Soon, all banks in the European Union will be required to implement the Verification of Payee (VoP) system. This obligation arises from new regulations designed to reduce fraud involving incorrect or fake account numbers.
The principle is simple: before a transfer is sent, the system automatically checks whether the recipient’s details – such as their first name, last name, or company name – match the account number. If the information does not match, the customer will see a warning message. In some cases, the bank may suspend the transaction entirely until the sender confirms the recipient’s data.
All Because of the Polish… Alphabet
On paper, the system looks like a good solution; it’s meant to protect users from common “account number change” scams. In practice, however, it could cause significant difficulties, especially for Poles. Why? Because the Polish alphabet includes several diacritical characters – ą, ę, ł, ś, ć, ń, ó, ź, and ż – which many foreign banking systems simply do not support.
Therefore, if a transfer sent from Poland goes to a bank in a country where names are recorded without such diacritical marks, the system might treat “Łukasz Łukasik” and “Lukasz Lukasik” as two different people. In that case, a data mismatch message would appear, and the funds could be blocked until manual verification is completed.
Experts warn that such cases may be quite frequent, especially during the initial months of the VoP system’s rollout.
“This is a technical solution that requires extensive compatibility between national databases. Polish characters are sensitive to algorithms, so even seemingly minor differences – such as the absence of a tail or an accent – can be treated as an error,” analysts explain.
People Have Time Until July 2027
The VoP system will cover all banks in EU member states, including those operating in Poland. According to the European Commission’s schedule, implementation will take place in stages. From October 9, 2025, it will already be active in eurozone countries, and by July 2027, it is expected to function in banks across all remaining member states.
Poland’s banking sector has confirmed that preparations for integration with the EU database are already underway. System testing is also expected to begin soon, allowing Polish banks to carry out automatic recipient verification before the official implementation deadline.