Verification of Payee (VoP) helps ensure that the payment recipient matches the bank account owner before a payment is sent. It is part of the requirements introduced by the EU Instant Payments Regulation for European payments improving payment security by preventing payments from ending up with the wrong recipient.

Verification of Payee can be done for bank transfers and express payments (foreign payments are not in the scope of Verification of Payee).

In the beginning, Verification of Payee can be done when the selected payer account is from the following banks:

Verification of Payee support for other banks will expand in the future.

Verification of Payee can be used free of charge until 31 May 2026.

After that, each successful verification costs €0.40 per request. A successful response means that the bank returns a result for the check (match, close match, no match, or can’t verify). Failed or interrupted verification requests are not invoiced.

Verification of Payee feature is available to users who have full rights to Payments. There is no separate user right for the functionality.

A successful verification result means that the request has been sent from Procountor to the bank, and the bank has sent a response back to Procountor.
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Below are listed all four different possibilities for a successful result:

​Match – The recipient's name you entered to Procountor matches to the account holder name in the bank.

Close match – The recipient's name you entered to Procountor is a close match to the account holder name in the bank.

No match – The recipient's name you entered to Procountor does not match to the account holder name in the bank. You can still proceed to payment on your own risk, but there is a possibility the money ending up to another recipient than intended.

Can’t verify – Sending and receiving of the request was successful, but it was not possible to verify if the recipient's name you entered to Procountor matches to the account holder name in the bank. You can still proceed to payment on your own risk, but there is a possibility the money ending up to another recipient than intended.

Successful verification results are charged based on Procountor’s price list after 31 May 2026.

An unsuccessful verification result means that the verification request has not ended up to the bank from Procountor or back to Procountor from the bank, due to e.g. a technical error.

Request failed - If the verification result is “Request failed”, you can try the verification later again.

Unsuccessful verification results are not charged.

Verification of Payee is available when the payer’s account is an OP (Osuuspankki) or Nordea account. Bank support will be expanded in the future.

How to verify the payee during the payment process of a purchase invoice:

3. Procountor sends a verification request to the bank. The verification might take approximately 1–3 minutes. In the meantime, you can leave the Payment view or log out of Procountor. The process is carried out in the background.

4. Once the process is completed, Procountor will notify you of the verification result. By clicking Reset, you can reset the earlier verification result and proceed to do the verification again if needed.

Verification of Payee is optional, and payments can be made normally without making the verification.

When you are making a purchase invoice payment without a verification made first for the payment, you will receive a notification:

Information about each payee verification request and response is recorded in the invoice transaction information.

On the Direct bank transfer view, the payee can be verified when the renewed Procountor views have been activated.
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Verification is possible when the payer’s bank account is Osuuspankki’s (OP) or Nordeas account.
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After opening Create new payment window from Create new payment- button & filling in the payment details, you can start the payee verification by clicking the Start payee verification- button.

The payment can also be paid normally without payee verification by clicking Create payment- button.

After payee verification has been started, you will receive a notification about it – you can leave the Direct bank transfer view if needed, as the verification will be running in the background.

Once the verification is completed, you will be notified about it on the Create new payment window.

Notifications about Verification of Payee results can be seen in the notification center that is available when the renewed Procountor views have been activated in the environment.

The notification center can be accessed by clicking the bell icon in the top bar of Procountor.

By clicking the purchase invoice number or the payee name in the notification, you will be taken to the corresponding invoice or payment, and you can proceed to make the actual payment.

Procountor wants to do its part in more secure payments by bringing additional protection of payee verification directly into the payment process. This allows Procountor customers to use bank-provided Verification of Payee directly as part of Procountor’s payment process without having to move the process elsewhere or perform checks in the company’s online bank.

Below you can find answers to the most common questions about how Verification of Payee works in Procountor.

What is Verification of Payee and what value does it bring to companies and accounting firms?
Verification of Payee helps to protect payments and ensure the correctness of the payment recipient before money leaves the account. It checks whether the payee name matches the actual owner of the bank account. This gives companies an additional way to identify risky or incorrect payment details before the payment is sent. The verification helps prevent fraud where a company is tricked into making a payment to the wrong account.

Verification of Payee is part of a broader EU-level change in payment regulation, as banks introduce Verification of Payee as a result of the Instant Payments Regulation. In Procountor, we want to bring this additional protection directly into the daily tools and workflows used by companies and accounting firms for payment processing.

For companies, this means better protection against invoice fraud and greater confidence that the payment is going to the correct recipient. For accounting firms, it adds an extra control that supports safer handling of customer payments and helps reduce the risk of costly payment errors.

How does Verification of Payee work in Procountor?
When you perform a Verification of Payee check for a payment in Procountor, we send a verification request to the bank. Your own bank checks with the recipient’s bank whether the payee name matches the actual owner of the account and returns one of four results: Match / Close match / No match / Cannot be verified. This allows companies to use the protection provided by banks against payment fraud directly in Procountor’s payment process.

A Close match result means that the payee details are close to the bank account owner’s details, but do not match exactly. The result is shown in Procountor so that you can evaluate it before deciding whether to continue with the payment. Responsibility for and the decision to make the payment remain with the payer regardless of the verification result.

Please note that in some cases, the company name known to the payer may differ from the company’s official name in the recipient’s bank. If the result does not match and you want to verify the situation, check the matter with the invoicer, not with the bank or Procountor.

Is Verification of Payee mandatory and does it block the payment if verification fails?
No. Verification of Payee is optional, you can decide on a payment-by-payment basis whether you want to use it or not.

The verification result, or not performing the verification, does not prevent the payment from being made. Procountor shows the response returned by the bank, but the final decision and responsibility for sending the payment always remain with the user handling the payment.

How is Verification of Payee used in daily payment work and how long does it take?
Verification of Payee is designed to fit smoothly into companies’ daily payment processes. The verification result is usually returned by the bank within 30 seconds to 10 minutes, depending on the bank.

If the result is not immediately available, you can continue using Procountor and review the result later once the response has arrived. During spring 2026, we will add support for automatic payment sending after the check is completed if the verification result is Match or Close match.

Which banks and payment types support Verification of Payee?
Verification of Payee is initially available for OP and Nordea bank accounts. Later in spring 2026, support will be extended to banks that currently offer the service in their integration channels.

The feature is available for direct bank transfers and purchase invoice payments within Finland and to other European SEPA countries. The verification is not available for foreign payments or foreign currency payments. At this stage, verification cannot be performed for payroll payments or travel and expense invoice payments.

Verification of Payee is initially available only for single payments. Support for paying multiple invoices at once will be added later.

What are the limitations and typical exception cases of Verification of Payee?
Verification of Payee only checks whether the payee name matches the bank account owner. It does not confirm or verify any other details of the invoice or payment. If the bank is unable to carry out the verification or the request fails, the payment can still be made.

How does Verification of Payee relate to approval circulation and other controls?
Verification of Payee does not replace invoice approval circulation, other controls, or agreed practices. It is an additional check at the payment stage, not a replacement for invoice review, approvals, or other verifications included in the company’s process.

The greatest benefit from Verification of Payee is achieved when the check is used together with existing approval and control practices.

What should accountants and customers agree on when using Verification of Payee?
Accountants that handle customer payments should agree in advance with their customers on how verification results are handled in practice. It is especially important to agree on how to proceed if the bank returns a No match result. For example: should the payment be left unpaid, should additional checks be made with the sender of the invoice, and can the person responsible for the payment act independently regardless of the result?

Verification of Payee supports decision-making, but it does not make the payment decision on behalf of the user. Procountor only forwards the response returned by the bank, and the final decision to send the payment always remains with the user handling the payment.

Are Verification of Payee results stored and can they be reviewed later?
Yes. The results are stored and can be reviewed later. The verification results are visible in the payment view, as highlights in the new user interface notifications and as entries in the invoice event details. This makes payment verification more transparent and supports later review.

How is Verification of Payee activated in Procountor?
No separate activation is required. The feature becomes automatically available once we have added support for the bank you use. All users who have payment rights for the invoice or direct bank transfer can perform the verification in the payment view.

Later in spring 2026, an option will be introduced to disable the verification option for selected bank accounts. Disabling it requires permission to manage the company’s bank account settings.