Atom bank chooses SurePay to prevent fraud and misdirected online payments

21 October 2020

  • Since launching in the UK, SurePay’s Confirmation of Payee solution is checking over 25 per cent of all UK payments

  • Recent research from UK Finance found there was a significant spike in fraud in the first half of 2020, with internet banking fraud reaching almost £65m and impersonation scams reaching 15,000 cases

  • SurePay is already working with NatWest Group, and with HMRC, checking payments related to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

21st October: SurePay, has today announced another successful implementation of it’s UK Confirmation of Payee solution for the UK’s first app-based bank, Atom bank. The Financial Technology company from the Netherlands is already responsible for checking over 90 per cent of all Dutch payments with the IBAN-Name Check and its Confirmation of Payee solution checks 25 per cent of all online payments in the UK.

According to research from UK Finance in the first-half of 2020 losses to customers of internet banking fraud jumped by 32 per cent to £64.3m, with cases doubling from the same period in 2019 to just over 21,000. Impersonation scams have also been on the rise, with more fraudsters pretending to be trusted organisations, with 15,000 cases reported.

Confirmation of Payee in the UK

SurePay developed a Confirmation of Payee solution to comply with all relevant UK rules and regulations. The service enables payers to verify that the payee’s name and sort code match so they can prevent transferring money to the wrong person or business, whether by intent (payment fraud) or unintentionally (misdirected payments). Second is that in an onboarding process you’re able to verify the contra account of the potential customer.

The algorithm detects and interprets subtle differences between payee details entered by the payer and the payee details officially registered at the bank. The service aims to significantly reduce the number of payments made in error, prevent fraudulent transfers and provide users with peace of mind when making a credit transfer online. Most importantly, the algorithm will not interfere with correct payments because the entered details are verified instantly and the user experience is unaffected.

In June of this year, SurePay announced its solution was being provided to NatWest Group. The company has also been providing the service to HMRC in response to COVID19 and payments being made by the UK Government to support British businesses.

Richard Koldewijn, Business Development Manager UK, commented: “Our mission is to make online payments personal, easy to use and even more secure. With all the things 2020 has thrown at the world, fraud has been on the rise as more people are willing to take advantage of the vulnerable. With Confirmation of Payee, we’re able to offer banks a way to help protect more people. We are excited to partner with Atom bank to help protect their customers against fraud and will continue working on further solutions for the UK and Europe.”

Roger Mackintosh, Head of Payments and Partnerships for Atom bank, added: “Keeping customers money safe is our top priority and we’re working tirelessly to make sure our customers have the best technology to protect them. We’re impressed with the work SurePay has done to date and the ability to implement Confirmation of Payee so quickly.”

SurePay has already performed more than 3 billion checks since 2016. In the UK SurePay has performed over 30 million checks, with more than 300,000 checks every day with sub-second response time. In the Netherlands, SurePay realised a drop in fraud and scams of 81 per cent and 67 per cent drop in misdirected payments.

For more information go to surepaytechnologies.co.uk

ENDS

Press Contact

Cathy White
Phone : + 44 7791 232834
Email: cathy@cewcomms.com

UK Finance 2020 Half Year Fraud Report: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/policy-and-guidance/reports-publications/2020-half-year-fraud-report

About Atom bank

After securing its banking license in June 2015, Atom bank launched operations in April 2016, offering market-leading Fixed Saver accounts and secured business lending for small and medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’).

Atom launched its first mobile mortgage product in December 2016 and has taken £1.8bn in deposits and lent over £2.4bn to small businesses and homeowners to date.

Atom are a mobile only and customer first bank. Based in the North East of England with a team of over 400 people, they’re here to do the right thing by their customers. To stand up against the big banks, to save customers time, offer the best products and to offer them genuine value, empowering them to take control of their finances. At the heart of the bank is the app, with an award-winning customer support team on hand to help with any queries through phone, chat, email and social media.

About SurePay - be sure who you pay

SurePay makes payments personal, easier and even more secure. Leveraging SurePays’ unique technology, a variety of solutions are offered to financial institutions, organizations and businesses across Europe. Solutions include Confirmation of Payee in the UK and IBAN-Name Check in the Netherlands. SurePay continues to develop innovative solutions, releases new services regularly and is well underway to become the leading European platform for account verification services in online banking.