Design of Australia’s Confirmation of Payee service reaches completion

Australian Payments Plus (AP+) and the Australian Banking Association (ABA) have announced the completion of the design of a new Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service in the country.

When the new fraud prevention tool is rolled out, it will prompt individuals paying to an account with a name, BSB and account number to confirm the account name of the payee before the payment is made.

One of the key features of CoP in Australia is a central matching service that will determine a name match based on account data provided by each payee financial institution when compared to the account name entered by the payer.

Swift has been chosen by AP+ to build and manage the central matching service which underpins CoP.

Where there is a match or close match, a name display will be provided to the payer and if the result is not a match, then the name of the account holder will not be displayed.

AP+ and ABA confirmed there is no central database, and instead, all account data will remain with the financial institution or service provider.

The rollout of the new CoP service will be phased, with centralised capability, including account matching logic and standardised APIs, being progressively built and tested throughout 2024.

This will allow financial institutions to integrate the service into their banking channels starting in early 2025.

According to Anna Bligh, chief executive office of the ABA, Australia’s banks are investing $100 million in the new anti-scam technology.

It forms part of the sector’s Scam-Safe Accord, which is a set of safeguards by banks intended to keep Australians’ money safe.

“Banks are investing in this new service so customers have another important layer of protection against scammers,” Bligh said.

“Customers will have more confidence that they are transferring money to the right person and not to a potential scammer. We are one step closer to having a new weapon in the war against scammers.”

Lynn Kraus, chief executive officer of AP+, added: “In addition to working with the New Payments Platform (NPP) participating institutions that will be involved in implementing this solution, we have solicited input from over 50 community groups in an effort to ensure we have a broad perspective of views.

“Creating broad-based community support for the solution will be vital to its effectiveness.”

Earlier this week, Australia’s CommBank reported halving the amount its customers lost to scams as a result of anti-scam initiatives, such as ‘NameCheck’ technology.