Clear Junction launches Confirmation of Payee service to counter APP fraud

By Gloria Methri

Clear Junction, a specialist in cross-border payments solutions, has announced the launch of its new Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service. Available for clients receiving GBP payments in the UK, the new service will boost transaction security amid the rising threat of authorised push payment (APP) fraud.

Earlier this year, the UK Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published a new rule requiring banks and building societies to adopt CoP as a means of reducing the number of individuals and businesses falling victim to APP scams. CoP is being rolled out in phases across the industry, with the final phase scheduled for October 2024.

Dima Kats, CEO of Clear Junction said, “APP fraud has grown rapidly alongside the use of the real-time payments schemes in recent years. As an innovative service provider, Clear Junction is proud to be among the first few firms to tackle this challenge head-on.”

“At Clear Junction, we have always maintained exceptionally high compliance standards; it is at the heart of everything we do. We have a responsibility to ensure that any payments and transactions we facilitate or make on behalf of our clients adhere to regulations. The rollout of our new CoP service is just another way that we are enhancing security and building trust in the financial ecosystem.”

CoP is a way for financial institutions to verify the accuracy of accounts sending and/or receiving funds. When a customer triggers a payment initiation request, CoP involves checking the name of the account to which payments are being made prior to the execution, thereby reducing certain types of fraud and misdirected payments that occur through user error.

Traditionally, payers would provide their payment service provider with the payee’s details, such as the bank sort code and account number, along with the name of the person or organisation that the funds were being sent to.

The institution facilitating the payment would then check the sort code and account number and, if everything was deemed correct, the funds would be sent. However, this method lacked the security checks needed as payers had no means of checking the name of the account against these details.

The introduction of CoP means that all details can now be cross-checked, and any discrepancies prevent the payment from being processed.