The Banco de Portugal (BdP) has announced that banks must now enable clients to initiate immediate transfers if they allow traditional transfers and provide real-time notifications at no cost about the availability of funds in the beneficiary’s account.
Similarly, banks are now required to offer beneficiary verification services for all traditional or immediate transfers within the euro area.
“This mechanism allows users to confirm the beneficiary’s identity before authorizing national transfers or those to other euro area countries,” the institution led by Álvaro Santos Pereira explained in a released statement.
These tools were already in use in Portugal, prompting the European Central Bank (ECB) to adopt the BdP’s and Latvia’s banking solutions to extend them to other eurozone central banks.
The BdP has initiated the process to amend the regulation of the Interbank Clearing System to include tax identification numbers (NIF) in transfers involving mobile numbers, announced today.
Lusa | 14:02 – 29/04/2025
Now, during a transfer, the user provides the IBAN and may be shown the name of the primary account holder or, if not displayed, the user can specify the name of the company or person intended to receive the funds.
In this case, it will be indicated “if it matches any of the account holders for confirmation before proceeding with the transfer.”
The BdP implemented a beneficiary confirmation mechanism in May of last year to prevent frauds and scams, identifying the name of the first account holder associated with the specified IBAN.
According to the regulator, from May 20 of last year to March 5 this year, there were 112 million beneficiary confirmation inquiries for transfers.
In 2024, there were 83.3 million inquiries for individual beneficiary confirmation.
Notícias ao Minuto | 07:18 – 09/05/2025
BdP data also shows a 78% drop in fraud cases and a 61% decrease in the value of fraudulent transfers between May and August of the previous year.
The amount lost to recipient manipulation fraud decreased from an average monthly €766,000 between January and May to €441,000 between June and August.
Payment and bank transfer rules are set to change in May. Stay informed with the updates.
Notícias ao Minuto com Lusa | 08:22 – 11/03/2025
Immediate transfers were the fastest-growing electronic payment method in 2024, yet they remain underused compared to other payment forms, reported by the Banco de Portugal.
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