Revolut launches Confirmation of Payee with Modulr ; applies for UK banking license

By Megha Bhattacharya

British challenger bank Revolut has recently announced the launch of Confirmation of Payee, powered by Modulr, for its UK retail customers. Confirmation of Payee automatically checks that the recipient name and account details match the information held by the recipient’s bank or payment service provider, alerting the payer if there is a discrepancy. The new launch is expected to bolster the company’s anti-fraud features and forms a part of Pay.UK’s anti-fraud initiative.

Nik Storonsky, CEO and Founder at Revolut, said, “Revolut takes financial safety and security extremely seriously and our aim is always to provide our customers with the very latest in-app security features. Being able to automatically check that a recipient’s name and account details match the information held by their bank or payment service provider means that our customers benefit from an important new level of protection and can avoid simple mistakes. Thousands of people in the UK fall victim to social engineering scams every year and Confirmation of Payee is a crucial step in the ongoing battle against fraud.”

Revolut has also submitted a banking license application to the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company was granted a European Union banking license in Lithuania in December 2018 and has begun operations in central Europe. The FinTech also has a credit offer in two European markets with expectations of launching additional markets across Europe this year.

Myles Stephenson, CEO and Founder of Modulr said, “We’re committed to providing our partners, such as Revolut, with the very latest in payments innovation and I’m delighted that we were not only the first non-bank or building society to offer Confirmation of Payee, but that we are now the first payment services provider to be able to pass on this functionality to our PSP partners. Utilising our APIs and our participation with Pay.UK’s CoP service, Revolut can now offer its customers an important extra layer of financial protection.”

Maha El Dimachki, Chief Payments Officer of Pay.UK said, “We are delighted to see increasing numbers of people in the UK benefitting from Confirmation of Payee. The account name-checking service helps consumers avoid errors and fraudulent misdirection of their funds. It is another tool to support and protect consumers when making payments and has been gaining positive momentum since launch.”