APP scams and accidentally misdirected payments can cause significant harm to consumers. Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is a service that aims to prevent certain types of scams and misdirected payments from happening. We want everyone to have the same levels of protection and confidence when making payments.
Why we are publishing this document
We want payments to work safely and securely for consumers, including for those that are vulnerable. For this reason, we have consistently considered the widespread adoption of CoP in UK payments to be a key priority. That is why we directed the UK’s six largest banking groups to introduce CoP over FPS and CHAPS transactions in 2020. There are now more than one million CoP requests every day and we wanted to understand the impact the service has had and consider what our next steps should be to make it more widely available to other financial institutions and their customers.
What this document contains
This publication sets out the findings from the call for views we issued in May 2021. It provides clarity on what the next steps will look like for the wider implementation of CoP through Phase 2 and provides an overview of the actions we expect industry to take.
We also set out where we will step in to facilitate the transition to Phase 2, for example if we see action to deliver the service start to falter.
Who should read this document
This document is relevant to the payments industry, consumer groups and PSPs, particularly those already involved in our work on APP scams.
What happens next
Over the next few months:
- We will continue monitoring the progress by the SD10 banks and the other Phase 1 participants to be present in Phase 2 by the end of 2021.
- We will consult in Q4 2021 on whether we will require the end of dual running by a specified date in 2022 and on revoking SD10.
- We will decide in 2022 whether we need to intervene to direct delivery of the remaining parts of Phase 2, notably implementation of CoP by non-participants and delivery of the SRD capability.
