Confirmation of Payee
Progressive now offers Confirmation of Payee (CoP) for incoming electronic payments. This means when you make a new payment from your bank or building society to a Progressive account, a check may be performed to ensure you are paying into the correct account. This helps reduce fraud and payments being misdirected to the wrong account.
What is Confirmation of Payee?
Confirmation of Payee is a name-checking service used by banks and building societies to help ensure that electronic payment transfers are sent to the correct account. It checks the name of the account holder against the name entered by the person making the electronic transfer.
This helps to protect your money, ensure fewer payments are misdirected, and reassure you the details you've entered are correct.
How does Confirmation of Payee work?
When setting up a new standing order or making a one-off payment, a check will be performed on the details and you will get a message letting you know if the details you've entered are either;
- a match,
- a close match, or,
- no match
You might also receive an unavailable or cannot perform check message. This can happen for a number of reasons, e.g. the account you are attempting to make the payment to was opened less than 24 hours previous or the bank you are sending money from has not yet connected with Progressive’s CoP services.
If you get a close match, no match, or unavailable message when making a payment, double-check the details and try again.
If you do not receive an automated message this could mean your bank or building society does not offer CoP services.
What should I do if there's a no-match response?
If you receive a no-match response, check the account details you entered. You must enter the payee name exactly as it appears on the name of the account you are paying. If discrepancies continue, contact your bank or Progressive for guidance before proceeding with the payment to avoid sending money to a wrong or fraudulent account.
What if I am trying to pay a business?
For payments to businesses, CoP works similarly. However, business names might be registered differently, so it’s essential to use the exact registered business name when making payments.
Existing Standing Orders and Direct Debits
If you already have a standing order set up with the Society, you will not need to make any changes unless your bank asks you to do so.
Does Confirmation of Payee prevent all types of fraud?
While CoP is a significant tool in preventing payment fraud, particularly in cases of misdirected payments or impersonation scams, it does not prevent all types of financial fraud. Customers should continue to be vigilant for other types of scams and fraudulent activities.
Always ensure that you are entering accurate and up-to-date information when setting up payments, this includes sort code, account number and name.
When making an electronic payment to your Progressive account please use the following details:
Account name: Enter the payee name exactly as it appears on the name of the account you are paying
Account type: Please select ‘personal’ or ‘business’ depending on the account type you are paying into
Sort code: 23 74 48
Account no: 60538426
Payment reference: Your 11 digit Progressive account number
Opting out of Confirmation of Payee
In line with financial regulations, and our continued effort to combat fraud, all customers have been automatically opted into Confirmation of Payee. CoP is there to help keep your money safe, so as directed by the regulator we’ll only agree to opt out requests in exceptional circumstances. If we agree, it means your name won’t be checked when another person or business tries to make a payment into your account, which could potentially increase the risk of payments being paid to the wrong account.
If you would like more information on opting out, please contact us. Contact details can be found here https://theprogressive.com/contact-us
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