Setting a new benchmark for Verification Of Payee reliability across Europe

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Swan is a European fintech specialised in embedded banking. It enables businesses to integrate banking features—accounts, cards, and payments—directly into their software.

Processing over 2 billion euros in monthly transactions for 150+ companies including Pennylane, Indy, Agicap, Libeo and Lucca, Swan operates across 30 European countries. Founded in 2019 and backed by Lakestar, Accel, Creandum, Bpifrance and Eight Roads, the company is a principal member of Mastercard and a licensed financial institution regulated by the ACPR (Banque de France).

By handling regulatory and technical complexity, Swan powers the next generation of European business software—from accounting to HR to all-in-one management platforms. It provides the financial layer that helps hundreds of thousands of SMEs operate and grow with confidence.

In 2024, the European Payments Council introduced the new Verification Of Payee (VOP) regulation, giving payment service providers (PSPs) only a year to comply. For Swan, compliance was essential — but so were speed, reliability and user experience.

Handling over 2 billion euros in non-card transactions monthly through hundreds of partners meant Swan needed a partner capable of scaling rapidly while maintaining high performance.

Swan’s partner-led model drives rapid, sometimes unpredictable transaction growth, so infrastructure resiliency and cost predictability were key.

Swan also needed to retain control of the VOP matching algorithm. The team wanted flexibility to fine-tune distance, sensitivity and permutations to deliver a consistent and accurate experience for small businesses across Europe.

Following a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) with Europe’s main verification providers, Swan selected Mambu Payments’ VOP solution. Mambu’s proven infrastructure for SEPA transactions, strong SLAs on uptime and latency, and modern API architecture aligned closely with Swan’s product-driven approach.

Instead of integrating directly with the European Directory Service (EDS), Swan focused its effort on helping partners adapt their payment flows, reduce fraud and maintain a smooth user experience. Mambu’s flexible pricing model stayed predictable even as volumes spiked, making it easier for Swan to scale.

The collaboration was strengthened by Mambu’s local team in France, whose pragmatic support and regulatory knowledge helped accelerate delivery. With a flexible system that allowed Swan to fine-tune the matching algorithm for local contexts, the company delivered a highly accurate and reliable verification experience for small businesses across Europe.

Swan’s VOP launch on 9 October 2025 was one of the smoothest across the Eurozone.

While many well-established banks and PSPs faced disruptions and high error rates, Swan achieved uninterrupted processing of tens of thousands of transactions. In the first weeks after launch, the “Not Possible” rate for incoming VoP requests stayed below 0.4% — compared to an industry average of around 12% — and has continued to decline since.

With VOP now fully integrated, Swan continues to expand its embedded banking platform and explore new payment use cases. Lower failure rates mean fewer dropped payments, fewer support tickets, and a smoother payout experience for Swan’s partners and their end customers. The company remains focused on scaling across Europe while staying compliant, resilient and ready for growth.