The European Payments Council has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for an API Test Toolbox for the Verification of Payee (VOP) scheme.
The VOP scheme, developed by the EPC, will go into effect on 5 October 2025. It provides all Payment Service Providers (PSPs) within the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) with a mechanism to verify the payee of an instant credit transfer.
This scheme relies on the use of APIs for inter-PSP messages, which presents challenges related to cross-border reachability, interoperability, and the effective functioning of the system among participants.
To address these challenges, the EPC plans to establish a reference API test environment that will simulate both server-side and client-side interactions of the VOP scheme. Furthermore, the EPC requires the VOP API Reference Toolbox to allow stakeholders to self-certify compliance with the VOP API.
The RFP process will open on 23 December 2024, with a submission deadline of Friday, 17 January 2025. Candidates interested in bidding must first complete a form to receive the RFP document and then submit their application via email. For more details, you can access the form here.