Verification of payee compares a proposed beneficiary name with the account identifier before the payer authorises a covered euro credit transfer. The service communicates whether the information matches, is a close match, does not match or cannot be verified under the relevant arrangements. Its purpose is to reduce transfers caused by mistaken account details or impersonation.

The check belongs in the payment initiation journey and must be offered under the regulation's conditions without an additional charge to the payer. It applies to covered ordinary as well as instant euro transfers. The implementation timetable varies across jurisdictions and provider categories, and the regulation contains specific arrangements for bundled orders by non-consumer users.

A positive match confirms the correspondence of the supplied information; it does not certify the commercial legitimacy of an invoice or protect against every scam. Conversely, the payer's decision after a warning and a provider's failure to meet its verification duty are distinct facts when liability is assessed. Matching quality, clear warnings and evidence of the result are therefore central operational concerns.