BOQ Group rolls out Confirmation of Payee to bolster scam protection

25 November 2025

BOQ Group is proud to announce that Confirmation of Payee (COP) is now available for Bank of Queensland, ME Bank1 and Virgin Money customers.

This new, industry-wide service has been introduced to help safeguard customers against scams and mistaken payments.

Confirmation of Payee provides a layer of protection for payments to a BSB and account number by matching the account details entered with the account details held by the recipient’s bank and displaying a match outcome. This helps customers make informed decisions before sending money, reducing the risk of scams and errors.

The launch comes at a crucial time as Australian banks join forces to tackle the widespread issue of scams. Internationally, the Confirmation of Payee service has led to significant improvements. In The Netherlands, there has been an 81% reduction in impersonation fraud and a 67% decrease in misdirected payments. Meanwhile, the UK has seen a 32% drop in invoice scams and a 30% reduction in investment scams since implementing the service.

What customers need to know:

  • No action is required to activate Confirmation of Payee.
  • The service checks details when adding a new or editing an existing payee and for all first-time payments to a BSB and account number.
  • If details do not match, customers are notified before payment is made, allowing them to stop, check, or contact the recipient.

BOQ Group, is committed to protecting our customers through technologies like Confirmation of Payee and by providing timely education and alerts.

BOQ Group has adopted a whole-of-ecosystem approach, working with industry, government, and intelligence partners to reduce the impact of scams.
Key initiatives include:

  • Confirmation of Payee, alerting customers when account names don’t match.
  • Enhanced onboarding controls in the digital bank and biometric authentication, achieving 98% fraud and scam intervention rates.
  • Crypto restrictions, addressing investment scams—the leading source of losses in 2024.
  • Advanced detection systems that monitor transactions in real time and flag suspicious behaviour.

BOQ Group also continues to invest in fraud and scam risk infrastructure to stay ahead in a dynamic threat environment.

For BOQ’s latest scam alerts and prevention tips, visit boq.com.au/fraud-and-scams

 

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Editor notes:

  1. Available on ME Go accounts only.