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Helping you make safer payments
When you send money to someone you’ve not paid before, we will carry out a Confirmation of Payee check. This is an account name checking service to help make sure your payment goes to the right place.
These checks are designed to help stop payments going to the wrong account by spotting possible mistakes and adding extra security steps to prevent fraud.
The Confirmation of Payee service is used by most UK banks to check the details of the account you’re paying.
How Confirmation of Payee helps you make payments with confidence
The Confirmation of Payee service has been introduced across the UK banking industry as an extra way to help tackle fraud and keep customers’ money safe.
The service helps make sure payments go to the right account by checking the name and account details all match before a payment is sent. This reduces the risk of making a mistake and paying the wrong person, and can help to avoid payment scams.
The Confirmation of Payee service doesn’t include sending money outside of the UK. So please make sure you’re sending money to someone you know, or have looked into and trust.
When you add a new payee to make a payment you’ll need to enter all the details below, then we’ll automatically check with their bank to make sure everything matches:
- The name on the account – the main difference here is you’ll now always need to use the correct full account name (like you would on a cheque), so you won’t be able to use nicknames or other words anymore
- Account number
- Sort code
- Account type – to confirm if it’s a personal or business account.
- Reference – some accounts need a reference to identify who the account belongs to. You will be asked to provide this if needed.
If something doesn’t match, we’ll tell you straight away and explain what to do next.
What you’ll see when setting up a new payee online
In our Mobile Banking app or Online Banking, when you’ve put in all the account information we’ll tell you if the account name and number match or not. Depending on the situation, you’ll immediately see one of these messages:
|
Message |
What this means |
|---|---|
|
Message Account name and details match |
What this means The account name, number and sort code all match, and the account type is right. So you can go ahead with adding the new payee. |
|
Message Payee name and account number match but this is a personal/business account |
What this means The name and account details are right, but the account type you selected isn’t. You can go ahead anyway if you wish, but it’s best to check first to make sure the type of account you’re paying (personal or business) is what you expected. |
|
Message This account belongs to Example Name |
What this means We’ve found a close match to the name you put in, but there’s a small difference. You can go ahead, but if you’re not quite sure just go back and confirm the name is right. |
|
Message Payee name and account number partially match and this is a personal/business account |
What this means We’ve found a close match to the name you put in but there’s a small difference, and the account type you entered is wrong. You can go ahead anyway if you wish, but it’s best to go back and check both the account name and type are correct. |
|
Message That name doesn’t match that account number |
What this means The name you’ve entered is significantly different to the actual name on the account. You can go ahead anyway if you wish, but it’s best to contact your payee to confirm the correct account name and details. |
|
Message We can’t check these details |
What this means Your payee’s account doesn’t let us confirm their details. This might happen if their bank isn’t set up for CoP account name checks, or it’s a type of account that can’t be checked at all. You can go ahead anyway if you wish, but it’s best to go back and check to make sure. |
|
Message This account/sort code doesn’t exist |
What this means None of account details match so we can’t check if the account exists. You won’t be able to go ahead so you’ll need to go back and confirm the correct account details. |
|
Message Reference not found |
What this means The reference you’ve entered has not been found. You can go ahead anyway if you wish, but it’s best to contact your payee to confirm the correct reference for the payment. |
Let’s take a closer look
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To help you avoid paying the wrong account by accident, make sure you ask the recipient for the correct name on their account:
- If you're a paying a person - use their first or main name and last name
- If you're paying a business - use the business name or trading name registered to their account.
When you’re setting up a new payee, if we tell you the account name and number don’t match but you decide to go ahead with the payment without checking the details, we might not be able to recover your money if it goes to the wrong account.
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To make sure payments get to your account safely, the person paying you will need the following information from you:
- Full first name and surname – exactly as it appears on your account
- Account number
- Sort code
- Account type (personal or business)
If any of your details change, please let us know straight away so we can update your account and avoid any problems with payments getting through to you.
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Most UK banks use the Confirmation of Payee name checking service.
If you try to set up a new payment to an account with a bank that doesn't use Confirmation of Payee, we'll let you know that we can’t check the account name. You can then decide if you want to go ahead with the payment or not.
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CoP checks will be done on all UK sterling payments made online, via telephone banking or in branch to someone you’ve never paid before through single Faster Payments (including Standing Orders) or CHAPS. Direct Debits and BACS payments aren’t included yet.
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No, the Confirmation of Payee service doesn’t cover sending money outside of the UK. So please make sure you’re sending money to someone you know, or have looked into and trust.
