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EU Banks Must Verify Recipient Names Against IBANs on Transfers Starting Today

The checks introduce real-time name–IBAN matching to interrupt common payment scams.

Overview

  • Effective October 9, EU rules require payment providers to run automated name–IBAN verification before executing transfers in apps and online banking.
  • Customers receive immediate outcomes—match, close match, no match, or not verifiable—and must confirm, correct details, or cancel the payment.
  • Discrepancies trigger warnings, and users can proceed at their own risk in many cases, though some implementations may stop the transfer on a clear mismatch.
  • The IBAN remains the unique routing identifier, so continuing after a warning sends funds to the entered IBAN and providers are not liable for a wrong identifier.
  • The regulation also extends instant-payment access and bars higher fees for immediate transfers compared with standard ones.