Source: OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, pp. 1–39

Article 4 Information accompanying transfers of funds

Summary What does Article 4 of the Transfer of funds regulation (TFR) say?

This is a core operational article that sets out the full information requirements placed on the payer's payment service provider when executing a transfer of funds.

It establishes what data must accompany every transfer — covering both the payer and the payee — and crucially requires that this information be verified before the transfer is executed.

The article sits at the heart of the regulation's traceability framework, and Articles 5 and 6 provide derogations from some of its requirements in specific circumstances.

Important points:

Ensure every transfer of funds is accompanied by identifying information on both the payer and the payee, including names, account numbers, and address or date/place of birth details.
Verify the accuracy of payer information before executing any transfer, using documents, data, or information from a reliable and independent source.
Do not execute any transfer of funds before achieving full compliance with this article.

Springlex's summary of the article, a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.

1. The payment service provider of the payer shall ensure that transfers of funds are accompanied by the following information on the payer:
  1. the name of the payer;
  2. the payer’s payment account number;
  3. the payer’s address including the name of the country, official personal document number and customer identification number, or, alternatively, the payer’s date and place of birth; and
  4. subject to the existence of the necessary field in the relevant payments message format, and where provided by the payer to its payment service provider, the current LEI of the payer or, in its absence, any available equivalent official identifier.
1. The payment service provider of the payer shall ensure that transfers of funds are accompanied by the following information on the payee:
  1. the name of the payee;
  2. the payee’s payment account number; and
  3. subject to the existence of the necessary field in the relevant payments message format, and where provided by the payer to its payment service provider, the current LEI of the payee or, in its absence, any available equivalent official identifier.
1. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, point (b), and paragraph 2, point (b), in the case of a transfer not made to or from a payment account, the payment service provider of the payer shall ensure that the transfer of funds is accompanied by a unique transaction identifier rather than the payment account number.
1. Before transferring funds, the payment service provider of the payer shall verify the accuracy of the information referred to in paragraph 1 and, where applicable, in paragraph 3, on the basis of documents, data or information obtained from a reliable and independent source.
1. Verification as referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be deemed to have taken place where one of the following applies:
  1. the identity of the payer has been verified in accordance with Article 13 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 and the information obtained pursuant to that verification has been retained in accordance with Article 40 of that Directive;
  2. Article 14(5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 applies to the payer.
1. Without prejudice to the derogations provided for in Articles 5 and 6, the payment service provider of the payer shall not execute any transfer of funds before ensuring full compliance with this Article.

Relevant recitals

Recital 16 Traceability of transfers as a tool for AML/CFT and restrictive measures

The traceability of transfers of funds and crypto-assets can be a particularly important and valuable tool in the prevention, detection and investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as in the implementation of restrictive measures, in particular those imposed by Regulations (EC) No 2580/2001, (EC) No 881/2002 and (EU) No 356/2010. It is therefore appropriate, in order to ensure the transmission of information throughout the payment chain or the transfer of crypto-assets chain, to provide for a system imposing the obligation on payment service providers to accompany transfers of funds with information on the payer and the payee and the obligation on crypto-asset service providers to accompany transfers of crypto-assets with information on the originator and the beneficiary.

Recital 28 Obligation to ensure completeness of payer, payee, originator and beneficiary information

Payment service providers and crypto-asset service providers should ensure that the information on the payer and the payee or on the originator and the beneficiary is not missing or incomplete.

Recital 29 Verification threshold of EUR 1 000 for transfers of funds

In order not to impair the efficiency of payment systems and in order to balance the risk of driving transactions underground as a result of overly strict identification requirements against the potential terrorist threat posed by small transfers of funds, the obligation to check whether information on the payer or the payee is accurate should, in the case of transfers of funds where verification has not yet taken place, be imposed only in respect of individual transfers of funds that exceed EUR 1 000, unless the transfer appears to be linked to other transfers of funds which together would exceed EUR 1 000, the funds have been received or paid out in cash or in anonymous electronic money, or where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting money laundering or terrorist financing.

Recital 31 No re-verification where customer due diligence has already taken place

For transfers of funds or for transfers of crypto-assets where verification is deemed to have taken place, payment service providers and crypto-asset service providers should not be required to verify the accuracy of the information on the payer or the payee accompanying each transfer of funds, or on the originator and the beneficiary accompanying each transfer of crypto-assets, provided that the obligations laid down in Directive (EU) 2015/849 are met.

Recital 33 Complete information including LEI for transfers to outside the Union

In order to allow the authorities responsible for combating money laundering or terrorist financing in third countries to trace the source of funds or crypto-assets used for those purposes, transfers of funds or transfers of crypto-assets from the Union to outside the Union should carry complete information on the payer and the payee, in respect of transfers of funds, and on the originator and the beneficiary, in respect of transfers of crypto-assets. Complete information on the payer and the payee should include the legal entity identifier (LEI), or any equivalent official identifier, where that identifier is provided by the payer to its payment service provider, since that would allow for better identification of the parties involved in a transfer of funds and could easily be included in existing payment message formats, such as that developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation for electronic data interchange between financial institutions. The authorities responsible for combating money laundering or terrorist financing in third countries should be granted access to complete information on the payer and the payee or on the originator and the beneficiary, as applicable, only for the purposes of preventing, detecting and investigating money laundering and terrorist financing.

Table of contents

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