The PSR have confirmed that from today (1 July 2020), there is now widespread coverage of Confirmation of Payee (CoP). This is the fraud prevention tool which allows people to check the name of who they want to pay against the account number they are paying. This has been adopted by members of the UK’s six largest banking groups:-
- Bank of Scotland plc,
- Barclays Bank UK plc,
- Barclays Bank plc,
- HSBC Bank plc,
- HSBC UK Bank plc,
- Lloyds Bank plc,
- National Westminster Bank plc,
- Nationwide Building Society,
- Royal Bank of Scotland plc,
- Santander UK plc; and
- Ulster Bank Limited
The PSR has also seen the first non-directed banks introduce CoP, with Monzo and Starling also introducing the full service to their customers.
In August 2019, the PSR used its regulatory powers (in the form of Specific Direction 10) to require members of the above mentioned banks to implement CoP by the end of March 2020. Recognising the pressure on businesses due to COVID-19, this was extended by the Regulator to 30 June.
The Regulator will work with industry to drive further implementation across all payment service providers as well as supporting other efforts in fraud prevention.