Confirmation of Payee in the UK has been extended to cover almost 99% of all transactions made through Faster Payments and Chaps after more financial firms implemented the fraud-fighting protocol.
In just the first half of 2024, over £213 million was lost to Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where people are tricked into sending money to fraudsters posing as genuine payees. With CoP now widely in place, consumers can expect name checks to be the norm when sending money to new accounts, helping ensure their payments reach the right person or business.
Kate Fitzgerald, head of policy at the PSR, says: “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 directed nearly 400 firms to implement CoP. This was split into two groups - the first were required to implement CoP by 31 October 2023, and the second were required to implement CoP by 31 October 2024.
Says Fitzgerald: "Expanding Confirmation of Payee to more firms is a crucial step in our ongoing work to protect consumers and drive fraud out of the UK’s payment systems.”