Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, today announced the go-live of its Bacsactive-IP Confirmation of Payee (CoP) service with ScotPayments, a centralized payments platform that supports the digital transformation of public services in Scotland. Finastra’s technology is helping businesses to proactively prevent fraud or accidental misdirection of funds.

The Confirmation of Payee (CoP) capability enables users to verify that they are sending payments to, or collecting money from, the right account holder. This gives users confidence in the process when making payments to the people of Scotland, avoiding accidental misdirection of funds and reducing the risk of fraud.

Unlocking a host of advantages, CoP empowers Direct Debit and Direct Credit users with a proactive approach to error resolution. By catching errors at the signup stage, users can swiftly address issues while engaging with customers on the phone or website, ensuring a seamless experience. This not only accelerates payment timescales but also significantly diminishes the likelihood of transaction failures.

A reduction in Direct Debit indemnity claims is another substantial benefit, as problems are identified and rectified earlier in the process, preventing subsequent challenges and potential write-offs. For Direct Credit users, it is difficult to get money back if it is paid into the wrong account and on some occasions, lost payments are only flagged if a supplier or employee queries a missing payment.

“With Confirmation of Payee, our users have peace of mind, knowing that errors are automatically detected so that they can be corrected upfront, streamlining transactions and reducing the risk of payment errors,” said Sharon Smith, Product Owner at ScotPayments. “CoP is invaluable, not only in making processes more efficient but also in ensuring that payments make it to the recipients as quickly and efficiently as possible. These payments are time sensitive and critical - these could range from grants or benefits, staff salaries or supplier payments. This provides peace of mind to the people of Scotland and allows financial and operational staff to focus their resource where it really matters.”

CoP is available through the Bacsactive-IP solution in the UK via three distinct channels: an Open API module facilitating integration into client systems and websites; when processing payment files prior to sending to Bacs; and when adding and editing accounts entered in Bacsactive-IP, bolstering the overall integrity of financial activities. ScotPayments has used the Open API module to seamlessly add CoP capabilities to its service, allowing automated real-time checking and error resolution.

“Without CoP, users face a cumbersome process requiring intervention and resolution from failed Direct Debit Instructions and Direct Credit payments,” said Radha Suvarna, Chief Product Officer, Payments at Finastra. “Our emphasis on identifying and rectifying issues at the initiation stage underscores our commitment to delivering seamless experiences for our clients. The solution taps into our fintech open ecosystem to manage the real-time checks with the account holding banks. This open finance approach is empowering communities and democratizing payments.”