result. It's free, and it's the best early warning you get when a "supplier" sends new bank details. But you can still pay after a warning, and then the loss is usually yours.
The four results
| Result | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Match | The name you typed matches the account holder | Pay, if the change was verified by call-back |
| Close match | Nearly the same; your bank shows you the real name | Stop and compare it with the supplier's legal name |
| No match | The account belongs to someone else | Don't pay. Call the supplier on a number you already had |
| Check not possible | The receiving bank couldn't answer | Treat it as unverified |
Where VoP doesn't protect you
- You can pay anyway. After a close match or no match you can still send the money. If you authorise it after being warned, the regulation makes you liable for a transfer to the wrong recipient.
- Businesses can opt out. Payers who aren't consumers may waive VoP, for example for bulk payment files. If your business has, bank changes in those payments go unchecked.
- A matching name isn't proof. A fraudster can open an account in a name close to your supplier's, or use a real company's hacked account. VoP checks the name, not who asked for the change.
- Not everywhere yet. EU countries outside the euro area have until 9 July 2027. Transfers in other currencies, and payments to the UK or US, use other systems or none.
A routine that uses VoP properly
- Treat every bank-detail change by email as unverified, whatever VoP later says.
- Call the supplier back on a number you already had and have them read the new IBAN to you.
- Have a second person approve the change.
- Keep VoP switched on for bulk files, or check new payees individually before adding them to a run.
- Stop any payment that comes back "close match" or "no match" until it's explained.
In the UK the equivalent is Confirmation of Payee; in the US there's no universal name check: what US businesses can do. Already paid the wrong account? The first 24 hours.
Sources: Regulation (EU) 2024/886 (Instant Payments Regulation), Art. 5c; PwC Legal on VoP requirements; Nomentia. Read 17 October 2026.
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