Banco de Portugal launches services to facilitate bank transfers and mitigate fraud

From May 20th, banks will be obliged to provide their customers with the identification of the beneficiary to whom they make transfers through the APP, home banking or at the branch, just as happens when a transfer is made at the Multibanco (ATM) and before Finally, the full name of the beneficiary appears.

From June 24th, they will also offer the possibility for customers to make transfers via cell phone as long as it is linked to a bank account, similar to what happens with MBWay which is linked to a card.

Making it easier and more transparent, while mitigating fraud, is the objective of the new tool that will be launched on May 20th, which will be launched as the administrator responsible for vestments, Hélder Rosalino, had already announced.

This is a feature that Banco de Portugal considers essential to avoid fraud and errors when making transfers.

In other words, banks will have to be available to confirm the beneficiary to whom the customer is sending money, before giving the final “ok”.

A first step to avoid fraud, but also to make life easier for the customer and avoid situations such as messages sent in the name of children for parents to send money through a specific banking channel.

This functionality will allow channel users homebanking or the bank’s APP and even at the counter you verify that the beneficiary of the credit transfer is indeed the holder of the account to which you want to send the money.

The Bank of Portugal emphasizes, this Thursday when it released the Payment Systems report for the year 2023, that “this functionality will contribute in a very relevant way to minimizing the possibility of sending funds to the wrong recipients and combating fraud situations ”.

This functionality must be accepted by users.

Associate mobile phone with an account

Also to make life easier for bank customers, Banco de Portugal launches from June 24th and gradually, until September, a functionality to transfer money (on credit or immediately (as with MBWay) without the customer you need to have the IBAN (PT 50…..).

And without the money remaining in no man’s land, that is, it has already left the account, but has not yet reached the other one.

The name of the tool is Proxy Lookup, which will be renamed to make it more attractive, and will allow you to make normal and immediate credit transfers between accounts – not between cards as happens with MBWay – “from the homebankingAPP that you download on your cell phone or computer, just entering “a cell phone number or, if it is for a company, its tax identification number (NIPC).

Fraud and losses of 5 million euros

Despite warnings about the care that bank customers must take when using different forms of payment and also when making transfers, there continues to be fraud in the execution of payment operations and manipulation of the most distracted.

In 2023, losses associated with fraud with cards and credit transfers, in the first half of the year alone, amounted to 5 million, according to data from Banco de Portugal.

And although these registered a reduction in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, 37.4% in card fraud and 34% in credit transfers, it is necessary to remain alert.

In card transactions, 73.7% of losses were
supported by institutions. Regarding transfers, 83.5% of losses were borne by users as they shared their security credentials or personal data, or did so willingly without taking the necessary precautions into account.