The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) has announced significant developments in the way bank transfers will be handled across the European Union, highlighting both increased convenience and enhanced security for consumers. As part of the new EU Instant Payments Regulation (EU 2024/886), banks and payment service providers must now be prepared to receive instant payments around the clock from 9 January 2025. By 9 October 2025, they will also be required to support sending instant payments in real time, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Instant payments bring an important shift in how money moves in Europe. Instead of waiting hours or even days for a transfer to clear, funds will be available to the recipient within seconds, regardless of weekends or public holidays. However, Traficom emphasizes that speed alone is not enough – security must evolve along with it.
To address this, the regulation introduces a major new safety feature: mandatory verification of the payee’s name (often referred to as “Verification of Payee” or VoP). From 9 October 2025, payment service providers must check whether the name entered by the payer matches the name registered for the account (IBAN) receiving the transfer. The aim is to dramatically reduce misdirected payments caused by typos and to make certain types of fraud more difficult, particularly when criminals trick victims into sending money to an account that appears legitimate.
This new name-check mechanism functions with privacy in mind. The payer will not see the full registered name of the payee. Instead, the system will simply provide feedback such as a match, a close match, or no match at all. This approach ensures compliance with GDPR and maintains confidentiality while still providing meaningful security information at the moment of payment.
Traficom stresses that while name verification is a powerful tool, it is not a complete solution to all fraud. Criminals continue to use psychological manipulation, spoofed identities and urgent messaging to pressure victims into making transfers. Instant payments mean that once money is sent, it may be extremely difficult to recover. Therefore, user awareness remains essential. The agency encourages consumers to double-check payment details, stay alert to unusual requests, and contact their bank immediately if something seems suspicious.
The combination of instant transfers and name verification represents a major evolution in European payment infrastructure. It promises greater efficiency for consumers, businesses and public services, while adding a meaningful protective layer against errors and certain fraud scenarios. Traficom concludes that these changes are part of a wider effort to make digital finance both faster and safer, reflecting the increasing need for trust in a real-time, always-on economy.
Learn more (in Finnish) by visiting Traficom’s page at: https://www.kyberturvallisuuskeskus.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/tilisiirtoja-kellon-ympari-turvallisesti-reaaliajassa