GLOBAL PAYMENTS KNOWLEDGEISO 20022 / SWIFT / SEPA / MT / MX
PAYMENTSSIGNAL

The interactive academy for the standards, messages, and rails that move money.

GET IN TOUCH
VERIFICATION OF PAYEE

Close match: Verification of Payee warns of a near name

Trigger: The VoP check returns CLOSE MATCH — the payee name the payer typed is close to, but not exactly, the name registered on the account.

Contributor Shubham Mathure

What operations sees first: Before any money moves, the payer is shown the name on file and asked to judge whether it is really their payee.

WHERE IS THE MONEY?

Never left the payer's account — she paused before confirming.

DID SETTLEMENT HAPPEN?

No settlement occurred; the payment was never authorised.

WHO ACTS NEXT?

Riya (payer) Riya checks the exact registered name with the payee, then resubmits if it is correct.

PLAY THE EXCEPTION

Trigger: The VoP result is CLOSE MATCH — the name Riya typed is close to, but not exactly, the name registered on Arjun's account.

STEP 1 / 5MESSAGE

Riya sets up the payment

Riya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP)

Riya enters Arjun's name and IBAN and asks to send EUR 480.00 instantly. Nothing has moved yet — this is only the instruction being prepared for a check.

Step 1 of 5: Riya sets up the payment

  1. 01Message
    Riya sets up the paymentRiya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP)
  2. 02Message
    Bank Alfa asks Nordbank to verify the nameBank Alfa (payer PSP) → Nordbank (payee PSP) · VoP request
  3. 03Message
    Nordbank returns the check resultNordbank (payee PSP) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP) · VoP response
  4. 04 · EXCEPTION PATHMessage
    Bank Alfa warns Riya and shows the name on fileBank Alfa (payer PSP) → Riya (payer)
  5. 05 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessing
    Riya stops to double-checkRiya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP)
  6. OUTCOME
    Funds
    Never left Riya's account — she paused before confirming.
    Settlement
    No settlement occurred; the payment was never authorised.
    Who acts next
    Riya (payer) — Riya checks the exact registered name with Arjun, then resubmits if it is correct.
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
  1. 01Message
    Riya sets up the paymentRiya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP)

    Riya enters Arjun's name and IBAN and asks to send EUR 480.00 instantly. Nothing has moved yet — this is only the instruction being prepared for a check.

  2. 02Message
    Bank Alfa asks Nordbank to verify the nameBank Alfa (payer PSP) → Nordbank (payee PSP) · VoP request

    Verification of Payee (VoP) checks the payee name against the IBAN before the payment is authorised. Bank Alfa asks Nordbank whether the name Riya typed matches the account. This is identity verification, not a movement of money.

  3. 03Message
    Nordbank returns the check resultNordbank (payee PSP) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP) · VoP response

    Nordbank compares the submitted name with the name registered on the account and answers MATCH, CLOSE MATCH, or NO MATCH. It is a warning signal for the payer, separate from sanctions screening and from any movement of funds.

  4. 04 · EXCEPTION PATHMessage
    Bank Alfa warns Riya and shows the name on fileBank Alfa (payer PSP) → Riya (payer)

    Per the scheme rules a close match shows the payer the name registered on the account so they can judge whether it is really their payee. Riya can still choose to proceed or to stop.

  5. 05 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessing
    Riya stops to double-checkRiya (payer) → Bank Alfa (payer PSP)

    Rather than proceed on a near match, Riya pauses to confirm the details with Arjun directly. The warning did its job — it gave the payer a reason to look again before any money moved.

  6. OUTCOME
    Funds
    Never left Riya's account — she paused before confirming.
    Settlement
    No settlement occurred; the payment was never authorised.
    Who acts next
    Riya (payer) — Riya checks the exact registered name with Arjun, then resubmits if it is correct.

THE TIMELINE

  1. 01Bank Alfa (payer PSP)
    Sends a Verification of Payee request to Nordbank to check the payee name against the IBAN.
  2. 02Nordbank (payee PSP)
    Compares the submitted name with the registered account name and returns CLOSE MATCH.
  3. 03Bank Alfa
    Warns the payer and, per the rules, shows the name registered on the account so the payer can judge the near match.

    A close match is a warning that empowers the payer, not an automatic block.

  4. 04Riya (payer)
    Pauses to confirm the details with the payee directly before deciding whether to proceed.

Resolution: Mandatory in the euro area from 9 October 2025, VoP verifies the payee before authorisation. A close match shows the payer the registered name so they can look again before any money moves.

LEARN THE CONCEPTS

Sources for this scenario2
  1. Scheme-specific ruleversion 1.1 (EPC218-23)

    Verification Of Payee scheme rulebook ↗ — European Payments Council · close match

    Governs the EPC Verification Of Payee scheme under which PSPs check a payee's name against the account identifier before a credit transfer is sent. · Checked 2026-07-12

    The first rulebook version entered into force on 5 October 2025; version 1.1 was published in March 2026 to address issues found after deployment, and the EPC has announced a version 2.0 for later in 2026.

  2. Simplified educational illustration

    Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal

    This site's own simplified teaching models. · Checked 2026-07-12

    What this simplifies: Single-cycle teaching model; participant-specific handling and exact timings vary.

    Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.