In August 2019, we gave members of the UK’s six largest banking groups Specific Direction 10 to implement CoP by the end of March 2020. The PSPs subject to the direction are involved in around 90% of FPS and CHAPS transactions.
In July 2020, we confirmed that the directed PSPs had achieved widespread implementation of CoP, with certain agreed exemptions. This marked a significant milestone in addressing APP scams, but we aren’t stopping there. We want to continue to expand the protection offered by CoP, so in February 2022 we issued a Direction to ensure the transition of CoP to a single technical environment (phase 2), allowing more banks to offer the vital service. Following our May 2022 consultation, we also directed around 400 more financial firms to provide CoP. This will see nearly all transactions made via Faster Payments and CHAPS covered by CoP by October 2024.
We have included the names of Group 1 PSPs in Direction 17. Those listed had to implement CoP by 31 October 2023.
You also have to implement CoP if you are a Group 2 PSP under the Direction. You will need to consider whether you are but to assist we have created a non-exhaustive list of the PSPs that were on the Extended Industry Sort Code Directory (EISCD) as at beginning of 2022 as a starting point. If you have your own unique sort code, are a building society, send funds for your customers over CHAPS or FPS and have accounts that consumers and business can make and receive payments from, then you will have to implement CoP by 31 October 2024.
You also have to implement CoP if you are a Group 2 PSP under the Direction. You will need to consider whether you are but to assist we have created a non-exhaustive list of the PSPs that were on the Extended Industry Sort Code Directory (EISCD) as at beginning of 2022 as a starting point. If you have your own unique sort code, are a building society, send funds for your customers over CHAPS or FPS and have accounts that consumers and business can make and receive payments from, then you will have to implement CoP by 31 October 2024.
View or search the Group 2 list. For further detail you can view the set of Requirements under Specific Direction 17.
How does CoP work?
With CoP, banks can check the name on a new payee’s account as well as the sort code and account number. Customers setting up a new payee (or changing details of an existing payee) will be able to confirm that the name they have entered matches the one on the account they intend to pay, helping to prevent payments going to the wrong account.
Alerts notify the payer whether there has been a match, a close match, or no match, meaning corrections can be made before the payment is sent. The service is designed to prevent misdirected payments as well as fraudulent ones.