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The European Payments Council (EPC) has issued a public call for interest to Directory Service Providers as it advances the implementation of its Verification of Payee (VoP) scheme, set to become mandatory for SEPA transactions from October.
Under the new VoP framework, payment service providers (PSPs) will be required to offer IBAN and account name matching services to enhance payment accuracy and fraud prevention.
To support this rollout, the EPC has partnered with Swift to build the EPC Directory Service (EDS)—a centralized platform that stores essential information about scheme participants. The EDS is designed to ensure secure identification, authorisation, interoperability, and reliable reachability across the VoP ecosystem.
Now, the EPC is reaching out to Directory Service Providers—entities managing directories of BICs (Bank Identifier Codes), official national identifiers, and/or IBAN ranges, and those capable of retrieving BICs from account numbers—to collaborate on validating and testing routing logic.
Specifically, the EPC is looking to:
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Verify the availability of the necessary Account-Holding BIC (AHB) data to ensure accurate EDS configuration in line with scheme requirements.
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Collaborate on testing the IBAN-to-BIC mapping algorithm that VoP participants will use when processing VoP requests.
Interested Directory Service Providers are encouraged to express their interest and submit proposals by 18 July 2025, via email as specified by the EPC.
The Council’s engagement with service providers is a key step in preparing the industry for secure, transparent, and fraud-resistant payment processes, as the VoP scheme becomes an operational reality across SEPA.
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