iPiD sets a new standard in payment security with Microsoft Azure

July 9, 2025

Around the globe, cross-border payments have introduced new complexities—from rising fraud and scams to regulatory demands across jurisdictions. iPiD, a global leader in payee verification solutions, is ready to meet these challenges head-on. Founded in 2021, iPiD empowers businesses to strengthen payment security, improve operational efficiency, and deliver better customer experiences—all while aligning with critical compliance frameworks.

And for financial institutions and payment service providers (PSPs) in Europe, implementing a payee verification solution has never been more critical than it is now. Inspired by the UK’s successful Confirmation of Payee (CoP) regulation, which was introduced in 2020, the upcoming EU Verification of Payee (VoP) broadens and standardizes these measures across Europe.

Starting in October 2025, VoP will require businesses to verify that a payment is being sent to the intended recipient by matching the name provided by the payer with the name registered to the recipient’s bank account. Like the CoP, this initiative aims to reduce misdirected payments and fraud for both domestic and cross-border payments—and iPiD has the solutions and expertise to help.

Backed by their partnership with Microsoft, the Singapore-based company—with global offices spanning from New York, London, and Paris to Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, and Mumbai—is on a mission to make cross-border payments safer and simpler with real-time pre-validation. “Our vision is to support innovation in payments by addressing some of the major challenges that persist in the processing of cross-border payments,” said Greg Huguet, iPiD’s Regional Director of Europe. “A key part of that is being able to identify and validate the details of the beneficiary for any payment you make—before you make it.”

What’s in a name: The importance of matching

When it comes to cross-border payments, accuracy is key. Entering incorrect account details can lead to operational delays, rejected payments, and compliance risks—and that’s why name matching and validation are so critical.

Under the VoP regulations, financial institutions will have to verify that the name provided by the payer matches the name registered to the recipient’s bank account to combat payment scams effectively. These names should be classified into one of three categories before a payment is processed:

Optimizing the matching process with iPiD Match, built on Microsoft Azure

Faced with the intricate nuances of name matching, iPiD developed iPiD Match—a proprietary algorithm designed to balance precision, speed, and compliance. Powered by Azure OpenAI Service, iPiD Match uses advanced tools such as PostgreSQL to help organizations—like one of iPiD’s customers, iBanFirst—meet the requirements of CoP and VoP regulations.

Founded in 2016, iBanFirst offers a next-generation cross-border payment platform and experience for executives and finance teams. To simplify their own payee verification process and stay compliant ahead of the upcoming regulatory requirements, iBanFirst chose iPiD’s core Know Your Payee (KYP) solution, iPiD Node—which includes iPiD Match for customizable internal name matching, enterprise-grade security, performance tracking, threat detection, and more.

KYP is a financial due diligence process used to verify the identity and legitimacy of a payee in transactions, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and mitigating fraud risks. The term, popularized by iPiD, is an extension of the Know Your Customer and Know Your Business frameworks.

With iPiD Node, PSPs get a unified platform that consolidates CoP, VoP, and cross-border payment validation, eliminating the need for multiple integrations. What’s more, this advanced algorithm can be tailored for jurisdiction-specific standards, cultural habits, and naming conventions. Take joint bank accounts, for example: if both spouses’ names are on the account and a payment is made to just one of them, a basic matching algorithm won’t identify it as a close match. This becomes even more frustrating in countries like Spain, where it’s common for a person to have up to five or six names.

That’s where an advanced matching algorithm can make all the difference—giving businesses the flexibility to tailor it to their unique needs, whether they’re operating in Spain, Portugal, or beyond. “With Microsoft in the architecture of our solution, we’re able to provide a unique version of the algorithm to all customers,” said Huguet.

Another reason Azure was critical to their solution and implementation: the built-in security and compliance with the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which standardizes how financial entities report cybersecurity incidents, test their digital operational resilience, and manage risk across the financial services sector. “Azure is completely aligned with the requirements of the regulation,” said Huguet. “We would not be able to provide our service, which is there for regulatory use cases, without Microsoft meeting these requirements.”

Partnering with Microsoft hasn’t just strengthened their solution’s capabilities—it has also strengthened trust with their customers. “As a small organization, hosting our solution on the Microsoft Cloud allows us to provide the level of security and resiliency that large financial institutions expect and require per local regulations,” Huguet said. “We would not be able to deliver on this without the support or partnership of Microsoft.”

Benefits beyond compliance

For iPiD, meeting regulatory requirements is a given; the real differentiator is the value their solution brings beyond compliance—including fraud prevention, operational efficiency, and an elevated customer experience.

Huguet noted that fraud is rising with payment processing because payments are happening so much faster (plus the sheer volume of payments is growing). “When the payments take seconds, if there's a fraud, there's no way to catch it,” he said, “so that pre-validation is becoming more and more important.”

Operational efficiency is another critical factor: “5 to 10% of payments are delayed or rejected because data is incorrect,” he said. iPiD’s solution helps reduce these inefficiencies, ensuring smoother transactions and fewer disruptions.

Between better fraud protection and accuracy, this pre-validation can ultimately improve the overall customer experience. “Similarly to when you get packages delivered and they pre-check your address, there will be no question about whether you incorporated the right address or if you made a mistake,” said Huguet.

Paving the way to safer, smoother payments

As fraud cases become more complex, businesses will need to capture even more data points for payment validation. iPiD is working toward incorporating contextual data points—which go beyond name matches to include aspects associated with a customer’s account—into their algorithm to identify risk scores and red flags. And to do this, they’ll continue to lean into their partnership with Microsoft to make their vision a reality.

“We have the ideas and expertise—partnering with Microsoft makes it possible to implement them,” Huguet said. By empowering businesses to reduce fraud, streamline operations, and stay compliant, iPiD isn't just transforming cross-border payments—they're redefining the global financial landscape.