Skip to Content
Login
Close

Quick Links

Tag: Confirmation of Payee

How You Can Disrupt Scams with Confirmation of Payee

Posted on by Rachael Shupe
Person using their phone to make a payment

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.

How Confirmation of Payee is Putting the Brakes on Scams

Posted on by Steph Hussey
Girl on bus smiling on her phone looking out window

Scams are costing Australians billions each year and the pressure is mounting on banks and mutuals to continuously step up their defences. That’s the goal of the 2024 Scam-Safe Accord, a new industry framework led by the Australian Banking Association (ABA) to reduce scam losses and improve customer protection.

A key ABA recommendation is the introduction of Confirmation of Payee (CoP) – an industry-wide service initiative of Australian Payments Plus that matches the bank account details entered by a payer with the account details held by the recipient’s bank and displays a match outcome to the payer.

Data from the 2024 Mapping Social Cohesion Report shows nearly half of Australians believe most people can be trusted which suggests they may not instinctively have fraud or scams front of mind . CoP creates a pause in the payments process, alerting customers before money moves and helping to safeguard people and businesses from fraud, scams and mistaken payments.
Indue is enabling clients to adopt CoP and strengthen payment security across the board. So how effective is it? And what role does it play in the evolving payments landscape?

We spoke with Indue’s Head of Innovation & Strategic Initiatives, Jenny Osborne to find out.

Why is CoP such a significant step forward for payment security in Australia?
Scammers often rely on urgency and quick decisions to trick people, so CoP creates a pause in the digital payments process to encourage people to stop and think, before they are caught off guard.

It puts customers in the driver’s seat, helping them make more informed choices before the transaction is complete and it may be too late. It also offers confirmation to ease doubts when something doesn’t add up.

Tools like CoP provide an important extra layer of defence for Australians to reduce both scams and mistaken payments.

What does CoP mean for Indue customers?
Under the 2024 Scam-Safe Accord, CoP is set to become an industry-wide standard. For our customers, adopting this technology is about more than compliance; it’s about keeping pace with the latest trends and maintaining parity with the bigger banks.
Scammers are quick to identify gaps in the system and banks that don’t adopt this safeguard may be seen as easy targets.
That’s a real challenge for our clients and we’re working closely with them to make sure they’re protected and prepared.

What does experience with CoP-style technology overseas tell us? And what should Australians be looking out for?
Versions of CoP exist globally across the EU, UK, New Zealand and other countries globally.

One of the most significant changes overseas has been liability. Last year, newly introduced rules from UK Payment Systems Regulator mean both the payer bank and the payee bank now share responsibility if someone is scammed . It’s a strong signal that regulators expect more from financial institutions – and it’s a trend Australia needs to be ready for.

Where does CoP fit in the broader push for safer digital payments? And what’s next?
Scams and fraud have been steadily rising in recent years and CoP is just one of many tools needed to respond.
Scammers often have more time and fewer rules than the organisations trying to stop them, which makes coordinated action across businesses and industries even more important. No one tool will be the saving grace but what’s needed is a combination of tools, regulation and education.

We’re already seeing more obligations passed down through the Treasury, Australian Banking Association and Customer Owned Banking Association, and that pressure is only going to increase.

Payment security is no longer optional but a shared responsibility across our entire digital ecosystem.

Important Information: This article has been prepared by Indue Limited (ABN 97 087 822 464) (Company) and was originally published on 08 July 2025 on www.indue.com.au. Information is current as at the publication date, and the Company has no obligation to update or correct this article. The information contained in this article is of a general nature and is not intended to address the objectives or needs of any particular individual entity and should not be regarded in any manner as advice. To the extent permitted by law, the Company and its related bodies corporate will not be liable for any errors, omissions, defects or misrepresentations in the information in this article or for any loss or damage suffered by persons who use or rely on such information (including for reasons of negligence, negligent misstatement or otherwise). © 2025 Indue Limited