What PSPs must do ahead of VoP going live in October 

In just over four months’ time, the European Payments Council (EPC) will implement the new Verification Of Payee (VoP) scheme to help consumers and businesses prevent fraud and misdirected payments.  

It works by ensuring that when they are making a credit transfer they are informed of any discrepancies between the payment account number and the intended payee's name. They can then decide whether or not to initiate the payment. 

The scheme will provide rules, practices and standards in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The need for VoP is largely driven by the European Commission's 2024 update to the Instant Payment Regulation (IPR) linked to the introduction of instant payments across Europe in 2025.  

All current and future SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and/or SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme participants affected by the amended SEPA Regulation provisions on verification of payee must adhere to the VOP scheme. Those within the Euro Area, are mandated to implement a VoP service by 9 October 2025. The knock-on effect of this mandated service is a positive one: consumers should have greater confidence that they are making securer payment transactions.  

Ahead of this October date, the EPC is currently running VoP scheme pilot testing. This activity is where technology partners, such as Form3, who will act as routing and/or verification mechanism (RVM) providers, are able to test the various technical components as well as perform end to end tests. 

With the clock ticking, and testing in progress ahead of deadline in October, what do PSPs need to do now to prepare for VoP?  

The first important step for PSPs is to clarify applicability and become a member of the VoP scheme - if they haven’t done so already. What is interesting here is that some of our customers automatically think that working with an RVM gives them access to the scheme, but this is not the reality. PSPs need to contact the EPC to go through an adherence process to become a VoP member.  

Another sound piece of advice is for PSPs to assess the technical and information-security build that is needed to be VoP ready - this must include how the service will be exposed to their payment users – and not to underestimate what this entails with only a few months to go. More often than not, PSPs will need to choose the right tech partner to handle this work, so it meets their strategic needs; getting this right will deliver a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and a better overall customer experience. There is also operational readiness to consider including training operations and support teams, as well as educating end users. 

In addition, we advise PSPs to do thorough research on VoP, as there are many complexities in the market as to what this scheme will entail. Some of these range from the scope of the obligation, interpretation of the roles, security requirements, reachability and certification. PSPs should avoid confusion by doing rigorous fact-checking.  

Overall, the best advice we can offer PSPs in what is a very tight timescale is to find an RVM to manage the process. The main reason this is the best and safest option is to ensure PSPs are ready for 9th October.  

With the challenges associated with PSPs being VoP-ready quickly, Form3 is on hand to help take the headache out of being compliant by October – courtesy of our VoP solution.  

Our API-first VoP solution is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure, allowing PSPs to meet regulatory requirements while focusing on growth and improving overall customer experience.  

The Form3 solution comes with a dedicated Onboarding Manager, integrated staging environment, documentation and swagger to provide ease of connectivity. Our VoP scheme simulator is designed to support integration and testing. 

Drawing on the Form3 Confirmation of Payee (CoP) solution, which performs highly efficiently with a name check and response time of 50 milliseconds, the VoP solution will replicate this. This is one of the highest performing services in the current market – important to minimise friction in the payments flow. 

Finally, our VoP solution is designed with compliance in mind for PSPs. Our fully managed service delivers compliance with regulations such as the IPR and PSD3. Form3 provides rolling scheme updates without service interruption.  

With the VoP scheme go-live looming, to achieve both regulatory compliance and consumer protections, we recommend going with a trusted partner such as Form3. We offer PSPs solid industry experience and expertise, with a VoP solution offering seamless onboarding and ease of integration that will get you ready for the deadline. Please don’t leave this process too late – the clock is ticking.