Skip to main content

What is Confirmation of Payee?

Confirmation of Payee is an account name checking service to help you make sure payments are sent to the right account. This reduces the chances of you making a mistake, and helps to protect you from fraud. This service is in place with other banks too.

When you set up or edit a payee, we’ll run a check on the name on the account you are paying. This helps stop payments going to the wrong account by making sure the name on the account matches.

These checks are also designed to alert you to possible scams where a fraudster may pretend to be someone they’re not. Where the name on the account doesn’t match what you would expect, this may be a sign that you’re being scammed.

Also, if someone tries to pay you, they’ll be able to check the details they have for you match up (if their bank offers the service).

For more information on fraud, what to look out for and how to protect yourself from some common scams, please read our guide to Staying Safe Online.

How have payments changed?

When you set up or edit a payee, the Confirmation of Payee service will check the name on the account of the person, or business, you are paying with their bank. We’ll then give you one of four responses:

  • Match made
  • Close Match
  • No Match
  • Nothing to Match

Match made, Close match, No match, Nothing to match

You’ll see one of four responses when you set up or edit a payee. This is what they mean:

Match made

If the name on the account matches, we’ll let you know and you can continue to make a payment.

Close Match

There’s a small difference between the details you have put in and the actual details on the account you’re trying to make a payment to. For example, this might be a spelling mistake, or it’s a personal account instead of a business account.

We’ll then show you the actual name on the account and give you three options:

  • Use the name we suggest
  • Check with the payee before continuing
  • Continuing without making any changes, if you are confident this is the right account

No Match

If the name you enter is different to the name on the account you’re trying to make a payment to, we’ll tell you that the details don’t match.

We will give you the option to:

  • Stop what you are doing, so you can check with the person or business you are paying before going ahead. When the name is wrong, it could mean the account is part of a scam.
  • Continue without making any changes, if you are confident this is the right account. If this turns out to be a scam, we might not be able to get your money back.

Nothing to Match

We’ve not been able to check the details with the payee’s bank. We’ll give you three options:

  • Try again if we think this might just be a temporary issue
  • Continue without making any changes, if you are confident this is the right account without being able to check
  • Stop what you are doing, so you can check the details with the person or business you are paying before going ahead

Setting up or editing a payee

When you set up or edit a payee, we’ll check the name on the account you are paying. This helps to stop payments going to the wrong account by making sure the name on the account matches.

You will get one of four responses:

  • Match made
  • Close Match
  • No Match
  • Nothing to Match

These checks are also designed to alert you to possible scams where a fraudster may pretend to be someone they’re not. Where the name on the account doesn’t match what you would expect, this may be a sign that you’re being scammed, especially if you are being asked to continue with a payment even though the details do not match.

Here are a few things to think about before setting up a payee:

  • Use the full name of the person or business you want to pay (for businesses this may be a trading name)
  • Check you have the right sort code and account number, and make sure you know if you are paying a personal or business account
  • For joint accounts, you can use one or both of the names on the account
  • If you get a Close match, or No match when you put in the details and choose to continue, we might not be able to get the money back if it goes to the wrong account

Making a payment

The Confirmation of Payee service doesn’t stop any payments, but sometimes we might ask you to check details with who you’re paying before sending any money.

Can I opt out of Confirmation of Payee?

You can only opt out in exceptional circumstances. To be effective, it’s essential that as many people as possible are signed up to the service.

You can ask to opt out of your details being checked when other people try to pay you, however, this may put them off making a payment to you as your account will not be available for matching.

If you still want to opt out of Confirmation of Payee we’ll consider it. Please print, complete and post the Confirmation of Payee opt in-out request form.

You can also opt back in to the service using the same Confirmation of Payee opt in-out request form.

What should I do to help anyone paying me?

Make sure the person paying you has the correct details. They will need to know:

  • The full name on your account
  • Your sort code and account number
  • Whether your account is personal or business

Each bank will have a different message they will show the person paying you, based on whether it’s a Match made, Close match, No match, or Nothing to match.

Will my data be secure?

Yes. We use secure technology to safely exchange Confirmation of Payee requests with other payment providers.