Introduction to Payer Name Verification
Please note: Payer Name Verification is only available for the following bank debit schemes: Bacs (UK) and SEPA (Eurozone).
Payer Name Verification checks that the name your payer (customer) enters matches the name held on the bank account they're paying from. It runs when a payer submits their bank details, before they set up a mandate with you.
Mismatched details cause failed payments, fraud, and chargebacks. Some are honest mistakes. Others are fraudulent attempts to gain a product or service using fake/stolen bank details. Payer Name Verification catches the mismatch at setup, before the mandate is created.
The check runs in the background and usually takes under a second. For most payers it changes nothing about their experience. Only a payer whose name doesn't match is asked to correct their details.
In SEPA this kind of check is sometimes called an IBAN name check. It uses the same name-matching technology behind Verification of Payee (VoP), the check SEPA banks run.
How the check affects payments
When a payer submits their bank details, we check the name they provide against the name on record at their bank. The check happens in the background and usually takes under a second. Most payers won't notice anything, unless there's a problem.
There are four possible outcomes:
| Outcome | What it means | What the payer experiences |
|---|---|---|
| Match | The name exactly matches the account | Mandate setup proceeds as normal |
| Close match | The name partially matches, for example a missing middle name or an abbreviation | Mandate setup proceeds as normal |
| No match | The name doesn't match the account | The payer sees an error and is asked to correct their details before they can continue |
| Cannot check | The payer's bank doesn't yet support the check, or the account couldn't be verified | Mandate setup proceeds as normal, to ensure a legitimate payer is not accidentally rejected |
The check works the same way across the Bacs (UK) and SEPA (Eurozone) schemes. The difference is that the bank identifier used in the check varies - in Bacs it is sort code and account number, whereas in SEPA the IBAN is used.
Where the check runs
The Payer Name Verification check is available in a few places:
- GoCardless hosted payment pages. Runs automatically when a payer enters their bank details. No setup needed.
- Mandates created in the GoCardless dashboard. Runs when you add a bank account on the customer page.
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For API integrators the check is available on the following endpoints:
- The collect bank account details endpoint. This endpoint is part of the Billing Requests API. It will return an error if there is a ‘No match’ response. The check is enabled by default here but you can contact support to request for it to be disabled.
- The bank details lookup endpoint. This is a standalone endpoint that will give the same responses as the Collect bank account details endpoint. Use this if you are not using the Billing Requests API or you want more control over how to handle the check result.