Bulgaria to check payee names on IBANs

What happened

Banks in Bulgaria will start rolling out a free check of the recipient’s name against the IBAN on 1 December 2026, and all banks and other payment service providers in the country are expected to offer it by 1 January 2027, the Association of Banks in Bulgaria (ABB) said, as reported by BurgasMedia on 2 November and Novinite on 3 November. The service, called Verification of Payee (VoP), compares the name you type with the name of the account holder before you confirm a euro credit transfer.

How the check works

The check is built into the transfer, so you do not have to ask for it, and it usually takes a few seconds. It covers standard and instant transfers in euro made in mobile banking, online banking or at a branch. There are four possible results: a full match; a partial match, where the names are similar and the bank shows you the registered name so you can correct it; no match; and a case where the check cannot be completed, for example because of a temporary technical problem or because the recipient’s bank does not yet offer the service.

What if the names don’t match

A warning does not block the payment, and the final decision stays with the payer. ABB advises checking the details again and, if in doubt, contacting the recipient through a channel you already know and trust; going ahead despite the warning risks sending money to the wrong person or company. FinTech Weekly notes that under the EU rules, liability shifts to the payer who proceeds after a no-match warning. ABB also suggests tidying up saved recipients: replace nicknames and labels such as “Mum” or “Rent” with the full name on the ID document, or the company’s official name.

Background: EU rules and the euro

The requirement comes from Regulation (EU) 2024/886 on instant payments. In the euro area, VoP went live on 9 October 2025, and in October 2026 the European Banking Authority described the rollout as broadly successful while noting teething problems, especially for businesses that send payments in bulk, FinTech Weekly reports. Bulgaria adopted the euro at the start of 2026, and a Bulgarian National Bank official told BTA that the country has until 1 January 2027 to apply the regulation. Payment and e-money institutions in the euro area must be able to send and receive instant euro transfers by 9 April 2027, and providers outside the euro area follow on 9 July 2027.

Why it matters for payments

Fast transfers leave little time to stop a mistake. FinTech Weekly cites ECB figures showing that payment fraud in the EU rose from €3.5 billion in 2023 to €4.2 billion in 2024, and a joint EBA and ECB report found that fraud on instant payments grew faster than the number of transactions. A name check before sending targets a common trick: fake invoices or messages that swap in a different IBAN. Whether you use a bank, a money transfer app or a wire transfer, the check adds a step that can catch an error before the money leaves your account.

What to watch next

Watch how quickly Bulgarian banks switch the service on in December, how often customers see partial or no-match results in the first weeks, and whether businesses that pay suppliers in batches opt out, as some have done in the euro area. The next milestone for the rest of the EU is July 2027, when VoP becomes mandatory for providers outside the euro area.

What it means for Odix Pay users

When you send euros with Odix money transfer, double-check the recipient’s full name and IBAN before you confirm; the fee and exchange rate are shown in the app before you send. If you receive payments to a personal EUR IBAN in your own name, give payers the exact name your account is registered under, so name checks at their bank can match. Availability depends on your country, and fees are shown in the app.