Confirmation of Payee (CoP)
What is Confirmation of Payee?
Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is an account name-checking service that checks the payee name a payer enters against the name held on the receiving account before a payment is sent. Rather than blocking the transfer, the check tells the payer whether the details match, and the payer then decides if the payment goes ahead.
In the United Kingdom, Pay.UK, the operator of the country's retail payment systems, owns the rules and standards for the service. It launched in 2020 and covers domestic payments such as Faster Payments and CHAPS. The service has two aims: to reduce misdirected payments, and to warn a payer when a name does not match, which also makes some scams harder to complete.
Other names for this kind of check include payee verification, payee name matching and account name checking. In the European Union, the equivalent obligation is called Verification of Payee (VoP).
One structural limit defines what the check can and cannot do. It tests whether a name matches an account, but it cannot test whether the payer was given that name for an honest reason.
How does Confirmation of Payee work?
The payer enters a payee name alongside the account details, the paying bank queries the receiving bank, and the result appears before the payer authorizes the payment.
- Entry. The payer enters the payee's name and account details, and says whether the account is personal or business.
- Query. The paying bank asks the receiving bank to compare that name with the one it holds for the account.
- Result. The receiving bank returns one of four results, including a match, a close match and a no match, and the payer sees it on screen.
- Decision. The payer chooses whether to continue. The result informs the payer and does not block the payment, because legitimate mismatches are common, such as trading names, joint accounts and former names.
Is Confirmation of Payee mandatory?
It depends on the market. In the UK, the Payment Systems Regulator's Specific Direction 17 required in-scope payment service providers to implement the service for Faster Payments and CHAPS, with the last deadline on 31 October 2024, and Pay.UK sets the rules for how it works. In the European Union, the Instant Payments Regulation requires payment service providers to offer payers a verification of payee service, applying in euro-area member states from 9 October 2025 and in non-euro-area member states from 9 July 2027.
Does Confirmation of Payee stop authorized push payment fraud?
The Payment Systems Regulator describes Confirmation of Payee as a tool for reducing certain types of APP scams and misdirected payments (cases where the destination name does not match what the payer expects, including some impersonation scams). Pay.UK describes it as one of a range of measures, not a complete fix for fraud. A scam in which the payer is given the genuine name on the receiving account returns a match and proceeds normally, including a mule account opened in the name the victim expects, so catching that case depends on how the receiving account behaves, not on its name.
What is the difference between Confirmation of Payee and Verification of Payee?
The difference is the name and the jurisdiction, not the function. Confirmation of Payee is the UK service run under Pay.UK rules. Verification of Payee is the term the European Union's Instant Payments Regulation uses for its equivalent obligation. Both compare the payee name with the receiving account's details and tell the payer about any discrepancy before the payment is authorized.
What are examples of Confirmation of Payee?
Confirmation of Payee results play out in different ways, and the example scenarios below show three common ones.
Mismatch caught:
- A payer is told to send funds to an account presented as a utility company's.
- The check returns no match and a warning appears.
- The payer abandons the payment.
Match on a fraudulent payment:
- A payer is told to pay a named consulting firm, and the destination account is held in exactly that name, opened for the purpose.
- The check returns a match.
- The payment proceeds.
Close match accepted:
- A finance team updates supplier bank details from an emailed request.
- The check returns a close match against a slightly different trading name.
- The team accepts it as routine and sends the payment.
Why does Confirmation of Payee matter?
Confirmation of Payee matters because it checks the receiving account at the moment a payer can still change their mind. Two figures show its reach and what is at stake:
- Adoption. Pay.UK reports that over 300 organizations have implemented the service, with more than 2 million checks completed every day, so name checks are routine in UK payments.
- What is at stake. UK Finance recorded £576.4 million in APP scam losses across 248,070 cases in 2025, which is why a check that stops only some of them still matters.
Talk with a fraud solutions consultant
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