Confirmation of Payee (CoP)

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This feature is currently in Beta phase.

Overview

To perform a Confirmation of Payee (CoP) check, submit the customer's bank account details in the API request. You will need to provide the following fields:

• account_name: The account holder's name (e.g., "Mr John Smith").
• account_number: The bank account number.
• sort_code: The bank’s sort code.
• account_type: This should be either "business" or "personal", depending on the type of account being checked.
• scheme: This parameter must always be set to "faster_payments" to ensure compatibility.

API Request Example

POST - /tools/confirmation-of-payee

{
  "scheme": "faster_payments",
  "account_name": "Mr John Smith",
  "sort_code": "123456",
  "account_number": "98765432",
  "account_type": "personal"
}

Response

Once Acquired processes the request, the system will validate the account details with the customer’s bank and return a result.

• A successful request will generate an id, which is associated with the verification check.
• The status field will indicate the outcome, with the following possible values:
  • "matched": The provided account name and details match exactly.
  • "partial_match": The account details partially match (e.g., name close but not exact).
  • "not_matched": The details do not match the account on file.

Example Response (Successful Match)

{
  "id": "bd3fbbcd-411e-4760-8a9f-7af420d26314",
  "status": "matched",
  "reason": "",
  "account_name": ""
}

Once Acquired processes the request, the system will validate the account details with the customer’s bank and return a result. If the status is "partial_match" or "not_matched", the reason field will be included to provide more context. These can help identify why the check did not fully succeed.

Example Response (Partial or No Match)

{
  "id": "bd3fbbcd-411e-4760-8a9f-7af420d26314",
  "status": "not_matched",
  "reason": "account_name_does_not_match",
  "account_name": ""
}

Special Case: Close Matches

If the status is "partial_match", and the reason is "account_name_maybe_match", "business_account_name_maybe_match", or "personal_account_name_match", the API will also return the actual account name on record, allowing you to view the close match.

Example Close Match Response

{
  "id": "bd3fbbcd-411e-4760-8a9f-7af420d26314",
  "status": "partial_match",
  "reason": "account_name_maybe_match",
  "account_name": "Mr John Smith"
}

Error Handling

In the event of invalid data (e.g., incorrect account_number or sort_code), the API will return an appropriate error message. Ensure you are validating the input data before making the request.

Reason Values

The table below lists the possible reason values and their corresponding descriptions to help you interpret the results: