Starting from 9 October 2025, beneficiary verification (Verification of Payee ) will be mandatory. It checks whether the name or identifier of the beneficiary matches the IBAN entered for the transfer. The beneficiary’s bank compares this information with its own records. 

This measure, introduced by the European Commission, aims to strengthen payment security within the European Union.

Beneficiary verification helps prevent certain types of fraud, such as identity theft or transfers to fake recipients, and reduces errors caused by incorrect data entry. 

There are two exceptions:

• Professional or institutional clients can choose not to use beneficiary verification for bulk payments sent by file (package). However, the check is still required for individuals and for companies if the file contains only one payment.
• Paper-based or non-electronic transfers (such as those sent by post, fax, email, or secure messaging) may be exempt if the client is not reachable at the time of their receipt. This includes cases like payments made using a Universal Payment Title.

When you enter a payment, and before it is executed, the data you enter (name and IBAN at least) will be compared with those recorded by the beneficiary's bank. 

You will then receive one of the following results: 

• If the data matches, you will receive a confirmation message ("Match"), you can validate your payment as entered.
• If the data matches partially ("Close Match"), you will receive an alert message with the proposal of the beneficiary's name as registered with the beneficiary's bank. You will be asked to check the beneficiary's name before validating your transfer.
• If the data does not match ("No match"), you will receive an alert. We therefore invite you to check the details you have entered before confirming your transfer. If you decide to proceed without making any changes, the transfer may be sent to an incorrect recipient.
• If the Verification of Payee could not be carried out ("Verification not impossible"), you will receive an alert message (technical error, beneficiary bank not reachable etc.).

This notification is a warning. It is a decision-making tool that verifies the concordance of the data entered with that held by the beneficiary bank. It is up to you to decide whether to proceed with the transfer with or without modifications.

• For individuals, the verification is carried out based on the first and last name of the account holder or one of the co-holders registered with the beneficiary's bank. In the case of a close match, only the name of the account holder whose name was entered is displayed.
• For legal entities, the verification concerns the legal names or LEI registered by the beneficiary's bank.

After receiving the result of the beneficiary check (no match or close match) and being informed of the risks, you may decide to validate the transfer without making changes.

However, if the payment goes to an incorrect beneficiary (due to fraud or a mistake when entering details), you will be held responsible and no refund will be possible. 

We therefore recommend: 

• Not validating the payment immediately; 
• Verifying the beneficiary's data; 
• Contacting your beneficiary directly via a verified channel (known phone number, official website, certified email) to confirm their bank details (name, legal name, LEI, IBAN).

Payment service providers (PSPs) are only held responsible if they did not share the result of the beneficiary check or did not inform the payer about the risks in case of incorrect information. 

You play a essential role in the smooth running of the control:

• Make sure that the beneficiary's name you enter matches the legal name (legal entity) or the first and last name (natural person) associated with the beneficiary's bank account.
  
  The use of aliases, trade names, abbreviations or acronyms may result in a no match or a close match and trigger an alert message.
  
  Differences such as the use of nicknames or abbreviations can trigger an alert message. Differences in capitalization and punctuation will not have an impact.
  
  Examples:
  
  - “Maman” vs “Sophie Martin”:
  --> "No match": modify the details of your payment by replacing the beneficiary "Mom" with your mother's first name + official name. If the beneficiary is registered, also remember to change the registered name to the first name + official name. If you don't, you'll continue to receive an alert message every time you make a payment.
  
  - “S. Martin” vs “Sophie Martin”:
  --> "Close match": modify the details of your payment by replacing the abbreviated first name with the full first name + official name of your beneficiary that is offered to you. If the beneficiary is registered, also remember to change the registered name to the first name + official name offered. If you don't, you'll continue to receive an alert message every time you make a payment.
  
  
• Remember to update the names in your list of registered beneficiaries to avoid an error message: a legal name for a company, a first and last name for an individual.
  
  
• Use the legal name, which can appear on the bank account details (RIB) of the beneficiary account you want to credit, the name indicated next to the IBAN on the invoice or payment request.
  
  
  Examples:
  
  - "Magasin Dupont" (trade name) vs "Holding Solutions SARL" (legal name):
  => "no match": change the details of your payment by replacing the beneficiary "Magasin Dupont" with "Holding Solutions SARL". If the beneficiary is registered, consider also changing the name to the legal name. If you don't, you'll continue to receive an alert message every time you make a payment.
  
  - "Dupont SARL" vs "Dupont Solutions SARL"
  => "close match": modify the details of your payment by replacing the beneficiary "Magasin Dupont" with "Holding Solutions SARL" which is offered to you. If the beneficiary is registered, consider also changing the name to the legal name. If you don't, you'll continue to receive an alert message every time you make a payment.
  
  
• When transferring a payment to an account in the name of two holders, indicate the full name (first and last name) of only one of them.

Yes, instant payments with a future date are subject to the Verification of Payee when entering the payment.

Yes, the Verification of Payee also applies to the creation of new standing orders and the amendment of existing standing orders. 

However, it does not apply to existing standing orders unless they are amended.

The verification of the beneficiary will be carried out before any customer payment in euro, regardless of the channel used, to accounts opened with banks in the Eurozone from the 9th of October 2025 and between all banks in the EU from the 9th of July 2027.

If the payment is initiated via a Payment Service Provider in Eurozone it is responsible for verification of payee check.

In My ING, payments between the accounts displayed in "My Accounts" are not subject to this check.

It also does not apply to payments in currencies other than euro, card payments and direct debits.

If someone wants to make a payment to you, tell them the exact name associated with your bank account by sharing, for example, your bank account details.

When verifying the payee, an individual's name only appears if the name entered by the payer differs slightly from the name registered with the beneficiary bank (e.g. "Dupont" and "Dupond"). 

In all other cases, your name will not appear in order to preserve your personal data.

In the event of a close match for a payment to an account in the name of two account holders, only the registered name of the account holder whose name was entered by the payer is communicated.