Majority of existing CoP participants delivered SRD capabilities by August 2022

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has published a policy statement, PS22/3, setting out its decision to direct around 400 payment service providers (PSPs) to implement a system offering the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) name checking service to their customers, both as payers and payees¹. The statement, published in October 2022, follows a consultation that ran for six weeks and closed on 8 July, to which the regulator received 52 responses from a range of sectors¹.

CoP lets people check that the name on the account matches the details given when setting up a new payment¹. The PSR said the majority of existing CoP participants delivered secondary reference data (SRD) capabilities by August 2022¹. The direction splits the requirement into two groups¹:

The PSR said it had removed seven PSPs listed in Group 1 that had delivered CoP since the consultation, meaning 32 PSPs will now be directed under Group 1¹. It said that by prioritising this group, CoP coverage will increase from 92% of Faster Payments transactions to 99% after October 2023¹. When the regulator issued Specific Direction 10 in August 2019, the directed banks covered around 90% of transactions made via Faster Payments and CHAPS¹. In total, 59 PSPs now offer CoP, the PSR said, with 26 PSPs having voluntarily adopted it since the regulator directed the closure of the Phase 1 technical environment¹.

The PSR said it will ask directed PSPs to submit data to it during spring 2023, and will publish the first set of data in summer 2023¹. It also noted it had recently published a consultation on a proposal to require all PSPs sending payments over Faster Payments to fully reimburse authorised push payment (APP) scam victims, with only limited exceptions¹.

Why it matters for households

CoP checks the name of the payee's account against the name and account details given by the payer, giving payers more confidence that they are making payments to the correct account¹. The PSR said its analysis and anecdotal evidence from participants showed some evidence that CoP has helped curtail the increase in some types of APP scams, some evidence of reduced levels of fraudulent funds received into accounts by PSPs that have implemented CoP, and a reduction in accidentally misdirected payments¹.

The regulator said it was concerned that many consumers are still not protected from APP scams and misdirected payments, and that fraud received by PSPs who do not offer CoP has continued to rise¹. Customers of the PSPs covered by Group 1 will see the service required after 31 October 2023, and customers of Group 2 firms after 31 October 2024¹. The PSR said it may direct any participant with a waiver who fails to meet their new agreed date¹.

What happens next

Directed PSPs will be asked to submit data to the PSR during spring 2023, with the first set of data published in summer 2023¹. The PSR has also consulted on requiring all PSPs sending payments over Faster Payments to fully reimburse APP scam victims, with only limited exceptions¹.