Verification of Payee in Bulgaria and instant payments 2027

Verification of Payee is a free bank service: before you authorise a euro transfer, your bank checks the IBAN you entered against the payee name and shows you the result. Banks in Bulgaria apply it from 1 January 2027, together with the obligation to send and receive instant euro transfers within 10 seconds, at any time and at a price no higher than a standard transfer. For a business this means two things: the name in the payment details on your invoices must match the name under which your bank holds the account, and before paying a supplier you read the result of the check instead of clicking past it.

The rules are in Regulation (EU) 2024/886, which inserts Articles 5a-5d into Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 on euro credit transfers. Below, Articles 2, 5a, 5b, 5c and 16 are articles of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 as amended.

What is Verification of Payee

Verification of Payee (VoP) is a check of the IBAN against the payee name that the payer's bank runs immediately after you enter the details and before it lets you authorise the transfer (Art. 5c(1)). The payer's bank sends both to the payee's bank, which answers whether the name matches the account holder (Art. 5c(1)(a)).

• 01The check covers euro credit transfers, both standard and instant, in every channel: online and mobile banking, a branch, a paper order handed in in person (Art. 5c(1) and (4)).
• 02The service is free (Art. 5b(2)).
• 03The "name of the payee" is the first name and surname for a natural person, and the commercial or legal name for a legal person (Art. 2, point 1d).
• 04Where the payee is a legal person, the bank may offer another unambiguous identifier instead of the name, such as a tax number or an LEI. The check then works if the payee's bank holds the same data in its system (Art. 5c(1)(b)).
• 05The check does not prevent the transfer: the decision to pay stays with you (Art. 5c(5)).

The European Payments Council (EPC) has set up the Verification Of Payee scheme with common rules for the exchange between banks. Whether a difference in the name is a "close match" or "no match" is decided by the payee's bank. The EPC recommendations (EPC288-23) let it ignore upper and lower case, quotation marks and other characters that are not letters or digits.

What the Verification of Payee results mean and what to do

The result of Verification of Payee is one of four answers under the EPC scheme: match, close match, no match or verification not possible. The wording on screen depends on the bank.

When does Verification of Payee start in Bulgaria

Banks in Bulgaria must offer Verification of Payee and instant euro transfers from 1 January 2027. The regulation gives payment service providers in a country that adopted the euro before 9 April 2027 one year from the introduction of the euro, but no later than the deadlines for countries outside the euro area (Art. 16(9)). Bulgaria joined the euro area on 1 January 2026, so the deadline is 1 January 2027.

• 01Banks may start earlier. Since 3 December 2024 the Bulgarian National Bank (БНБ, the BNB) and the BISERA payment system operated by BORICA AD take part in TIPS, the Eurosystem's instant payment service in euro, and some banks in Bulgaria already offer instant euro transfers.
• 02Your clients in other euro area countries already see the check: their banks have had to offer it since 9 October 2025 (Art. 5c(9)). Until your bank answers such requests, they may see "verification not possible".
• 03For payment institutions and electronic money institutions, Art. 5a(8) sets a later deadline for instant transfers: 9 April 2027 in the euro area. Art. 16(9) does not require providers in Bulgaria to comply earlier than providers in the euro area, so for them instant transfers are mandatory from 9 April 2027. Art. 5c sets no separate deadline for them for Verification of Payee. If your account is with such a provider, ask it when it offers both services.

What are instant euro transfers

An instant euro transfer (SEPA Instant) is a credit transfer executed immediately, 24 hours a day and on any calendar day (Art. 2, point 1a). Every account that can receive standard transfers must also be able to receive instant ones (Art. 5a(1)).

• 01The amount is on the payee's account within 10 seconds of the payer's bank receiving the order (Art. 5a(4)(c)), with the same-day value date (point (d)).
• 02If the payer's bank receives no confirmation within 10 seconds, it immediately restores the payer's account to the state it would have been in had the transaction not taken place (Art. 5a(5)).
• 03The charge may not be higher than the charge for the corresponding standard transfer (Art. 5b(1)).
• 04An instant transfer can be ordered through every channel that accepts a standard one (Art. 5a(4)(a)).
• 05At your request, the bank lets you set a maximum amount for instant transfers, per day or per transfer, and change it at any time (Art. 5a(6)).

For a business that issues invoices, this means a client's payment can arrive on a Saturday evening with that day's value date. The invoice number in the payment reference is still the quickest way to match the payment to the invoice.

What changes for a business that issues invoices

A business that issues invoices should show in its payment details exactly the name under which its bank holds the account, because clients type the name from the invoice. The bank account is not a required invoice element under Art. 114, para. 1 of the VAT Act (ЗДДС), but the supplier's name is (item 4), and the payment details usually sit next to it. The full list is in the article on Bulgarian invoice requirements.

• 01Company name or brand. The company name (фирма) is the name under which a trader carries on business and signs, and it must be written in Bulgarian (Art. 7, paras. 1 and 3 of the Commercial Act, ТЗ). The regulation accepts a commercial or legal name, but under the EPC recommendations a brand gives a match only if the payee's bank holds reliable data on it. Write „Пиксел Код“ ЕООД, not just "Pixel Code".
• 02Legal form and name changes. The name of a limited liability company contains "ООД", and where one person owns the capital, "еднолично ООД" (Art. 116 of the Commercial Act), usually written "ЕООД". After a change of name or legal form in the Commercial Register, update your bank as well.
• 03Sole traders and freelancers. The name of a sole trader (ЕТ) contains, unabbreviated, the trader's first name and surname or patronymic (Art. 59 of the Commercial Act). Ask your bank whether the holder is recorded under the ЕТ name or the person's name. For a freelancer's personal account, the name is the first name and surname (Art. 2, point 1d).
• 04Account in another person's name. If a company invoice points to the owner's account or another business's account, a client who types the issuer's name will most likely get "no match". Name the account holder explicitly. For accounts that a payment service provider holds on behalf of several payees, there is a separate check of whether the payee is among them (Art. 5c(1)(c)).
• 05Several accounts. Each bank keeps the name according to its own records. Check the holder of each account and show one account with one name on the invoice.
• 06Clients abroad. The company name may also be written in a foreign language (Art. 7, para. 3 of the Commercial Act). Ask your bank which Latin-script name it answers verification requests with, and give your client the same.

The other requirements are in the article on invoicing a foreign client.

Example: an invoice from „Пиксел Код“ ЕООД spelled differently at the bank

„Пиксел Код“ ЕООД (Pixel Code, a single-member limited liability company) issues invoice No. 0000000214 dated 11 January 2027 to „Орбита Трейд“ ООД for website maintenance: taxable amount €2,400.00, VAT 20% €480.00, amount due €2,880.00, due date 25 January 2027. The name in the Commercial Register is „Пиксел Код“ ЕООД, but the bank has held the account since 2019 as „ПИКСЕЛКОД“ ЕООД, written as one word. The payment block on the invoice shows only the brand "Pixel Code" and an IBAN ending in 4521.

The result depends on the rules of Pixel Code's bank. Under the EPC recommendations, the likely answers are:

The accountant at Orbita Trade copies the name from the payment block and gets "no match". Instead of authorising the €2,880.00 transfer, the accountant calls the phone number in the contract and pays only after the IBAN is confirmed there. The delay comes from the issuer's data. Pixel Code fixes the problem as follows:

• 01It asks its bank to record the account holder exactly as the name in the Commercial Register: „Пиксел Код“ ЕООД.
• 02In the invoice payment block it writes "Account holder: „Пиксел Код“ ЕООД" next to the IBAN, the same as the supplier name on the invoice. The brand stays in the logo.
• 03It tells its regular clients to update the saved payee in their online banking.
• 04From an account at another bank it enters a transfer to its own account and checks the result without authorising the transfer.

What to do if the IBAN and the payee name do not match

If your bank shows "no match", do not authorise the transfer until you have checked the IBAN and the name with the supplier through a channel you already know. The cause is often harmless, such as a brand instead of the company name, but it can also be fraud.

• 01Compare the name and the IBAN with the contract or with invoices you have paid before.
• 02Call the phone number in the contract, not the one in the email that brought the invoice.
• 03For a close match, compare the name your bank shows with the supplier, and if it is the same business, correct the name in the order.
• 04Rename saved payees with nicknames ("Office rent", "Accountant") to their official names, or payments to them may return "no match".

Who is liable if you pay despite the warning

If you pay despite the warning and the bank has met its obligations under Art. 5c, the risk is yours: the bank is not liable for a transfer to an unintended payee on the basis of an incorrect unique identifier (Art. 5c(8) with Art. 88 of Directive (EU) 2015/2366, transposed in Bulgaria by Art. 90 of the Law on Payment Services and Payment Systems, ЗПУПС). The bank must tell you what ignoring the warning means for its liability and for your refund rights (Art. 5c(7)).

• 01The payer's bank makes reasonable efforts to recover the funds and, if it cannot, gives you on written request the information you need to claim against the payee (Art. 88(3) of Directive (EU) 2015/2366, Art. 90, paras. 4 and 6 of ЗПУПС).
• 02The bank may charge for the recovery if the framework contract provides for it (Art. 88(4) of the directive, Art. 90, para. 4 of ЗПУПС).
• 03If the bank failed to run the check and this led to a defectively executed transfer, it refunds you without delay (Art. 5c(8), second subparagraph).

How to protect yourself from changed bank details

Verification of Payee checks the name against the IBAN, but not whether the IBAN belongs to your supplier. A fraudster with an account in a similar name can get a match or a close match, and the EPC states expressly that the scheme cannot be relied on to identify a person. So for an invoice with a new IBAN, the check is the second line of defence, not the first:

• 01Keep your suppliers' IBANs in your own register and check every invoice against it. A difference is a warning sign even if the bank shows a match.
• 02Confirm every change of account announced by email with a call to a number you already know.
• 03With an instant transfer the money is with the payee within 10 seconds, leaving practically no time to stop it.

How Verification of Payee works for bulk payments

A business that submits a package of many payment orders, such as a file of supplier payments or salaries, may opt out of Verification of Payee for that package (Art. 5c(6)). The option is only for customers who are not consumers, and they can opt back in at any time.

• 01If you opt out, the bank warns you that the transfers may go to accounts not held by the named payees (Art. 5c(7)). If an IBAN in the package is wrong, a bank that has met its obligations is not liable for the transfer (Art. 5c(8)).
• 02The EPC scheme allows the whole package to be checked with a result per line. How this looks in online banking is up to the bank.
• 03If the bank accepts packages of standard transfers, it must accept them for instant transfers too, with no lower limit on the number of orders (Art. 5a(7)).

Before you opt out, review your payee data: the company name with its legal form for suppliers, the first name and surname for employees (Art. 2, point 1d).

Common mistakes

• 01The payment details show only the brand, and the payee's bank holds no data on it.
• 02The company changed its name or legal form, and the bank still holds the old one.
• 03The invoice lists several IBANs with different holders, or the owner's personal account.
• 04Paying on "no match" because the email with the new IBAN looks genuine.
• 05Treating "match" as proof that the account belongs to the supplier. The check confirms only the account holder's name.
• 06Expecting a fee for the check or a higher fee for an instant transfer. The check is free, and an instant transfer may not cost more than a standard one (Art. 5b).

In smetni.app

Your organisation's bank accounts are set up once, and for each invoice you choose which account to show; the IBAN appears on the invoice preview. Check there that the company name and the IBAN match your bank's records before you send the invoice. In the Bank module (Business and Enterprise plans), uploaded statements are reconciled with invoices and purchase documents. See the currencies and bank account guide, the Bank guide and plans and pricing.