In the fight against bank fraud, people who transfer money online will be able to see whether the recipient's name matches the account number provided, announced Minister for Consumer Protection Rob Beenders (Vooruit).
The introduction of the check is based on new European regulations and is "essential," according to the Beenders. Recent figures from the Economy Ministry and the ombudsman for financial services (Ombudsfin) show that there were 46,915 reports of fraud and deception in 2023.
By 9 October at the latest, all banks in the eurozone must have introduced the extra check.
Until now, it was perfectly possible to transfer money to an account number without checking the recipient's name. This gave fraudsters free rein.
Match?
The IBAN name check should put an end to that: bank clients will be able to automatically check whether the name entered and the associated account number match. The check is also carried out for foreign account numbers, as long as they fall within the eurozone.
If the data is correct, the user will receive the message "match". If there is some doubt, the message will say "close match" (for example, if a name is spelt differently) or "no match" (a completely different name).
Ultimately, it is the user who decides whether the payment will go through. The intention is that people will be more aware of this information and can stop suspicious transfers before it is too late.
