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French banks must carry out security checks on all transfers from October 9 to confirm the recipient account name and number match the details that the person paying the money has entered. 

鈥淎ll banks and payment institutions offering transfers must inform their customers whether the IBAN and the name of the beneficiary they have provided are consistent with the information on the recipient's bank account鈥� This verification will be mandatory for individual customers, regardless of the amount of the transfer,鈥� reads a press release from la f茅d茅ration Bancaire Fran莽aise.

The system, called Verification of Payee (VoP), is aimed at combatting fraud and reducing the chance of accidentally sending money to the wrong person. Overruling warning messages when making a transfer could result in account holders being held liable if scammed.

It also means that having misspelt a name could result in existing payments being blocked. 

To avoid this, ensure you are certain of the account holder鈥檚 identity and enter the exact name as it appears on the bank details (RIB) provided to you. If sending money to an association or company, enter the legal name or contact the organisation to verify the name that should be used for bank transfers. 

The new transfer process

When making a bank transfer, you will be asked to enter the necessary information (name, account number, IBAN) as normal. Your bank will then send a verification request to the beneficiary's bank, which will confirm whether the provided details are correct, explains a regional branch of French consumer organisation UFC-Que Choisir.

If the name matches the account details but contains a small error, the bank will correct this and ask you to confirm whether the correction is accurate. You can then choose whether or not to proceed with the transfer.

If you get the name completely wrong or make a major spelling mistake, the bank will send you an alert notification and ask whether you definitely wish to complete the transfer. Failure to input accurate information could also result in a 鈥榯echnical error鈥� message, but you will still be able to overrule this and confirm the transfer. 

From October 9, opting to force a transfer despite receiving alerts from your bank will make you liable in the event of fraud or error. This means that you may not be reimbursed for the money lost, as the bank could claim you were negligent in authorising the transfer. 

Increasing bank scams

These new security measures come into place as instant transfers and banking scams have become increasingly common. 

One example is the 鈥榖ank mule鈥� scam which sees fraudsters 鈥榤istakenly鈥� send a sum of money to a person鈥檚 bank account. The scammers will then contact the account holder and ask for the money to be transferred back or onto a new account. Sending the money back however could see the account owner deemed complicit in money laundering.

The main risk with instant transfers is that the transaction cannot be cancelled as the action is immediate. These transfers were made free in France at the start of 2025, after previously costing around 鈧�1 each.

This type of transfer should only be used for sending funds to 鈥渇riends and family or for accounts to which you are used to transferring money鈥�, and for small sums, to minimise the risk of losing larger sums to scammers, states the anti-fraud and anti-scam Signal-Arnaques platform.