Eurosystem to offer Sepa-wide VoP scheme

The Eurosystem is set to introduce a Verification of Payee (VoP) service for payment service providers (PSPs) across the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The initiative, mandated by the EU Instant Payments Regulation, aims to reduce fraud and payment errors by allowing payers to verify recipient account details before initiating transactions.

Under the new regulation, payers will be informed of discrepancies between the payment account number and the intended payee’s name, with results categorized as ‘match’, ‘close match’, ‘no match’, or ‘other’. The payer can then decide whether to proceed with the payment.

The Eurosystem has been developing the VoP scheme since August 2023, building on services from Banco de Portugal and Latvijas Banka. The new service will support instant payments, including those settled via Target Instant Payment Settlement, and SEPA credit transfers.