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9 October 2025

Verification of the beneficiary's name in Isabel 6: smarter payments, fewer risks

  • Isabel 6

Since 9 October 2025, Isabel 6 has had a new security layer: Verification of Payee (VoP) or IBAN name check. This feature checks whether the name of the beneficiary matches the specified account number (IBAN) for every SEPA transfer. In this way, VoP helps to prevent fraud and incorrect payments. Since 9 October, manual payments have been checked in Isabel 6, and from 7 November, the IBAN name check will also be added for payment files uploaded from an accounting package or ERP in Isabel 6.

Register now for the webinar on 5 November: (opens in a new window)Isabel 6 [EN]: Verification of the beneficiary's name for uploaded payment files as of 7 November(opens in a new window)

Why is VoP important?

Invoice fraud remains a significant issue. Fraudsters intercept invoices and alter the account number so that payments are directed to their account.

In 2024, the FPS Economy received 215 reports of invoice fraud, representing more than 3.3 million euros in damages. In 2025, there have already been at least 166 reports, with damages amounting to more than 736,000 euros.

Other countries show that VoP works:

Since 9 October 2025, VoP has been a mandatory European measure for all banks in the eurozone. Belgian banks have prepared for its introduction in stages, in collaboration with a Dutch technical partner.

How do you prepare your company for VoP?

The introduction of VoP may affect your workflows. These tips will help make the transition smoother:

1. Coordinate your processes

Make clear agreements between the creator and signatory(ies) of payments about how to deal with no-match notifications. Do you work with uploaded payment files? Then coordination is crucial.

2. Keep your data up to date

Check that your company name is stated correctly:

Correct spelling prevents error messages and unnecessary problems.

3. Check your supplier data

Compare the names on incoming invoices with what is registered in the CBE and at the bank. This will help you avoid surprises during the name check.

The advantages of VoP at a glance

How does VoP work in Isabel 6?

The introduction will take place in two phases:

Since 9 October 2025: VoP already applies to all manually entered payments in the Payment and Group of Payments wizards.

From 7 November 2025: VoP will be extended to payment files from your accounting or ERP package, uploaded via Isabel 6, Isabel Connect, Isabel Go or Isabel Corporate Synchroniser. We also refer to these as bulk payments.

As this may affect your internal processes, you can temporarily opt out for payments uploaded via an accounting package or ERP.

What do you see when you make a payment?

You will receive a visual notification for each payment:

The notification does not affect the execution of the payment.

It is a tool to help detect errors or fraud more quickly — Isabel or your bank will not block any payments as a result of this check. The signatory decides whether the payment goes ahead.

How does it work with bank files uploaded from an accounting package or ERP?

For bulk payments, the IBAN name check runs in the background. For large files, this may take several minutes (see www.isabel.eu/vop). The signatory will then receive a detailed report.

The signatory decides what happens next:

Why is there an opt-out for bulk payments?

Depending on the type of payment transaction or the checks already applied to beneficiaries within the accounting package, beneficiary verification may not add any value or may even be disruptive for the signatory (additional processing time, warnings, etc.). It is therefore possible to disable the IBAN name check (opt-out) for payment files with more than one transaction. For some organisations, VoP can have an impact on their processes. Consider:

That is why you can opt out of VoP for uploaded payment files. You can do this yourself in Isabel 6 by selecting opt-out from 7/11 via:

Exception: customers who work with Isabel Corporate Synchroniser (ICS) must contact our Customer Care department in advance if they wish to opt out.

Please note: when opting out, it is important that you set up all possible internal controls against fraud.

You can opt in again at any time later, once your processes are ready.

This gives your organisation time to:

What if you do nothing?

If you do not take any action, VoP for uploaded payment files will be automatically activated in Isabel 6 from 7 November onwards.

Takes some getting used to, but a big step forward

The introduction of VoP is an important step in the digitisation and security of payment transactions in Europe.

There will undoubtedly be some teething problems and false positives (incorrect notifications that there is something wrong with the name, even though it is correct), but the goal is clear:

👉 to better protect your payments against errors and fraud.

VoP is therefore not just a new rule, but a smarter way of doing business.

Want to dive deeper? Consult our FAQ section(opens in a new window)

Register for our Verification of the name of the beneficiary webinar

Webinar