Confirmation of Payee

CoP is an account name-checking service that helps to make sure payments are not sent to the wrong bank or building society account.

It helps customers and businesses make payments safely by checking the name on an account before a new CHAPS, Faster Payment or Standing Order is set up. It cannot be used for BACS payments, including Direct Debits, at the moment.

CoP is one of the many ways the finance industry is tackling fraud. To help keep your money safe, it is important to make sure your information is up to date and you have the full name of the person or business you want to pay.

You should also watch out for:

• The name of the person or business you are paying not matching the name held on the account
• Pressure to make a payment
• Changes to account details
• Payment requests from people you do not know
• Anyone asking you to continue with a payment when the details do not match.

For more information on CoP, visit the UK Finance website.

CoP lets you check you have the correct name for the person or business you are paying, which can help to protect against certain types of fraud (and helps to prevent payments going to the wrong account, too).

When you set up a new payment, or amend an existing payment, you can check the name on the account of the person or business you’re paying.

Once these have been checked, the main responses you will get are a 'match', 'partial match' or 'no match'.

Match – the name on the account matches
If you used the correct account name (it is important that you have the full name of anyone you want to pay), we will let you know that the details match, and you can continue with the payment.

Partial match – the account is registered to someone with a similar name
If you used a similar name to the account holder, we will show you the actual name of the account holder to check. You can update the details and try again, or check the details with the person or company you are trying to pay. This option won’t appear if the account holder is under the age of 13 and the account name won’t be shared.

No match – the name doesn’t match the name on the account
If you have entered the wrong name for the account holder, we will let you know that the details do not match, so you can contact the person or company you are trying to pay. When the name is wrong, it could be a fraudulent transaction.

You may also see ‘technical’ responses, such as a 'system problem' or the account holder’s bank not supporting the CoP scheme.

If you are paying someone, you will need to

• Have the full name of the person or business you want to pay. For joint accounts, you only need the first and last name of any of the account holders
• Choose whether you expect to pay a personal or business account – we will tell you if your categorisation is incorrect
• Make sure you are confident you are paying the correct person or business. If you get a 'partial match' or 'no match' when you input the details and choose to continue, we may not be able to get the money back if it goes to the wrong account
• Make sure you give your full name (first name and surname) to anyone who is paying you.

You cannot opt out of CoP when you are making a payment to someone else. You can, however, request to opt out of your details being checked when other people try to pay you.

CoP was introduced to improve payments between UK banks and reduce instances of fraud and payments going to the wrong account. To be effective, it is essential that everyone can receive a CoP response when they make a payment. If you opt out of CoP, when a person or business tries to pay you they will get a message that your details cannot be checked.

If you still want to opt out of the CoP service, please print, complete and post the application form [PDF, 91KB] and we will consider your request.

If your request to opt out is successful, we will mark your accounts, including any joint accounts you hold (but not any accounts held by joint parties in their sole name).

If you want to opt back in to the CoP service, please complete, print and post the application form [PDF, 91KB] to the address provided.