What is Confirmation of Payee (CoP)?

We can all relate to being extra cautious when making online payments, double-checking details to ensure accuracy and worrying about potential scams. Unfortunately, according to a report by UK Finance, e-commerce fraud on cards alone resulted in an estimated loss of £376.5 million in 2020, a significant increase from £139.6 million in 2011 and over £300 million in 2016.

The numbers continue to be a cause for concern, with losses due to authorised push payment (APP) scams increasing to £355.3 million in the first half of 2021, a staggering 71% increase compared to the same period in 2020. While digital payments are convenient and fast, they require additional safety measures and caution.

To bridge this uncertainty and ensure safer payments, accurate validation of details is essential.

So what is confirmation of payee (CoP) – a service to verify bank account details

CoP is a service that validates the bank account information of a payee before sending payments. It serves as an extra layer of protection for payments and helps prevent payments from being sent to unverified payee accounts. This validation process reduces the risk of sending payments to the wrong account holder, saves costs associated with payment investigations and adjustments, prevents fraud losses, and more.

CoP provides greater reassurance by verifying bank account details, which helps to avoid making accidental payments to the wrong account. It also provides an additional layer of protection against fraud, especially Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams.

As a customer or business, whether you are setting up a new payee or updating the details of an existing payee, CoP will verify whether the provided information matches the account of the intended recipient.

XBP Europe’s CoP is an internet-facing web service, adhering to the latest specification by Pay.UK, and conforming to the security requirements of Open Banking – a solution that can assist you in securing payments.