Confirmation of Payee

Confirmation of Payee is an industry-wide service that adds a layer of protection for payments to a BSB and account number. It checks the account name, BSB and account number that a payer has entered against the details held by the recipient's bank and lets the payer know whether it's a match. The payer can then make an informed decision on how to proceed, reducing the risk of scams and mistaken payments.

When you make a payment to a new payee or update an existing payee’s details in Macquarie Online Banking or the Macquarie Mobile Banking app, Confirmation of Payee checks the account name, BSB and account number you’ve entered against the details held by the recipient’s bank. When the check is complete, you will be given the match result advising whether the recipient’s account name matches what you have entered before you decide to progress with the payment. It is still your responsibility to ensure you are paying the right person. We encourage you to always take steps to make sure you know who you are paying, as scams or mistaken payments may be difficult to recover.

When someone is trying to make a payment to your Macquarie account, we may tell them (through their bank) your account name to help validate the match outcome.
 

No, the Confirmation of Payee service will automatically check the details whenever you make a payment to a BSB and account number for the first time, or when you edit a payee's details. The same will happen for people making payments to you, depending on when their bank commences the Confirmation of Payee service.

If we believe that you are misusing the Confirmation of Payee service, we may limit or suspend your use of the service.

Confirmation of Payee is only available for Pay Anyone payments made to an Australian account number and BSB via Macquarie Online Banking and the Macquarie Mobile Banking app. Confirmation of Payee is only triggered when making a payment to a new payee or editing a saved payee’s details.

No, Confirmation of Payee does not apply to payments made via PayID.

The Confirmation of Payee match outcomes that will be displayed to payers are:

• Match
• Close match 
• No match 
• Name couldn’t be verified
• Account is closed or invalid

Confirmation of Payee won’t stop you from completing a payment (unless the account is closed or invalid). However, we encourage you to always take steps to make sure you know who you are paying, as scams or mistaken payments may be difficult to recover​ if funds are sent to the wrong account.

You should contact the recipient using trusted contact details to check that the account name, BSB and account number you have entered are correct before proceeding with the payment. It’s your responsibility to ensure the account details you are using to make a payment are correct regardless of the match outcome.

To learn more about what to look out for to avoid scams, please refer to our Scam tips.

Ask the payer to confirm what account details they entered when attempting to make the payment. If the account number and BSB you provided were correct, provide the payer with the full legal account name of the account you want them to pay into.

On Macquarie Online Banking:

1. Hover over account
2. Select I want to
3. Select View account details / View account and interest details in the menu drop-down
4. This will take you to Account details where you can view your Account name
    

On the Macquarie Mobile Banking app:

1. Click on your account from the account list
2. Select I want to
3. Select View account details / View account and interest details in the menu
4. This will take you to Account details where you can view your Account name.
    

To change your personal name on your accounts, refer to Viewing or updating your details.

Individual accounts

If you’re receiving money into an individual account, the person paying you will be shown the account name only if the name they’ve entered is a match or close match to your account name. For example, if the payer enters ‘Will Thomas' or ‘Billy Thomas’ and the account name is ‘William Thomas’, this may be considered a match and the account name will be displayed to the payer.

Joint accounts

If you hold a joint account and the payer enters one account holder’s name, only that name will be displayed to the payer followed by ‘and others’ to indicate there are other account holders.

Non-individual accounts

If you hold a non-individual account that’s receiving a payment, the name of your account will be shown to the payer, regardless of whether it’s a match or not. 

Non-individual accounts include:

• Business accounts
• Government organisation accounts  
• Corporate trustee accounts

If the account number you’re entering exceeds the account number field limit and starts with three leading zeros, you can omit the zeros and check those account details match. If you’re still unsure, contact the recipient using trusted contact details to verify their details before proceeding with the payment. 

If someone is trying to pay your Macquarie account which starts with three leading zeroes and they’re not able to enter in your full account number (i.e. if it’s 12 digits long), the payer should omit the three leading zeros at the start of your account number. For example, if your account number is 000123456789, they should enter 123456789 instead.