Online credit transfers will change on 9 October – What is changing and why?

What changes from the payer’s viewpoint?

  • From October onward, banks will verify the details of each online payment. Your bank will automatically check whether the payee name you entered matches the name on the payee’s account.
  • If the names do not match, the service will display a warning. You can still choose to continue without correcting the details, but doing so means you accept full responsibility for the payment.
  • You will be notified if the payee’s name does not match with the account holder’s name (‘no match’) or if it is almost a match (‘close match’). If the name is a close match, the bank will inform you of the name registered to the account.
  • The practical implementation of the verification mechanism depends on the bank, and different banks may notify their users in different ways.
  • The change is to take place by 9 October at the latest. Some banks may implement the change earlier.

Should I be worried?

  • There’s no need to be worried. The purpose of the change is to improve the security of payments. Payee verification helps ensure that payments end up in the right recipient’s account.
  • Name and account matching helps prevent transfer fraud, in which the bank customer is tricked into sending funds to a scam account.

What should I do if my online bank warns me that the account holder’s name does not match the name I gave?

  • Proceed with caution. If you do not know why the names failed to match, contact the payee – for example, the business that sent you the invoice – and ask them why this is the case.
  • Sometimes customers know a business by a marketing name rather than the company’s official registered name. If necessary, check the name directly with the invoicer – not the bank.

Why is this change made?

  • The payee verification mechanism is mandated by the EU Instant Payment Regulation. Banks are making the change to comply with the new regulation.
  • The main goal of the Instant Payment Regulation is to speed up payments. From October 2025, euro area payment service providers must enable customers to send and receive credit transfers in just ten seconds.
  • Instant payments must be available for euro area transfers by 9 October 2025 at the latest and for transfers to other EU and EEA countries by 9 June 2027.
  • The new regulation aims to make payments not only faster but also more secure. Online banks are therefore required to verify that the payee name matches the name registered in the bank’s system.

What should invoicers take into account?

  • Sometimes customers know a business by a marketing name rather than the company’s official registered name. When you send invoices, make sure the recipients know the official company name that is registered on the account. Otherwise they may get a mismatch error when trying to pay the invoice.

Do you have questions?

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Contact our experts

INFRASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY 

Miia Zitting

Payments Specialist

Infrastructure and Security

Inkeri Tolvanen

Head of Payment Systems

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