Confirmation of Payee

Confirmation of Payee is an industry-wide service that adds a layer of protection for payments to a BSB and account number. It checks the account name, BSB and account number the customer has entered against the details held by the recipient’s bank and lets the customer know whether it’s a match. This can help customers make informed decisions before they make a payment, reducing the risk of scams and mistaken payments.

Confirmation of Payee is an initiative of Australian Payments Plus, the same organisation that also provides trusted payment services like BPAY®, Osko®, eftpos®, PayID® and PayTo®.

We are committed to rolling out this technology throughout 2025. Implementing an industry-wide Confirmation of Payee service required a significant build and investment. Australia is only one of a handful of countries to have this anti-scam technology available across the industry.

With 15.4 billion transactions worth $2.5 trillion occurring every year across the banking sector, the design and build of an industry wide Confirmation of Payee service is a major undertaking. It’s further demonstration that Australian banks are leading the way when it comes to safeguarding their customers.

Implementation of the Scam-Safe Accord is well progressed. Initiatives related to biometric checks, limiting payments to high-risk crypto platforms, enhanced intelligence sharing and the development of anti-scam strategies are all complete. Banks are now rolling-out Confirmation of Payee and introducing warnings and delays. 

Account match means the details the customer entered matches the bank records of the intended recipient.

‘Close match’ means the details they’ve entered closely match the bank records of the intended recipient. 

‘No match’ means that the details they’ve entered do not match the bank records of the intended recipient. 

If the customer wants to get paid without any confusion or potential delays, they should share the account name, BSB and account number for their bank account. This includes using the correct spelling and any middle names that form part of your account name. This is especially important if they’re a business with an account name that differs from the name they’re using to take a payment; for instance, if they have a different trading name for a particular part of their business. 

Names with special characters, like apostrophes (‘), will still match without being entered. For example, enter “O’Brien” as “O Brien” or “Obrien”. Or an account name with an ampersand (&) such as Paper & Pen can be entered as Paper Pen. 

If a customer enters the wrong account details, they can end up sending their money to the wrong recipient. This can be difficult and time-consuming to resolve, which is why it’s important to check the accuracy of the details entered before sending money.