Confirmation of Payee

Yes. Confirmation of Payee is mandatory for all Australian financial institutions and is part of a comprehensive set of anti-scam measures being implemented across the entire industry.

Confirmation of Payee will work for most Australian bank accounts with a BSB and account number. This includes all First Option Bank accounts.

No activation is required. The Confirmation of Payee service will automatically apply to payments between Australian banks when you:

• Make a payment to a new payee
• add a new payee, or
• amend an existing saved payee

You will receive a message indicating whether or not there's a match with the account details you entered before you before you complete the action.

Confirmation of Payee will check account details for all first-time payments or future-dated first-time payments to a BSB and account number, and when amending existing saved payees. Additional checks may be made depending on the corresponding financial institution.

In addition to your BSB and account number, you must provide your exact account holder name to anyone trying to add you as a new payee.

No, Confirmation of Payee only applies to payments within Australia. It does not cover international or non-AUD payments.

Confirmation of Payee checks the account name, BSB and account number you’ve entered against the details held by the recipient’s bank to let you know whether they’re a match, a close match, or no match at all. All Confirmation of Payee information is passed securely between financial institutions to ensure your data remains safe.

If you are receiving money, the payer will only be shown your account name if the details they have entered are a match or a close match.

The only exceptions to this are business or government organisation accounts. In these cases, the name of the account will be shown to the payer regardless of whether there’s a match or not.

Your account name, BSB and account number are the only details accessed and processed during a Confirmation of Payee check. The service is designed to comply with the Privacy Act, and no personal information is stored by the Confirmation of Payee service.

In limited circumstances, eligible customers may request to opt-out of the Confirmation of Payee service. This means your account name and match outcome will not be displayed to prospective payers and may result in them cancelling the payment.

To learn more about the opt-out process, including its strict application conditions and implications, please contact us on 1300 855 675 or email us at [email protected]

If you enter the wrong account details, you can end up sending your money to the wrong recipient. This can be difficult and time-consuming to resolve, which is why it’s important to check the accuracy of the details you enter before making an online payment.

Names with special characters such as apostrophes (‘) will still match even if the special characters aren’t entered. For example, the name “O’Brien” can be successfully entered as “O Brien” or “Obrien”.

Similarly, an account name with an ampersand (&) such as ‘Paper & Pen’ can be entered as ‘Paper Pen’.

If the name you're trying to enter exceeds the character limit in online banking, let the recipient know and consider how best to proceed by contacting us on 1300 855 675.

To update your details, you must complete the Change of Name form and provide a certified copy of any relevant documentation (e.g. a marriage certificate).

If you require any further assistance, please contact us on 1300 855 675 or email us at [email protected].

Yes, you can still proceed with a payment in the event of a ‘No Match’ result. Confirmation of Payee will never stop you from transferring funds - it is there to help guide your decision-making and help reduce the chances of you being scammed.

If a ‘No Match’ result is returned, we recommend you check with the recipient before proceeding with the payment as incorrect payments can be difficult to retrieve.

If the account you are trying to pay in to is closed, the payment will not be processed, and you will need to ask your intended payee for alternative account details.