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When you send money to a UK account you’ve not paid before, we carry out a Confirmation of Payee (CoP) check:
You can call us if you're not registered for online banking. If you prefer to bank in person, there’s a range of services in your local area.
In the mobile app or online banking, when you’ve put in all the account information we’ll tell you if the account name and number match or not. Depending on the situation, you’ll immediately see one of these messages:
Message |
What this means |
---|---|
Message Account name and details match |
What this means The account name, number and sort code all match, and the account type is right. So you can go ahead with adding the new payee. |
Message Payee name and account number match but this is a personal/business account |
What this means The name and account details are right, but the account type you selected isn’t. You can go ahead anyway if you wish, but it’s best to check first to make sure the type of account you’re paying (personal or business) is what you expected. |
Message This account belongs to 'Example Name' |
What this means We’ve found a close match to the name you put in, but there’s a small difference. You can go ahead, but if you’re not quite sure just go back and confirm the name is right. |
Message Payee name and account number partially match and this is a personal/business account |
What this means We’ve found a close match to the name you put in but there’s a small difference, and the account type you entered is wrong. You can go ahead anyway if you want to, but it’s best to go back and check both the account name and type are correct. |
Message That name doesn’t match that account number |
What this means The name you’ve entered is significantly different to the actual name on the account. You can go ahead anyway if you want to, but it’s best to contact your payee to confirm the correct account name and details. |
Message We can’t check these details |
What this means Your payee’s account doesn’t let us confirm their details. This might happen if their bank isn’t set up for CoP account name checks, or it’s a type of account that can’t be checked at all. You can go ahead anyway if you want to, but it’s best to go back and check to make sure. |
Message This account/sort code doesn’t exist |
What this means None of the account details match, so we can’t check if the account exists. You won’t be able to go ahead so you’ll need to go back and confirm the correct account details. |
Message Reference not found |
What this means The reference you’ve entered has not been found. You can go ahead anyway if you want to, but it’s best to contact your payee to confirm the correct reference for the payment. |