The important EU banking security change you need to know about

"When an individual makes a bank transfer (instant or traditional), their bank automatically queries the beneficiary's bank to verify a match between the name entered and the name linked to the account reference with the IBAN banking number. This verification, carried out in real time, can lead to one of the four following results: Exact match: Name and IBAN match. Partial match: the name is close but not identical."

"Since January 9th this year, Eurozone banks have been required to have the capacity to receive instant payments, as part of the European Commission's Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) which was brought in to update and speed up the bloc's electronic payments process. From October 9th, 2025, Eurozone banks must be able to also send instant payments, with the remainder of EU financial institutions following suit by 2027 at the latest."

Eurozone banks must be ready to receive instant payments since January 9 and to send them from October 9, 2025, with all EU banks required by 2027. The Instant Payments Regulation updates and accelerates electronic payments so that transfers between EU banks complete within ten seconds. Banks are enhancing screening and fraud detection for real-time payment processing. From October 9, Eurozone banks will implement real-time Verification of Payee (VoP) for all transfers. VoP requires the beneficiary name entered by the customer to match the IBAN linked to the account. The bank queries the beneficiary's bank and returns exact match, partial match, no match, or unable to verify, and customers receive the result and can confirm or correct their transfer.

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