Zahungsverkehr

New EU regulations on payments: How to stay prepared with WinLine

As you may be aware, an important EU regulation comes into force on 9 October 2025: the so-called Verification of Payee (VoP) will become mandatory for all payments within the SEPA area.

 

This means that, when making a bank transfer, banks will in future be able to check whether the specified payee name matches the IBAN.

The aim of this measure is to make payment transactions more secure and to significantly reduce instances of fraud, such as fake invoice scams or identity theft.


What does this mean for businesses in the EU?

 

Greater security: Fraud attempts, such as fake invoices, will be made more difficult.

Fewer errors: Typos in recipient details or incorrect master data will no longer so easily lead to incorrect transfers.

Mandatory from 2025: All banks must offer this check – and all payments will automatically go through it, provided the customer opts in.

 

What does this mean in practice, and what are the key messages from the bank’s VoP check when a transfer is processed?

Once you have submitted your SEPA payment order, the bank checks the name against the IBAN on file and sends a response via your banking software:

  • Match: Name and IBAN match → Payment can be authorised and processed.
  • Close match: Name is similar but not identical → Verification recommended, but the payment can be processed.
  • No match: Name and IBAN do not match → Stop the payment and clarify the details. The payment cannot be processed.
  • No check: Verification not possible (e.g. due to technical issues).

So how do I sign for my payments?

When making electronic payments, two steps will be important in the banking software in future:

  • Transport signature: Confirms that the payment order is being transmitted to the bank.
  • Actual signature: Provides the legal authorisation for the payment.

With VoP, the feedback (“Match / No Match / …”) between the transport signature and the actual signature is expected to be displayed, and you can decide, depending on the bank, whether or not to authorise the payment. This increases security and prevents payments being made to the wrong accounts.

Do I actually have to use VoP? And what do opt-in and opt-out have to do with it?

  • Opt-in: Businesses actively use VoP and receive feedback on payments.
  • Opt-out: Businesses can (in theory) choose not to use VoP.

​BUT PLEASE NOTE: If VoP displays ‘No Match’, for example, and the business proceeds with the payment anyway, the business bears the risk itself. The bank has, in this case, fulfilled its obligation.

What does this mean for me in terms of my responsibilities?

  • Adjust settings in your online banking software: Banks are currently contacting their customers to remind them to adjust certain settings in their online banking software – for example, regarding opt-in or opt-out options.
  • Define rules for ‘Close Match’ and ‘No Match’: Establish clear guidelines on how to handle the ‘Close Match’ and ‘No Match’ categories.
  • Staff training: Train your staff so that they can interpret warning messages correctly and respond appropriately.
  • Adjusting approval workflows: Review and adjust your WinLine approval workflows for payment transactions to meet the new requirements.

What does mesonic have planned for WinLine?

We are currently still awaiting some technical details from the payment service providers. As soon as these are available, we will fully implement the VoP integration into the WinLine BANK (formerly: WinLine ZAGL PRO) module for WinLine Financial Accounting.

What are the benefits, and when can you take advantage of them?

  • Immediate visibility of VoP verification results within your payment processing workflows.
  • Automated corrections: If the ‘pain.002’ file contains a ‘Close Match’, the account name is automatically corrected.
  • Easy handling of feedback: You receive all feedback (Match, Close Match, No Match, No Check) directly in the system and can process it there.
  • Flexibility in processing: You can precisely control how your company handles the various types of feedback. For example, you can edit the bank details directly – provided, of course, that you have the appropriate authorisations.
  • Optimised processing of bank statements: Separating verified and unverified personal accounts simplifies processing.
  • Verified accounts: As soon as an account holder has been marked as ‘verified’, they can be included in the payment run. You then have the option to consider only ‘verified accounts’ and thus make use of the opt-out option (where available). This saves you time and effort, as you can dispense with the second signature.

With this solution, you are well prepared both technically and organisationally and can meet the new legal requirements without any additional effort!

As we are still awaiting final information from the payment service providers, we plan to implement the VoP integration as part of WinLine Edition 2026, which will be available in November 2025.