HSBC has introduced a new Payment Pre-Validation API (Application Programming Interface) to help business customers make payments with greater security, ease and confidence, by offering enhanced capabilities to verify payee details prior to initiating payments, making them faster and more reliable.
Through the bank’s new API, business customers can gain real-time access to account validation and, where available, name matching functionalities, helping to reduce the number of payment failures caused by inaccurate, incomplete, or missing beneficiary account and name details.
By enabling customers to verify payee details, the Payment Pre-Validation API also helps to lower the risk of fraud by reducing the likelihood of misdirected payments and payments being sent to fraudulent accounts, whilst offering an enhanced customer experience.
Nadya Hijazi, Global Head of Wholesale Digital Channels at HSBC said:
" At HSBC, we are committed to empowering our customers with innovative solutions that enhance their financial experiences. The Payment Pre-Validation API represents a significant leap forward in payment validation technology, underscoring our dedication to optimising payment processes whilst safeguarding against errors and fraud. “
Designed to streamline the payee account validation process for businesses such as e-commerce merchants and insurance companies, the new API offers seamless validation of beneficiary account numbers during user registration processes, ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency. Corporates can additionally benefit from streamlined vendor management workflows by validating the beneficiary accounts for new vendors.
The API leverages Swift's global pre-validation service for payee accounts, and benefits from existing regulatory schemes such as the UK's Confirmation of Payee (COP) and similar initiatives in Hong Kong. This integration enhances coverage and reliability for customers sending payments to beneficiaries in these jurisdictions, providing added confidence in the accuracy of account details.
In addition, Swift’s analytics-based solution offers valuable insights into historical transaction data for accounts that do not currently offer the pre-validation service. This feature allows business customers to verify the validity of beneficiary account numbers, further reducing the risk of fraud and errors.