How You Can Disrupt Scams with Confirmation of Payee

As real-time payments become the norm, funds can move between accounts in seconds, giving scammers less time to be detected and stopped. This makes preventative controls increasingly important. Confirmation of Payee (CoP) adds an extra layer of protection before a payment is sent, helping customers verify they are paying the intended person or business.

Australian businesses and consumers lost a staggering $2.18 billion to scams in 2025, an increase of 7.8% from 2024, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre’s latest report released in March 2026. Behind this number lies a deeper impact. For banks and businesses, each fraudulent transaction represents not just financial loss, but also potential reputational damage and diminished customer confidence.

July 2025 marked a turning point in Australia’s fight against payment fraud with the nationwide rollout of Confirmation of Payee, a powerful new weapon in the fight against scammers that’s already proving successful internationally.

“International implementations of similar technology have demonstrated impressive results, with some countries reporting over 60% reduction in areas like email redirection scams.“

Less than a year in, we’re already seeing results. As of February 2026:

• More than 80 financial institutions are offering CoP Lookups to their customers.
• Over 143 million accounts are able to receive and respond to a CoP Lookup.
• Over 83,646 payments stopped due to closed account outcome.

Together, these figures demonstrate the scale of industry adoption and show how verification controls can help prevent payments being sent to invalid or potentially risky accounts.

Why Confirmation of Payee Matters to Your Customers

Every payment starts with trust. Confirmation of Payee (CoP) helps give customers peace of mind by checking that the account details they’ve entered match the person or business they’re intending to pay. If something doesn’t look right, they’re alerted before the payment is made. 

This extra check helps reduce the risk of scams and payment errors, while providing a safer, more confident payment experience for customers. It also helps financial institutions strengthen customer trust and better protect against increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts. 

CoP can help reduce the impact of: 

• Misdirected payments: Payments sent to the wrong account, whether by mistake or deception.
• Invoice fraud: When payment details on an invoice have been changed by a scammer.

Protect your customers from real-time payment fraud with Cuscal

Cuscal helps protect Australians from fraud and financial crime at scale. We support more than 23 million protected accounts, monitor 3.3 million cards for fraud and operate a 24/7 fraud operations capability handling more than 330,000 calls annually. Confirmation of Payee forms part of a broader suite of fraud and scam prevention capabilities designed to help clients strengthen customer protection.

Our fraud monitoring platform for real-time payments, including CoP, is a comprehensive tool designed for effective fraud detection and prevention, in real time.

Tackling the Issue of Mule Accounts

Many scams rely on mule accounts to receive and rapidly move stolen funds before they can be recovered. Identifying potentially suspicious accounts early can help financial institutions intervene sooner, disrupt scam payment flows and better protect customers from financial harm.

Confirmation of Payee can play an important role in this broader fraud prevention approach by helping identify payment anomalies before funds are sent, while additional monitoring and intelligence capabilities can support the detection of suspicious account activity.

The Importance of Acting on Mule Account Intelligence

Identifying mule accounts is only the first step. Swift action on this intelligence is crucial because:

• Mule accounts often function as temporary waypoints, moving funds quickly,
• Early intervention can prevent multiple fraudulent transactions,
• Proactive measures help protect your institution’s reputation and maintain customer trust, and
• Helps institutions meet their compliance obligations through documented fraud prevention measures.

References
Australian Banking Association, ‘Confirmation of Payee’, Australian Banking Association website, accessed 2 September 2025, <https://www.ausbanking.org.au/scam-safe-accord/confirmation-of-payee/>
Australian Banking Association, ‘Launch of Confirmation of Payee’, Australian Banking Association website, accessed 2 September 2025, <https://www.ausbanking.org.au/launch-of-confirmation-of-payee/>
Australian Payments Plus, ‘Confirmation of Payee’, Australian Payments Plus website, accessed 2 September 2025, <https://www.auspayplus.com.au/solutions/confirmation-payee>
Scamwatch, ‘Targeting scams report 2024’, Scamwatch website, report, 2024, accessed 2 September 2025, <https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/system/files/targeting-scams-report-2024.pdf>

Important Information: Information in this article is current as at 23 September 2026 and is subject to change. This article represents personal opinions and views only. This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not have regard to the situation or needs of any reader and must not be relied upon as advice. Before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness to your business Cuscal Limited ABN 95 087 822 455.