Confirmation of Payee

When you key in a BSB, account number and the payee’s name for the first time (or when you edit an existing payee), your bank sends those details to a central matching service run for the industry by Australian Payments Plus (AP+). The recipient bank checks whether the name on its books matches the name you entered and returns a “match”, “close match” or “no match” result in real time. A simple traffic-light message then appears on your screen so you can decide whether to proceed, double-check or cancel before any money leaves your account.

You don’t need to do anything. Confirmation of Payee appears automatically in your banking app or online banking at participating banks.

Yes. Banks committed to rolling out this technology during 2025 and have delivered on that commitment. Implementing an industry-wide Confirmation of Payee system required a significant build and investment. It’s further demonstration that Australian banks are leading the way when it comes to safeguarding their customers.

Banks invested $100 million to design and build the national Confirmation of Payee platform. All of that funding came from Australia’s major, regional and customer-owned banks, which voluntarily committed the money under the industry’s Scam-Safe Accord well before any regulatory mandate. No taxpayer or government funds were used. The sector stepped up on its own to deliver this extra layer of protection for customers.

The platform was designed and built by Australian Payments Plus, the organisation behind PayID, Osko, BPAY and eftpos.

Yes. All Scam-Safe Accord initiatives are now complete. These include biometric checks, limits on payments to high-risk crypto platforms, enhanced intelligence sharing, the development of anti-scam strategies, warnings and payment delays, and Confirmation of Payee. Find out more about the Scam-Safe Accord.

Think of PayID as the “easy-to-remember nickname” for an account: you type in a mobile number or email address, your bank shows you the name on file, and off the money goes. That works brilliantly when the person you’re paying has set up a PayID, but plenty haven’t.

Picture paying a plumber who just texts you a BSB and account number on the spot, or settling an invoice from a small tradie who prints those details on the bill. In those moments, Confirmation of Payee becomes the star player: it lets you know instantly whether the name you’ve entered matches the account you’re paying.

In short, PayID makes paying simpler and CoP makes traditional payments safer, giving Australians an extra line of defence against misdirected transfers and invoice redirection scams.

Confirmation of Payee is now live at more than 100 financial institutions nationally, including banks, credit unions and mutual banks, having rolled out progressively from July 2025. To check whether yours offers it, use the search tool on the Australian Payments Plus website or contact your bank.

Only the BSB, account number and the name you type are sent to the industry hub run by AP+. The recipient bank compares those details to its own records and sends back a match, close match or no match result. All underlying account data stays inside each bank and there is no central database.

For personal accounts, the account name is only shown to the person paying if there is a match or close match. If there is no match, the name is not revealed. For business and government accounts, the account name may be shown regardless of the result. Eligible customers can also ask their bank about opting out.

Yes. CoP is an advisory checkpoint, not a hard block. After a close match or no match alert you can correct the details or choose to continue. Money sent to the wrong account can be difficult to recover, which makes the CoP warning a critical last line of defence.

If you think you’ve paid the wrong account or been scammed, contact your bank immediately. If you’re not satisfied with your bank’s response, you can lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

This can happen if a business trades under a different name to the one on its account, or if you’ve used a nickname rather than the account holder’s full name. You don’t need to enter special characters, so “O’Brien” can be entered as “O Brien” and “Paper & Pen” as “Paper Pen”. If you’re unsure, ask the person you’re paying for the exact name on their account.

The matching allows for ordinary typos but not wholesale name changes. For personal accounts, the recipient’s name is shown only when there is at least a close match. A no match response simply withholds the name, depriving criminals of useful clues.

Confirmation of Payee is a domestic safeguard. It works on Australian payments made using a BSB and account number, and doesn’t check accounts held overseas. Customers sending money overseas should keep using their normal checks and controls.

Yes. Businesses see Confirmation of Payee results when paying suppliers, staff or customers through their online banking. If your business receives payments, include your exact account name, BSB and account number on invoices, particularly if you trade under a different name.

Early adopters include the Netherlands (2017), the UK (2020) and New Zealand (2024). Australia joined them in 2025 with a nationwide name-checking safeguard funded entirely by its banks. Since October 2025, payment providers across the euro area have also been required to offer a similar check, known as Verification of Payee.