Confirmation of Payee in the UK now covers nearly 99% of all transactions conducted through Faster Payments and CHAPS, following the integration of this fraud-prevention protocol by additional financial institutions.
In the first half of 2024 alone, over £213 million was lost to Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where individuals are deceived into sending money to fraudsters masquerading as legitimate payees. With the widespread implementation of Confirmation of Payee (CoP), consumers can now expect name checks to be standard practice when sending funds to new accounts, ensuring that their payments reach the intended recipient.
Kate Fitzgerald, head of policy at the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), stated, “Confirmation of Payee has quickly become an essential anti-fraud tool. Since its launch in 2020, more than 2.5 billion checks have been completed.”
In October 2022, the PSR mandated nearly 400 firms to adopt CoP, dividing them into two groups. The first group was required to implement CoP by 31 October 2023, while the second group must comply by 31 October 2024.
Fitzgerald emphasized, “Expanding Confirmation of Payee to more firms is a crucial step in our ongoing work to protect consumers and eliminate fraud from the UK’s payment systems.”