With Verification of Payee (VoP), you can check whether the recipient's name matches the IBAN before making a SEPA transfer. This lets you catch typos or incorrect recipient data early and reduce the risk of sending money to the wrong account.
Accountable Banking and Swan support VoP for both outgoing and incoming transfers. In this article, you will find out how VoP works, when it applies, and what the verification results mean.
How does VoP work?
Outgoing VoP: When you send money from your business account, a VoP request is automatically sent to the recipient's bank.
Incoming VoP: If someone wants to transfer money to your Accountable Banking business account and their bank sends a VoP request, Accountable responds to it automatically in the background.
When does VoP apply and since when is it mandatory?
In the eurozone, VoP has been mandatory for SEPA and Instant SEPA transfers since October 9, 2025.
For non-euro countries, a later introduction is planned (for example, from January 9, 2027).
Accountable Banking provides this service free of charge, in line with regulatory requirements.
How and when is VoP applied?
Single transfer | For each new transfer. |
Standing order | Only when setting up a new standing order. |
‼️ Important: Existing standing orders set up before the effective date do not need to be reviewed again.
What do the VoP check results mean?
The recipient's bank can return one of four results. Accountable displays this result to you during payment authorisation:
Result | Meaning | Recommendation |
Match | Name and IBAN match exactly | Approve the transfer with confidence |
Close match | Minor deviation in the name (e.g., abbreviations, umlauts) | Verify the recipient's details |
No match | Name and IBAN do not match | Correct the details and contact the recipient |
Verification not possible | The bank cannot make a match | Check an alternative and verify the IBAN and name |
‼️ Important: VoP does not automatically block a transfer. It is a warning signal, not a block.
Key takeaways
VoP checks that the recipient's name matches their IBAN before a SEPA transfer is sent.
Accountable Banking handles both outgoing VoP requests and incoming VoP responses automatically.
VoP has been mandatory in the eurozone since October 9, 2025, and is provided free of charge.
There are four possible results: Match, Close match, No match, and Verification not possible.
VoP is a warning signal only and does not automatically block a transfer.
Need help? Chat with us or email support@accountable.eu, we're happy to help.