Safe Payments: Understanding Verification of Payee (VoP) at N26

Introduced as part of the Instant Payment Regulation (new tab) (IPR), the Verification of Payee (VoP) is a new service designed to enhance the security of your transfers by protecting against beneficiary errors and fraud attempts. This service helps you confirm you're sending money to the right person before you complete a transfer.

The VoP requires banks to verify the beneficiary of a transfer. When you initiate a transfer, and before authorizing it, the payer's bank queries the beneficiary's bank. This real-time check confirms that the beneficiary's name and IBAN match.

For SEPA standard and Instant Credit Transfers (IBAN & Name): 

When initiating a bank transfer, you enter a certain number of information, including the IBAN and name of the beneficiary. N26 queries the beneficiary's bank to verify the accuracy of the information entered, and returns the information it received.

4 possible results:

• Full match: Name and IBAN match perfectly.
• Close match: If the verification shows a slight discrepancy, we’ll display the official payee’s name. You can accept the suggested correction, continue without changes, or cancel the transaction. Your consent to proceed will be recorded.
• No match: You’ll be warned that the funds may go to the wrong account. You can update the beneficiary details and retry the verification, continue anyway, or cancel. Your consent to proceed will be recorded.
• Verification not possible: In rare cases, the VoP cannot be performed. You can still edit the details, continue, or cancel. Your consent to proceed will be recorded.

For MoneyBeam and Bizum payments:

These services don't use IBANs. N26 provides verification by displaying an alias of the payee's name (e.g., "John D."). This protects user-privacy by preventing the disclosure of full names.

If you authorise a bank transfer to a beneficiary whose verification of payee result is not a full match (for regular or instant SEPA transfers ) or does not align with the alias (for MoneyBeam and Bizum), the funds may be transferred to an account that is not actually held by the intended beneficiary. In such cases, you accept full responsibility for the transfer. This also means you will not be entitled to a refund if you ignore the warning notifications and proceed with the payment.

Important warnings for instant payments

Due to their instant and irreversible nature, we will display critical warnings for SEPA Instant transfers, MoneyBeam and Bizum transactions:

• General Warning: "Send MoneyBeams/Bizums to people you know and make sure their details are correct. Once confirmed, they can’t be cancelled.".
• Bizum Confirmation: "Do you know this person and want to proceed with the payment? Only send Bizum payments to people you know and trust. Once the payment is sent, it can’t be reversed. If you’re unsure or suspect a scam, do not continue and contact our Customer Support.".
• MoneyBeam: "Send MoneyBeam only to people you know and make sure their email and mobile number is current. You cannot cancel a sent payment.".

The verification of payee happens for every outgoing payment transfer. For standing orders, it occurs once at the moment of setup.

• Double-check: Always verify recipient details (phone, email, IBAN).
• Know your recipient: Especially for Instant Credit Transfers, MoneyBeam and Bizum, only send money to people you know and trust, as these payments are irreversible.

Contact Support: If you're ever unsure about a payment or suspect a scam, do not proceed and contact N26 Customer Support immediately.