Incoming Verification of Payee requests

Swan automatically responds to VoP requests from other Payment Service Providers (PSPs) when they verify details before sending transfers to Swan accounts.

Regulatory requirement

Under the European Instant Payments Regulation (IPR), all PSPs in the SEPA zone must offer VoP services for incoming transfers.

How incoming VoP works

When another PSP initiates a transfer to a Swan account, they first send a VoP request to verify the beneficiary details. Swan automatically processes these requests and returns a verification result.

Process overview

Swan operates as a responding PSP registered with the EPC Directory Service (EDS).

No action required

This process is automatic. Swan handles all incoming VoP requests; no implementation is required.

Supported identification types

Swan supports the following payee identification types with a Swan Bank Identifier Code (BIC):

Name

The name of the legal entity or of the individual: AccountHolderInfo.name.

Tax number

The number assigned by a tax authority to identify an organisation:

• Company IBAN: AccountHolder.registration.taxIdentificationNumber.
• Individual IBAN: Not applicable.

Company identification

The identification assigned to an organization by a national authority (e.g., corporate registration number):

• Company IBAN: AccountHolder.registration.
• Individual IBAN: Not applicable.

SIREN

The SIREN number is a 9-digit code assigned by INSEE, the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies, to identify an organisation in France:

• Company IBAN: AccountHolder.registration (same as company_identification).
• Individual IBAN: Not applicable.

Matching algorithm

Swan uses an enhanced matching algorithm that checks multiple name variations to improve verification success rates.

Company accounts

For company accounts, Swan checks the received name against six variations:

1. Legal name (AccountHolderInfo.name)
2. Trade name (CompanyInfo.tradeName)
3. Legal name + "Swan"
4. Trade name + "Swan"
5. Legal name + Project name (ProjectInfo.name)
6. Trade name + Project name

Example: Swan receives "Awesome Company" for an IBAN.

Received name	Swan checks against	Result type
Awesome Company	Legal name: "AWESOME COMPANY SAS"	Close match (79%)
Awesome Company	Trade name: "Awesome Company"	Match (100%)
Awesome Company	Legal name + Swan: "AWESOME COMPANY SAS Swan"	No match (62%)
Awesome Company	Trade name + Swan: "Awesome Company Swan"	Close match (75%)
Awesome Company	Legal name + Project: "AWESOME COMPANY SAS FinanceApp"	No match (50%)
Awesome Company	Trade name + Project: "Awesome Company FinanceApp"	No match (58%)

Swan checks all variations and returns the best matching result to the requesting PSP.

Individual accounts

For individual accounts, Swan checks the received name against three variations:

1. Individual name (AccountHolderInfo.name)
2. Individual name + "Swan"
3. Individual name + Project name (ProjectInfo.name)

Example: Swan receives "Henri Dubois" for an individual IBAN.

Received name	Swan checks against	Result type
Henri Dubois	Individual name: "Henri Dubois"	Match (100%)
Henri Dubois	Individual name + Swan: "Henri Dubois Swan"	Close match (71%)
Henri Dubois	Individual name + Project: "Henri Dubois PayApp"	No match (63%)

Swan checks all variations and returns the best matching result to the requesting PSP.

Account holder information accuracy

To ensure successful incoming transfers, your users must provide senders with their exact account name and IBAN as they appear on their Swan account. Swan verifies incoming transfers against the legal name and details registered in the system.

Key points to communicate to your users:

• Use the complete legal name, including all registered middle names.
• Ensure all names are spelled correctly.
• For business accounts, use the full legal company name, not a trade or merchant name.
• Consider sharing your trade name if it differs significantly from your legal name, as Swan's matching algorithm also checks trade names.

You may share our end-user support article to assist with user training.

Example: If a company's legal name is "MY COMPANY SAS" but they operate as "Awesome Company", senders can use either name. Swan's matching algorithm checks both the legal name and trade name to improve verification success. Similarly, if an account holder's name is "Henri Charles Dupont," senders should use the complete name, not just "Henri Dupont."

Updating trade names for VoP matching

Swan's matching algorithm checks both the legal company name and the trade name. If an account holder's trade name is missing or incorrect, incoming VoP requests might not match successfully when senders use the trade name.

To add or update a trade name, contact Swan Support:

• Single account holder: Submit one ticket with the account holder ID and the trade name to add or update.
• Multiple account holders: Submit one consolidated ticket with all account holder IDs and their corresponding trade names.

KYC review required

Trade name updates require a KYC review by our compliance team. Allow time for processing when planning updates.

Example: If your client operates as "Tech Solutions Pro" but their legal name is "Tech Solutions Pro SARL", VoP requests using "Tech Solutions Pro" will only match successfully if the trade name is registered. Without a registered trade name, VoP requests will match against "Tech Solutions Pro SARL" only, which could result in a close match or no match depending on what the sender provides.

VoP matching and results

Swan returns verification results based on how closely the provided details match the account holder information. Understanding these results helps you anticipate what other PSPs experience when sending transfers to Swan accounts.

Verification outcomes

Swan returns one of four possible results:

Result type	When it occurs	Matching approach
Match	Exact or very close match (100% similarity for names)	Name: Levenshtein distance ID numbers: Exact match
Close match	Similar but not identical (70-99% similarity for names)	Name: Levenshtein distance
No match	Significant differences (under 70% similarity for names)	Name: Levenshtein distance ID numbers: Exact match
Impossible to match	Account not found, unsupported ID type, or account with Closed or Suspended status	Not applicable

Name matching examples

Individual names:

• "Henri Dupont" vs "Henri Dupont" → Match (100% similarity)
• "Henri Dupont" vs "Henri Dupond" → Close match (92% similarity)
• "Henri Dupont" vs "Henry Dupond" → Close match (83% similarity)
• "Henri Dupont" vs "Malika Ngoma" → No match (8% similarity)

Company names:

• "Awesome Company SAS" vs "Awesome Company SAS" → Match (100% similarity)
• "Awesome Company" vs "Awesome Company SAS" → Close match (83% similarity)
• "Awesome Co" vs "Awesome Company" → Close match (73% similarity)
• "Different Business Ltd" vs "Awesome Company SAS" → No match (15% similarity)

ID number matching examples

ID numbers require exact matches:

• Stored: "DE136695976", Received: "136695976" → No match
• Stored: "9234.56.788", Received: "923456788" → No match
• Stored: "DE136695976", Received: "DE136695976" → Match

What this means for transfers

Since VoP verification happens before the actual transfer, Swan cannot link incoming transfers to previous VoP requests. The requesting PSP decides whether to proceed based on the verification result - transfers can still arrive even after a "No match" result.

Monitoring and logging

Starting Q4 2025, Swan will log VoP requests and results to compile statistics and improve the matching algorithm configuration if necessary.

Next steps

→ Learn how to verify beneficiary details using the verifyBeneficiary mutation
→ Configure bulk credit transfers with VoP for high-volume use cases
→ Understand the complete VoP ecosystem with Verification of Payee overview