The European Payments Council (EPC) announced the successful completion of the Pilot phase of its API Reference Toolbox (ART) test and self-certification platform for the Verification Of Payee (VOP) scheme. Following this milestone, the platform is officially opened to all Routing and/or Verification Mechanisms (RVMs) as of today.
The VOP scheme allows Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to meet the Instant Payment Regulation (IPR) requirement to offer as of October 2025 an IBAN-name check service before payers authorise a payment via credit transfer or instant credit transfer.
VOP is a scheme based on APIs expected to be implemented by thousands of PSPs in Europe and with the introduction of the ART test and self-certification platform, in collaboration with StreamMind, the EPC aims to mitigate interoperability risks among VOP scheme participants.
Routing and/or Verification Mechanisms (RVMs) will play a crucial role in ensuring reachability and interoperability within the VOP Scheme, as it is expected a large number of PSPs will operate through an RVM. For this reason, the EPC requires the RVMs to successfully complete a self-certification on the ART platform to demonstrate compliance with the VOP API specifications.
Platform Now Open to All RVMs
The EPC is happy to announce that it successfully completed a Pilot of ART with a limited number of participants. As of now, the platform is open to all RVMs for testing and to start their self-certification process.
Next Phase
Starting in mid-June 2025, the platform will also be made available to PSPs not using the services of an RVM, to test and certify on a voluntary basis their VOP API implementation.
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