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UK’s Confirmation Of Payee Hits 2bn Checks Milestone
The UK’s Confirmation of Payee (CoP) addressing system has now performed more than 2bn checks on prospective bank transfers.
Since the launch of CoP in 2020, more than 100 organisations have implemented the system, with more than 1.9m checks being performed every day.
In 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is also aiming to onboard more than 350 additional organisations to CoP.
Pay.UK, the independent, non-for-profit operator of the UK’s retail payments system, said the 2bn mark is a “significant milestone” and shows the “key role” that CoP plays in fighting fraud.
In the first six months of 2023, Pay.UK said fraud rates fell by 2 percent compared with the same period the previous year.
Authorised push payment (APP) fraud, which is specifically targeted by CoP, has also seen a 1 percent fall compared with the same period the year before.
Crédit Agricole, Worldline Joint Venture To Be Called CAWL
Crédit Agricole and Worldline have announced that CAWL will be the name of their newly formed joint venture.
CAWL aims to combine service and proximity to offer merchants payment options adapted to the specificities of their sectors.
The joint venture will offer omnichannel products with dedicated sales teams and expertise for each sector for larger merchants. It will also aim to deploy an all-in-one package for and has an offering for smaller merchants and professionals from 2025.
“CAWL aims to be a major player in payments for all merchants in France, with an offer combining service, proximity and high technology, drawing on the strengths of Crédit Agricole and Worldline," said Meriem Echcherfi, managing director of CAWL.
"We also aim to be a leader in innovation by creating integrated offerings that significantly increase added value for merchants and, by extension, their own customers."
New Visa+ P2P Service Goes Live With PayPal, Venmo, Other US Platforms
Visa+, a new way to send and receive peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, is now live with PayPal and Venmo in the US.
As covered by Vixio last year, Visa+ allows users across a range of P2P apps to send money to each other instantly without using a card to bridge between different platforms.
Instead of using a card, Visa+ users must set up a personalised payment address — similar to a social media handle — which is then linked to their PayPal or Venmo.
Visa believes that Visa+ will provide the building blocks for interoperability across the real-time payments landscape in the US, helping to connect the major closed-loop P2P platforms.
Going forward, Visa also said that Current and Western Union will join the scheme, in addition to other business-to-consumer-focused (B2C) platforms.
Spain To Create 'Financial Defence Authority'
The Spanish government has introduced a bill that will create a new Financial Client Defence Authority, in an effort to improve consumer protection and financial inclusion.
The bill is tasked with “creating the independent administrative authority for the defence of financial customers for the out-of-court settlement of disputes between financial institutions and their customers”.
Through the authority, Spanish consumers will now be able to submit their complaints free of charge to a single body.
The bill sets out the objectives and scope of activities of the new authority. It details the entities that may be subject to complaints, including supervised entities, fintechs, crypto-asset service providers and consumer lending services, regardless of which authority supervises them.
