The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and should not be attributed to the European Payments Council.

Since its launch in 2020, the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service has transformed the landscape of payment security and user confidence in the United Kingdom (UK). This article explores the key elements behind CoP’s success, the challenges faced during its implementation, and the significant value it brings to end users, payment service providers (PSPs), and other stakeholders. We interviewed Anuradha Raman, Product Owner at Pay.UK for Overlay Services – Confirmation of Payee (CoP) & Request to Pay (RtP), to learn more about CoP.

What have been the key elements of successes of the CoP initiative in UK since its launch?

CoP is an account name-checking service that is universally renowned as an effective fraud prevention tool. As the recognised operator of the UK’s national retail payment systems, Pay.UK played a critical role in the successful design and subsequent implementation of the service. Having launched just four years ago in 2020, today CoP has near-full industry adoption and is a customary component of the payment process. The service has effectively and significantly reduced the number of misdirected payments, subsequently affording confidence to payers when making a payment for the first time that the funds are being sent to the intended recipient. Indeed, whilst industry regulation has encouraged participation, end-user demand for the service has largely driven this extensive adoption, too. 

Today CoP is used by more than 300 PSPs, with more than 2 million CoP checks completed each day, totalling 2.6 billion checks since its launch.

What is the key value proposition of the CoP service for end users, PSPs, and other stakeholders? Has the CoP service been effective in preventing fraud?

The core value of CoP for end users and PSPs lies in its simplicity and efficacy: a name-checking service that lets payers confirm that the payee’s account name matches their intended recipient when making a payment to reduce the instance of misdirected payments. With straightforward messaging standards, it provides a consistent experience across the industry.

While CoP is not a silver bullet for fraud it is certainly an essential, complementary tool in a PSP’s overall fraud prevention armoury. 

Since CoP launched in 2020, the volume of related fraud cases in the UK has reduced by nearly sixty percent, demonstrating the effectiveness of the service in preventing fraudulent and accidental misdirected payments when used in conjunction with other anti-fraud tools. Indeed, testament to the service can also be seen in that we have seen many of our peers around the world look to the UK to understand how a similar service can be replicated in their respective regions.

What challenges and obstacles have been encountered during the rollout and adoption of the CoP service, both from a technical and a stakeholder engagement perspective?

From a technical perspective, it initially was not possible for all PSPs to join the service because of available access models. As we worked to expand the service, however, we designed and developed new access models to reduce the number of engagement points and introduced the concept of an aggregator participant who would provide a one-to-many connection. Having enabled more PSPs to join the service through these efforts, all eligible Faster Payment System (FPS) members are now covered through CoP, with 99% UK coverage. Furthermore, CoP’s effectiveness relies on robust and consistent account-naming approaches to allow for seamless verification. Naming conventions can, however, vary among PSPs, which may complicate name checks. To overcome this, we developed an overall service operating rule to accommodate many variances, ensuring the service remains effective.

Stakeholder engagement, on the other hand, becomes more challenging as the number of participating firms increases. The size and the type of organisation varies, for example from a large global bank to a small credit union, but the purpose to eliminate end user detriment remains. With differing levels of capability and ability, we must therefore continue to be extremely flexible with our approach to engagement to cater for all customers effectively. We managed these stakeholders with a combination of communications including working group calls, testing calls, 1-2-1 meetings, industry meetings, and email campaigns.

How does the CoP service impact the user experience for both consumers and businesses?

The simple customer proposition of CoP, and its effectiveness in reducing the instance of misdirected payments, is naturally attractive for both businesses and consumers. The quick and straightforward check, along with standard and consistent messaging, provides peace of mind to the payer and payee that funds are being sent to the intended recipient.

Based on Pay.UK experience, what have been the key lessons learnt related to the design, implementation and roll-out of CoP service?

The key lesson to remember is that the service must be wholly understood by the PSPs and their end users, and messaging to both payers and payees is critical to ensure that the service works seamlessly. A further lesson is to ensure that the technical standards and associated rules are robust and transparent to all participants such that optionality in solutions is avoided. Without that, a peer-to-peer service will almost certainly face significant implementation challenges.