Editor’s note, article updated 8 April at 14:25: Banque Internationale à Luxembourg confirmed to Paperjam that it is one of the six participating banks, while ING stated that it is not. The sixth bank is Banque de Luxembourg.
“We are proud to welcome these major banks, which represent a very large share of the bank accounts in Luxembourg, on our payee verification platform,” commented Luxhub CEO Claude Meurisse in a statement. “It increases the network and mutualisation effects and logically strengthens the platform. At the same time, we are still working on convincing other key players to join, with the overall goal of providing a robust and efficient platform that will ensure secure and verified credit transfers for payment services users (PSUs) as well as payment service providers (PSPs) themselves.”
Who are the first six banks to sign up to the solution?
Contacted, Luxhub replied that it is subject to contractual confidentiality obligations and cannot therefore answer this question. The four institutions that founded Luxhub have subscribed to this solution: Spuerkeess, BGL BNP Paribas, Post Luxembourg and Banque Raiffeisen. The other two banks are the Banque internationale à Luxembourg and the Banque de Luxembourg.
What does “verification of payee” (VOP) mean?
“Verification of payee” is a new European regulatory requirement stemming from the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR). It requires payment service providers to check that the name and Iban of the beneficiary match before authorising a Sepa transfer, whether instantaneous or not.
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Why is this obligation being introduced?
It aims to reduce transfer errors and combat fraud, including identity theft scams, where a fraudster tricks a user into transferring funds to a third-party account under a false name.
These errors represent tens of millions of euros a year in refunds and disputes for the banks. Today, the Iban takes precedence over the name in the processing of Sepa transfers: even if the name does not match, the transfer goes through…
According to Europol, transfer fraud (particularly via identity theft or false supplier fraud) is one of the most profitable techniques for cybercriminals. The European Payments Council (EPC) estimates that fraud linked to impersonation accounts for losses of more than €300m a year in Europe for Sepa payments alone. The most common scams are fake emails from suppliers asking to change their Iban (CEO impersonation scam), fake payment interfaces or the creation of accounts with names very similar to those of real recipients.
When does this obligation come into force?
The deadline is 9 October 2025. Between now and then, banks must implement a system that allows systematic and immediate verification of the beneficiary, before the customer validates the transfer.
What is Luxhub's role in this context?
Luxhub, a Luxembourg fintech specialising in pooling and regulatory compliance, has been chosen by six major Luxembourg banks as their VOP solution provider. Its platform makes it possible to centralise checks between banks securely, quickly and in line with European requirements.
What services does Luxhub's platform offer?
It is based on two components:
- Vop service provision: enables a bank receiving a transfer to provide instant confirmation of the name-Iban match.
- Vop unified access: enables the sending bank to query beneficiary banks via a single access point. Luxhub thus acts as a routing and verification mechanism (RVM) between payment service providers.
What are the benefits for banks?
- Saves time: thanks to a ready-made, interoperable and shared solution.
- Guaranteed compliance: the platform complies with the VOP scheme standards defined by the European Payments Council (EPC).
- Network effect: if more banks are connected, the solution becomes more efficient for everyone.
And what does it change for customers?
The payment process will remain smooth, but more secure: when a customer initiates a transfer, the bank will check that the name and Iban match. If an anomaly is detected, the customer will receive an alert or error message before validation. This will apply to all payment channels: mobile app, website, corporate interface, etc.
Why is a shared solution strategic for Luxembourg?
With Luxhub as the interconnection point, Luxembourg banks:
- speak with one voice on a European scale;
- reduce compliance costs;
- and guarantee a harmonised user experience for the majority of accounts in the grand duchy.
What’s next for PSPs?
Payment service providers must now finalise their choice of solution (if they have not already done so), begin the technical, legal and organisational work, inform their customers and test the new payment flow.
The countdown is on: there are less than seven months to get ready.
Could Luxhub play a central role in Europe?
Yes, and that is perhaps also the point of this press release--in the middle of the Easter holidays--seven months before the fateful date. The European Payments Council should eventually have a single European platform. But until then, various solutions, most of which are national, will already be interconnected. There are a few in Europe, such as Surepay in the Netherlands or Isabel Group and Itsme in Belgium.
This article was originally published in .