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REGULATION

VOP: The new obligation that changes everything

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October 9, 2025 : Verification of Payee (VOP) became mandatory throughout the Eurozone¹. This regulation now requires verification that the beneficiary's name matches the IBAN before each SEPA transfer.

How does it work in practice? Your bank automatically checks with the beneficiary's bank to ensure the money goes to the correct person. If the name doesn't match, an alert is triggered, the transaction is blocked, or a manual verification is performed.

Why this requirement?

Transfer fraud is projected to cause €305 billion in losses globally by 2027². Europe is finally aligning itself with the British model (in place since 2020³) to strengthen payment security.

Who is affected?

All actors who make transfers, regardless of sector:

Financial sector: All customer transfers (individuals and businesses)

Insurance: Claims reimbursements, compensation, buybacks

Energy refunds, overpayments, energy vouchers

Automotive security deposit refunds, vehicle buybacks

E-commerce Customer refunds

Any company making regular transfers to third parties

The three limitations of VOP

1
A check that comes at the end of the process
The VOP intervenes at the time the transfer is executed, not before. As a result, when a problem is detected, the entire file has already been validated internally. This creates cascading bottlenecks and forces teams to manually manage exceptions.
2
Incomplete coverage
Not all banks are yet covered by VOP, particularly some online banks and newer European banking institutions. However, these players are often favored by fraudsters because of their quick account opening process and less stringent controls.
3
Only in Europe
VOP only works for SEPA transfers (Eurozone). For international payments outside Europe, no automatic verification is available.

How can we better protect ourselves?

Check before the route
Check the IBANs as soon as the bank details are collected, before the file is validated.
Use Open Banking
Access banking data directly to cover all institutions, including those not covered by VOP. Open Banking also allows for the automatic retrieval of the customer's IBAN.
Adopt a multi-source approach
Cross-checking multiple points of verification (identity, IBAN, history) to detect anomalies
Automate the controls
Limit manual interventions and expedite disbursements for legitimate cases.

Meelo supports you in your VOP compliance

Meelo integrates IBAN verification from the beginning of the process and covers all banking institutions via Open Banking, for complete and unblocked compliance.
Contact us →

or by telephone: 03 20 83 12 56

Sources

¹ European Directive 2024/XX on VOP
² European Banking Authority (EBA), 2025 Report
³ Bank of France, Payment Security Observatory