As global payments become faster and more complex, ensuring security and trust has never been more important. Our Confirmation of Payee service is increasingly being used as a framework for supporting international efforts to tackle fraud and payment errors, most recently in Australia, where the service was recently launched by domestic payment scheme operator, Australian Payments Plus (AP+).
To support global learning, our Confirmation of Payee Product Owner, Anu Raman, recently joined the AP+ podcast “Confirmation of Payee: Building an Industry Solution” to talk about evolution of the service in the UK. Here, we summarise the key takeaways from the podcast.
Confirmation of Payee: The journey so far
Confirmation of Payee is our award-winning, account name-checking service that helps to reduce misdirected payments and provides greater assurance to end users in the UK that their payments are being transferred to, and collected from, the intended account holder. Since launching in 2020, the service has consistently proved to be a valuable and effective anti-fraud tool and has become an integral element of the payment process for both individuals and businesses.
Originally designed to tackle accidental misdirected payments, Confirmation of Payee quickly proved its value in fraud prevention and delivered impressive results. The Credit Payment Recovery sent claim percentage rate for the ‘incorrect account’ category (as a proportion of Faster Payment sent transactions), for example, is a sound indicator of a reduction in misdirected payments. Since the launch of Confirmation of Payee, we have seen a 59% reduction in this category and a 20-40% reduction in financial losses to end users for some types of fraud, according to the UK Finance Annual Fraud Report 2025.
Today, Confirmation of Payee is offered by almost 400 payment service providers, covering more than 99% of all payments through the Faster Payment System in the UK, and handling over 65 million checks per month.
Safety and simplicity first
Anu emphasised that trust in financial systems is grounded in safety, reliability, and consistency, and for payments, this means ensuring consumers can confidently send their money knowing it will arrive at the correct destination. This principle has shaped the way Confirmation of Payee has been implemented in the UK, putting a strong significance on protecting users at the point of transaction.
Australia’s rollout
In response to rising scam losses, Australia began to develop its own version of Confirmation of Payee and adopted a collaborative approach to learn from the lessons of the service in the UK. To this end, we engaged extensively with AP+, offering strategic advice and learnings on an array of factors including the importance of a standardised Application Programming Interface (API), inclusive customer experience design, and balancing both consumer and business use cases from the outset. This collaboration has enabled AP+ to build a solution tailored to local needs, while applying proven international lessons, such as early consideration of business use cases, not just retail ones.
The rollout of Confirmation of Payee in Australia began in July 2025, with major banks including CommBank, NAB, ANZ, Westpac, HSBC, and Macquarie already on board, and an aim to achieve nationwide coverage by December 2025.
Future innovation
Confirmation of Payee is more than just a fraud prevention tool, it’s a foundation for broader innovation, and attention is already turning to what comes next. Anu believes the existing API framework provides a foundation that can be built on, moving from a basic solution to a premium one, with potential applications beyond payments.
There are emerging opportunities to combine Confirmation of Payee with other verification tools, potentially offering additional layers of assurance, similar to digital ID systems. Government agencies, pension funds, insurance providers, and other sectors could benefit from faster, more secure verification without relying solely on traditional banking infrastructure.
Collaboration remains critical and Anu emphasised that no single organisation can achieve this alone. It requires commitment across the payments ecosystem and the wider financial services industry to maintain momentum and drive innovation.
Global interoperability
There appears strong potential for interoperability between countries, allowing payments to be verified across jurisdictions. As cross-border transactions become more common, international Confirmation of Payee checks could prevent large sums from being misdirected.
This kind of global harmonisation would require standardised practices and collaboration between markets. While Australia’s Confirmation of Payee service is still in its early stages, other countries, such as New Zealand, have already begun to explore these international opportunities.
Conclusion
AP+ and Anu agreed that a coordinated global approach to name-checking services is essential as international payment volumes grow. Whether you are sending tuition fees abroad or paying a utility provider across borders, users expect consistent, secure experiences.
Anu said: “Confirmation of Payee has shown that innovation rooted in industry-wide collaboration, trust, and transparency can deliver meaningful impact. We are proud to support Australia’s journey and will continue working with global partners to raise the bar for secure, trusted payments, at home and abroad.”
