From Treasury Masterminds
After years of regulatory buildup, Verification of Payee (VoP) officially went live across Europe on October 9th, 2025.
For some, this marks a major step forward in fraud prevention and payment integrity. For others, it feels like business as usual — with little visible change.
As often happens in treasury, the truth lies somewhere in between.
This article looks at what’s actually happened since go-live — the early real-world cases, the operational impacts, and what treasurers should keep an eye on.
A Quick Reminder: What VoP Is Meant to Do
VoP verifies whether the name and IBAN combination entered before a payment is consistent with the official records held by the bank.
The goal is to reduce fraud, misdirected payments, and typing errors — an extra safeguard before funds move.
In theory, this should be straightforward.
In practice, it’s exposing how inconsistent master data and banking records really are.
Real Stories From the First Week
1. Tax Payments in Brandenburg Triggered False Mismatches
In the German state of Brandenburg, many taxpayers received “name–IBAN mismatch” warnings when paying local tax offices. The problem wasn’t fraud — it was minor differences in how names were stored at the Bundesbank. Authorities later confirmed all accounts were valid, but the incident highlighted how even public institutions can fail VoP’s data precision test.
Source: Tagesspiegel / Brandenburg Ministry of Finance, October 2025
2. Customers Hit by Formatting and Umlaut Issues
Focus Online reported that almost one-third of users encountered warnings or rejections due to name format variations — missing umlauts, reversed order, abbreviations, or extra spaces.
For corporates, this means supplier names like “Müller GmbH” versus “Mueller GmbH” can now trigger verification warnings.
Source: Focus Online, October 2025
3. Batch Payments Slower to Process
BNG Bank in the Netherlands confirmed that batch payments are now subject to VoP checks on each individual transaction. As a result, payment runs may take longer to complete — a relevant consideration for payroll or high-volume AP files.
Source: BNG Bank client update, October 2025
4. Cross-Border Payments Show Gaps
Rabobank noted that certain foreign IBANs currently return a “cannot be checked” message because some international accounts are not yet covered by VoP databases. Those payments proceed as before, but users need to accept or override the warning.
Source: Rabobank business portal, October 2025
5. Mixed Feedback From Banks
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that banks generally described the rollout as “stable,” but several institutions have invited customer feedback to identify remaining friction points.
Source: FAZ, October 2025
What’s Actually Changed for Treasurers
- Data quality matters more than ever.
VoP exposes inconsistencies in supplier and employee master data. - Payment runs can take longer.
Each line item is checked, which slightly extends processing time. - Not all accounts can be verified.
Cross-border payments remain outside full coverage for now. - Exception handling is the new norm.
Teams must decide how to manage warnings: ignore, verify, or delay.
The Treasury Takeaway
VoP may not have revolutionized the way treasurers work — but it has quietly introduced new friction points that will affect daily operations.
The infrastructure works, but the rollout is exposing long-standing issues around data standardisation, naming conventions, and bank integration.
This isn’t a “no-news” event. It’s the start of a new phase of operational fine-tuning across treasury teams.
Share Your Experience
How is VoP affecting your payment processes?
Did your first post–October 9th payment runs go smoothly, or did you face unexpected mismatches and delays?
We’re gathering real-world stories from the Treasury Mastermind community — both wins and fails — to build a collective picture of how VoP is landing in practice.
Share your experience or start a discussion in our community forum at www.treasurymastermind.com.
Let’s turn individual experiences into shared learning for all treasurers navigating this new reality.
Also Read
- Why VoP is not enough: false matches, delayed payments, and the real risks Treasurers will face starting Oct 9th
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- Bridging Old and New: Citi Steps Into Stablecoins and Crypto ETF Custody
- Fair Banking: Why Corporate Treasurers Should Pay Attention
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