Before a payment leaves your account, Xace asks the receiving bank a simple question: does the name on this account match the name we were given? The answer comes back in seconds and you see it before you confirm. This is the check that catches invoice fraud and mistyped details, and it is worth understanding what it does and does not tell you.
Two names, one check
- Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is the UK scheme. It runs on GBP payments using sort code and account number.
- Verification of Payee (VoP) is the European equivalent for euro payments. It became mandatory across the EU on 9 October 2025, and Xace runs it across its SEPA flows.
They work the same way from your side. When you create a payee, or create or approve a payment, the name you entered is compared with the name the destination bank holds.
The three results
Match. The name and the account line up. Proceed.
Close Match. Similar, but not identical. Common causes: a trading name where the bank holds the legal name, a missing "Ltd", initials versus a full first name, a joint account. The bank usually returns the actual name so you can see the difference. Check it, and if it makes sense, proceed.
No Match. The name and the account do not correspond. Stop. Do not fix it by editing the name to whatever makes it match; that defeats the point. Verify the details with the payee by phone on a number you already hold, not one on the invoice or email.
The check informs, it does not block. You can proceed on any result, and the result is recorded against the payment so compliance can see what was decided and by whom.
What the check does not do
- It does not confirm the payee is who they claim to be. A fraudster with an account in a company's name will Match.
- It does not run on batch or file uploads. Those go straight through, so control who prepares the file and put a Per Batch Payment approval on it.
- It does not run for every currency. Outside GBP and EUR, you rely on payee approval and your own verification.
What to do in practice
- Enter the legal name from the payee's bank details, not their brand.
- Treat every Close Match as a question. If you cannot explain the difference, do not proceed.
- Treat every No Match as a stop and a phone call.
- Put payee creation and edits behind an approver, so the person who types the details is not the only person who sees the result.
- Keep a note on the payee of any accepted Close Match and why. The next person to pay them will thank you.
The check takes seconds and costs nothing. Most of the payments it saves would never have been recovered.
