Why does my bank say the check isn't possible?

The wider picture

The key points from the guide this answer comes from:

1. Since 9 October 2025, banks and payment providers in the euro area must check the payee's name against the IBAN before you authorize a euro transfer, free of charge. Providers in EU countries outside the euro area follow on 9 July 2027.
2. The payer sees one of four results: match, close match (with the name actually held), no match, or check not possible. They can still send the payment after a warning.
3. If you pay after a no match warning and the money reaches the wrong account, your bank isn't liable. If your bank skipped the check and that led to a wrong payment, it must refund you.
4. To be paid without warnings, give payers your company's legal name exactly as your bank holds it. A trading name or a missing legal form is the usual cause of a close match.

More questions on this

• Is Verification of Payee the same as the UK's Confirmation of Payee?
• Can my company switch Verification of Payee off?
• Does Verification of Payee cost anything?
• Does it apply to payments in other currencies or from outside the EU?

The full guide

Since 9 October 2025, euro area providers must check the payee's name against the IBAN before you authorize a euro transfer. Act on a close match or no match when you pay, and give payers your exact legal name so they see a match when they pay you.

Read Verification of Payee: what the EU name check means for business payments, with its sources.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and providers' terms change; check the sources in the guide and take advice on your own situation.