Fiancial messaging co-operative swift has been enlisted by Aastralian Payments Plus (AP+) to build a confirmation of payee service to reduce the risk of misdirected payments and increase defences against payment fraud.
Swift, which built and runs Australia’s National Payments Platform (NPP), says the new service will be delivered via the NPP, standardised APIs and a centralised account matching service managed by AP+.
Swift’s selection builds on its capabilities in AI and data services, including Payment Pre-validation for cross-border payments, that is already eliminating international payments friction with upfront account verification.
Adrian Lovney, chief payment and schemes officer at AP+, says: “The development of an industry wide Confirmation of Payee service will play an important role in reducing certain types of scams resulting in misdirection of a payment to the wrong account as well as avoid mistaken payments being made to incorrect account numbers. AP+ is committed to working with the industry to better protect consumers and businesses as part of a collective effort to combat fraud and scams. Swift was the logical choice to partner with us in developing this important service, building on the strong partnership that we have had in place for a number of years.”
Features of the new service will be progressively built and tested along 2024, allowing financial institutions to integrate it into their banking channels starting 2025.
