Overview

• Under the EU’s Verification of Payee system, banks must check whether a recipient’s name matches the IBAN and display the result within seconds before authorizing a transfer.
• Some institutions, including certain Sparkassen, activated the checks as early as Oct. 5, leading customers to encounter new alerts when names differ from bank records.
• The alerts range from suggested name corrections for close matches to stronger mismatch warnings, and customers may still proceed at their own risk once warned.
• The requirement covers euro transfers within the euro area across apps, online banking and branches, excludes transfers to non‑participating countries, and is slated for EU‑wide binding application on July 9, 2027.
• Existing standing orders are said to be unaffected unless newly set up, and Germany’s pension authority has opted out of the check for pension payments to avoid issues with minor name discrepancies.