CoP is an account name-checking service designed to help reduce misdirected payments and provide greater assurance that payments are being sent, and collected from the intended account holder for UK sterling payments. Its mechanism allows you to verify the account name of the beneficiary before you send the payment and therefore help reduce the risk of fraud.
Starting from 7-Oct-2024, GCMS Plus customers are required to perform CoP check when initiating UK domestic payment. The new CoP functions aim to protect you in the following two ways:
- A. Inward UK Domestic Payment: MUFG will verify your account name against the payer's instruction when they send UK sterling funds to your MUFG UK account.
- B. Outward UK Domestic Payment: CoP allows you to check the beneficiary name before sending any UK sterling payment via GCMS Plus.
About UK CoP regulation
What is Confirmation of Payee?
Confirmation of Payee (CoP) is an account name verification service, effectively validating account names before payment initiation. It is designed to help reduce fraudulent payments, in particular Authorised Push Payment (APP) Fraud. APP fraud is the most common type of financial scam in the UK where funds are sent to a fraudulent account as opposed to a genuine payee. CoP provides greater assurance that payments are being sent to and collected from the intended account holder for UK sterling payments.
Is CoP mandatory for Corporates?
Yes, CoP is a Bank of England initiative and is mandated by the Payment System Regulator to reduce fraud in the market. CoP applies to; banks, building societies and payment service providers (PSPs) including card companies and is intend to protect retail, commercial and wholesale payment integrity.
When will the CoP service be available in MUFG Bank and how does it work?
The new CoP functions will be made available in 2 parts beginning at the end of September 2024:
- Inward UK Domestic Payment: From 7th Oct 2024, MUFG will conduct a CoP check and return the result to your payer when they attempt to send a GBP transaction to your MUFG UK GBP account. Non-GBP accounts will not be in scope for CoP check. Please advise your payer to always select your GBP account for UK CHAPS or FPS (Faster Payments) GBP payment types. To achieve a matching result during MUFG's CoP check, and to remove any potential delays, we strongly recommend you to share your official MUFG GBP account name and details with your payers.
- Outward UK Domestic Payment: MUFG Bank will launch the service to customers on 7th October 2024. From this date beneficiary account details will need to be confirmed in advance of the payment submission process, this will be carried out through the portal of our strategic partner SurePay Company Limited. In MUFG, CoP checks are required for domestic UK GBP payments, i.e. CHAPS and UK LVP (Faster Payments and Bacs payments) made via GCMS Plus. Host to Host (i.e. GPH) and SWIFTnet channels are out of scope.
At which stage of the payment journey is a CoP check performed?
Before submitting a payment (i.e. at payment creation, pre-authorization stage), checks will be carried out to ensure that the account details you provide match the account details held by your recipients bank. CoP applies to payments made via our proprietary online banking system GCMS Plus when using UK Low Value Payment or CHAPS.
There are four possible outcomes:
Result of CoP Check | Details | Rationale | Recommended Payment Action | Corporate Beneficiary List Data Action* |
Match | The account details entered matches the details held by the beneficiary's bank | Exact match | Proceed with Payment | Validate entity in Beneficiary List as CoP-validated |
Close Match | The account details entered is similar to the details held by the beneficiary's bank | Use of initials, middle names Misspelling, typo Mismatch to account type, e.g. personal vs business account | Contact the beneficiary to validate the account details Reference AR/AP prior payments / receipts Check with corporate policy for risk tolerance | Re-validate all beneficiary details Update Beneficiary List data |
No Match | The account details entered is different from the details held by the beneficiary's bank | Incorrect beneficiary Misspelling, typo Fraud | Do not proceed and double check the payment details Contact the beneficiary to validate the account details Please refer to your corporate risk framework and approval to proceed from your authorisation matrix | Re-validate all beneficiary details Update Beneficiary List data |
Account not found | Account does not exist | Account does not exist | Do not proceed and cancel the payment | Re-validate all beneficiary details Update Beneficiary List data |
If you proceed to authorize the payment which is not fully matched may lead to funds being sent to the wrong account and the bank may not be able to recover the money
*Dependent on the result of a beneficiary CoP check, MUFG suggests that you update your corporate beneficiary list, or corporate beneficiary source data, to ensure that future CoP checks on the same beneficiary are more likely to return a "Match" result."
Changes in GCMS Plus/Making a Payment/Receiving a Payment
What customers need to do and what information is needed to perform CoP checks in MUFG?
MUFG requests that customers conduct a CoP check every time that they submit a payment for CHAPS or UK LVP. There is system logic to detect and prompt the CoP declaration text when applicable. Customers need to arrange access to our strategic partner's (SurePay) portal through the link provided in GCMS Plus and conduct the CoP checks as prompted. Below information will be needed for a CoP check:
Customers must:
Have the full name (first and last name) of the person or business they want to pay. For joint accounts, they only need the full name of any one of the account holders.
Specify whether they're paying a personal or business account.
Check with the person or business they are paying if they need to enter a unique reference number (e.g. Secondary Reference) to pay them. If yes, make sure details are entered correctly in the reference field.
Be certain that they are paying to the correct person or business, and make the payment without any pressure. If they do not get a complete “Match" response while verifying the payee, and if they continue with the payment, they may not be able to get the money back if it goes to the wrong account.
It is also important that customers give their correct full account name (first name and last name) to anyone who is going to pay them and make sure that we hold your correct and up-to-date information.
What name should I use when setting up a new payment?
Please use the full (first and last name) and accurate account name of the person or business you wish to pay. We advise that you prepare and validate all GBP beneficiaries and amend your master beneficiary database ahead of making new payments.
As a customer, will I incur any charges in relation to CoP?
Customers will not incur any charges to utilise the CoP service in MUFG.
Are Variable Recurring Payments (Standing Order) in scope for CoP?
It is not possible to input Variable Recurring Payments or Standing Orders vis GCMS Plus. These are, therefore, out of scope of the need to perform CoP checks. Only payments input manually through the GCMS Plus screen are in scope for CoP.
Can CoP protect me from making a fraudulent payment?
The CoP service helps you to make sure the name of your beneficiary matches the name held on the account. Be aware that proceeding with a payment without a “Match" result could result in a fraudulent payment and you might not be able to get the money back.
Consumer Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud within Faster payment (FPS) is protected by the APP Reimbursement Policy directed by the UK Payment System Regulator (PSR). For other payment types or corporate customers, MUFG will conduct best practice investigations on a case by case basis.
If you have been a victim of fraud and received incorrect proceeds or paid in error to a fraudulent beneficiary, please notify your relationship manager as soon as possible with the corresponding information, e.g.:
Information of the fraudulent payment
Payment message (e.g. Swift / e-banking) showing transaction details and time stamp
Emails to service / support at beneficiary bank or intermediary bank
What is the reference that is asked for in some CoP checks, and when is it required?
For most accounts, all the information needed to complete a CoP check is a sort code, account number, and payee name and, for some building society accounts, Secondary Reference Data (SRD) is required, typically the account holder name.
For these accounts, when a customer enters a sort code and account number, the CoP check will use the reference to ensure the account name is correct.
If the details entered into the reference box are invalid or not recognised by the beneficiary bank, customers will be informed and requested to check the details.
There is a specific field available for customer to input the SRD when necessary.
What payee name should customers use when paying an account that requires reference data?
When a customer is making a payment to a building society account that requires a roll number, they should enter the account holder's name in the payee field (not the name of the building society receiving the payment).
Use of the CoP service and external portal
MUFG has chosen “SurePay Company Limited" as our strategic partner to provide Confirmation of Payee services. SurePay is a listed and approved service provider under Pay.UK (scheme owners of CoP).
Applicable customers will be assigned account(s) to an external portal provided by SurePay to perform CoP checks. The portal can be accessed via the payment input screen in GCMS Plus.
How long will I be granted access to the external SurePay portal?
This external UK CoP portal will be available until 2025. We are in the process of enhancing our payments screen to embed the CoP process into GCMS Plus.
Do I need to log in to the external portal separately? And what information do I need to log in the external portal?
Yes, a separate user account(s) will be assigned to customers. Customers will receive an email requesting them to register a password. An authentication app, e.g. Microsoft Authenticator, is needed for account activation and log in.
Below information is needed to log in the external portal:
User Name (registered email)
Password (Self-registration)
One-time password (From the authentication app)
User can only check one beneficiary at a time.
For detailed information, please refer to the appendix in the below link originally sent in Aug 2024:
SurePay Corporate Account Activation and CoP Check Process.
Is my data secure at SurePay?
MUFG have performed extensive vendor management checks in the selection and nomination of this vendor including cyber security, data protection standards covering the UK, EMEA and MUFG global standard levels vendor management.
What multi-factor authentication app is accepted for the external portal (iOS/android)?
Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator and Guardian
What should I do if the multi-factor authentication app does not work?
Please contact the bank to reset your authentication app set up. You are able to register a different authentication app after reset.
Are multiple logins available for the external portal, i.e. Same user ID logging in at the same time?
No. Each user must have their own user ID and account, it cannot be shared across multiple users. A one time password from an authentication app is needed, so one user could only log in the portal via one device at a time. Multiple login at the same time is not allowed.
Are MT101 initiated transactions subject to CoP check?
No. MT101 initiated transactions are out of scope.
How long does it take MUFG to conduct a CoP check for inward CHAPS or FPS payment?
CoP checks are performed on a real time basis. MUFG will respond in 1.5 seconds to a request from the remitting bank. Please allow for extra time when creating validating and authorising your payments.
Will the CoP check process at the payers bank affect funds being received on my MUFG account?
CoP checks are completed within a few seconds, your receipt of fund will not be affected by CoP checks. However, If there is not a match when they check your MUFG account details, the remitter might have to re-initiate the payment with the correct details, which could result in delay of transmitting the payment, potential loss of value and other unanticipated consequences. We advise you to inform all of your remitters of your correct account details (spelling of name, account number, sort code and SRD identifier, if required).
Is File Upload in scope for Confirmation of Payee (CoP) at MUFG?
No. Confirmation of Payee is required for manually input UK GBP payment via GCMS Plus. Batch file uploads from an external source into GCMS Plus are not subject to a CoP check according to the Pay.UK guidelines.
Will I need to perform a CoP check for each beneficiary of my Payroll batch payment?
If the payment is input manually via the UK LVP screen in GCMS Plus, CoP checks are required for each beneficiary.
However, If the Payroll batch is made via File Upload, then this is deemed out of scope and therefore not subject to CoP check requirement.
How long is the timeout period of GCMS Plus? Will this impact the payment creation process for multiple beneficiaries and batch payment under the new CoP check requirements?
GCMS Plus will timeout after 5 minutes of inactivity by the users. Therefore we highly recommended that you keep the GCMS Plus payment screen active. Please avoid suspending your operation for more than 5 minutes while processing CoP check. Alternatively, you are able to access SurePay separately from GCMS Plus and can therefore complete CoP checks for each of your beneficiaries, prior to starting on screen input in GCMS Plus. Please note that the CoP check on beneficiaries must be conduct one by one.
How long is the timeout period of the SurePay portal?
The SurePay website will timeout after one hour of inactivity by the user.
Can MUFG perform CoP validation testing on my behalf using GCMS Plus saved beneficiaries?
No, we are not indemnified to act as an agent on your behalf to use your confidential corporate information, initiate transactions and perform checks on your behalf nor pass your information to a third party without your consent.
Can I opt-out of the CoP service?
Confirmation of Payee is an industry wide service put in place to help reduce misdirected payments and protect customers against scams.
You will not be able to opt-out of the CoP service.
Cannot find what you looking for?
If your question has not been answered, please contact our Transaction Banking Support Team
Email address: etbosupport@uk.mufg.jp
Helpdesk Telephone number: (+44) 0 207 577 5252
Hours of Support: Mon-Fri – 9am to 5pm (BST/GMT)