National bank transfers will have, as of May 20th, new features, which the Bank of Portugal (BdP) considers will help reduce fraud. In practice, the prior confirmation of the money's beneficiary will be necessary - but there is more.

What changes?

• Confirmation of the beneficiary

When a transfer is made between national accounts in a Multibanco ATM, the name of the person or entity that will receive the money appears, allowing the transferor to confirm in advance that they are sending money to the correct beneficiary before giving the final transfer order.

It is this functionality that the Bank of Portugal is now extending to all transfers on all channels made available by banks, such as 'homebanking' or the banks' 'app' (application) that customers have on their mobile phones.

This functionality will also be present in direct debits to confirm that the debtor is the account holder to be debited.

In the 2023 Payment Systems Report, released today, the Bank of Portugal considers that this service will reduce fraud risks by minimizing the possibility of sending money to incorrect recipients.

• Transfers only with the phone number

As of June 24th (until September the execution by the banks will be gradual), it will be possible to make transfers between national bank accounts (normal or immediate transfers) by entering only the beneficiary's mobile phone number.

In other words, what already happens on the MBWay network will now happen in all transfers between national accounts, whether made in 'homebanking', in the bank's 'app' or at the counter.

If the beneficiary is a company, the person making the transfer can only indicate the NIPC (the company's tax identification number).

In this system, currently called 'proxy lookup', users have to associate their mobile phone number (it can be a foreign mobile phone number) with an account.

Leia Também: Bank transfers with beneficiary confirmation on May 20th (Portuguese version)