Now available to companies directly, Bottomline’s Confirmation of Payee (CoP) for Business helps better protect companies against potential fraud by verifying the owner of the bank account receiving funds.

Authorised push payment (APP) fraud losses reported by UK Finance stood at £583 million for 2021 (up 22% from 2020) and £249 million for the first half of 2022. “While the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has already mandated that financial institutions incorporate CoP into their consumer banking services to help prevent APP fraud, we believe more can be done,” said Colin Swain, Bottomline’s Global Head of Platform and Product Transformation. “Using our API first technology, companies of all sizes can now better safeguard their own business payments using CoP for Business.”

As fraud continues to plague banks, companies and consumers, Confirmation of Payee frees up needless manual effort by giving companies a new tool to check payments are directed to legitimately owned bank accounts. Closing another gap against fraudsters, instant and batch transactions are automatically verified via direct-to-source bank account checks rather than via intermittently updated third-party bank account databases.

New to the market and one of few direct-to-business offerings, CoP for Business offers a viable alternative to traditional bank account verification methods. It provides over 90% coverage of personal and business accounts so finance teams can feel confident they are dealing with the genuine account holder, stopping fraud in its tracks and avoiding the costly headache of clawing back incorrectly processed or irrevocable payments.

“In 2022, 29% of companies interviewed in the Business Payments Barometer admitted they were victims of fraud, claiming a 10% increase in fraud losses versus 2021. So, beyond what banks offer, it’s on companies to ensure their payments are safe and legitimate. CoP for Business gives them peace of mind and the arsenal needed to wage war on financial fraud,” continued Swain. “Uniquely, CoP has over 90% bank account coverage, meaning fewer manual checks for corporate fraud teams. With the PSR forecasting CoP bank account coverage to extend beyond 99% by October 2023, the benefits for companies are clear to see.”