NatWest has today announced the launch of a new direct access Confirmation of Payee (CoP) Application Programming Interface (API) for its commercial customers.

Confirmation of Payee was introduced across the UK banking industry in June 2020 to combat scammers and guard against customer errors. The technology allows banking customers to carry out a check on individual payments through their online banking, by ensuring the account details entered by the sender accurately match those of the payee.

NatWest’s new API will allow its corporate customers to embed this service directly into their own systems, and carry out bulk checks against outbound payee details, for payments made using BACS, CHAPs and Faster Payments. This will in turn help save time, improve customer experience, reduce costs and detect fraud.

Gaurav Gaur, Head of Commercial Payments, NatWest Group said:

“Confirmation of Payee has been a game-changing innovation in the battle against fraud and scams in the UK, and today we’re delighted to launch our own API that will allow commercial customers to implement this functionality into their own systems. Not only will this detect fraudulent and misdirected payments, but CoP is also proven to reduce operating costs and improve the digital journey for customers.

NatWest is committed to investing in the development of new and innovative services which are API enabled to allow customers to embed them into their business. Today’s launch is another example of our commitment to support customers in this space.”

The API will be available under the NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank brands for commercial customers. Businesses can apply to use NatWest’s Confirmation of Payee API by visiting www.bankofapis.com to register their interest, and will need to have the technical capability and resources within their business to implement the API at their own cost.