As detailed in the press release, the service is now directly available to companies and enables them to be better protected against potential fraud by verifying the owner of the bank account receiving funds.
Based on information provided in the announcement, UK Finance reported that authorised push payment fraud (APP) losses stood at GBP 583 million in 2021 (a 22% increase from 2020) and at GBP 249 million for the first half of 2022.
To help prevent APP fraud, the UK’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has mandated that financial institutions have CoP incorporated into their consumer banking services. However, Bottomline company representatives believe that more can be done in this direction, with them stating that by leveraging their API first technology, companies of all sizes are enabled to better safeguard their business payments by using CoP for Business.
As banks, companies, and consumers keep on being affected by fraud, CoP helps free up manual effort by providing companies with a new tool for checking that payments are directed to legitimately owned bank accounts. Looking to close another gap against fraudsters, instant and batch transactions go through automatic verification via direct-to-source bank account checks, as opposed to via intermittently updated third-party bank account databases.
A direct-to-business offering, CoP for Business provides a viable alternative to traditional bank account verification methods. It helps offer more than 90% coverage of personal and business accounts, enabling finance teams to feel ensured that they are dealing with the genuine account holder, while simultaneously stopping fraud in its tracks, and avoiding the costs associated with the clawback of incorrectly processed or irrevocable payments.
Bottomline’s Business Payments Barometer highlights that throughout 2022, 29% of the companies interviewed admitted to having fallen victim to fraud, claiming a 10% increase in fraud losses in comparison with 2021. Company officials advised in the press release that, apart from what banks offer, it is companies’ responsibility to ensure that their payments are both safe and legitimate, with CoP being thought to provide them with the necessary capabilities to fight financial fraud.
As per representatives’ statement, CoP has more than 90% bank account coverage, enabling corporate fraud teams to have fewer manual checks. Furthermore, as the PSR forecasts CoP bank account coverage to extend beyond 99% by October 2023, the solution is thought to bring forth increased benefits for companies.
Bottomline Technologies aims to make business payments simple, smart, and secure for businesses and financial institutions of all sizes, all around the world. Its payments and software platforms are leveraged by more than 10,000 corporate customers, and 1,400 commercial and business banks to accelerate digital transformation in 92 countries across six continents. The company has primary locations in the US, the UK, Switzerland, Israel, India, Australia, and Singapore, and is a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo, a software-centric private equity firm with USD 122 billion in assets under management.
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