Verify a bank account before you pay

It is a check, sometimes called an AVS check, that asks the account holder's bank whether an account exists, is open and belongs to a given ID number, passport number or company registration number. The bank answers yes or no. It does not show balances, transactions or the holder's details.

The account number, the bank, and the account holder's name with their South African ID number (or passport number, if the holder is not South African), or the registered company name with its CIPC registration number. You do not need a branch code: we use the bank's universal branch code. The account type is optional.

Absa, Access Bank, African Bank, Bank Zero, Bidvest Bank, Capitec, Discovery Bank, FNB, GoTyme Bank, Grindrod Bank, Investec, Nedbank, Sasfin Bank, Standard Bank. Capitec Business and Mercantile Bank business accounts use a different, slower check and are not supported yet.

A yes or no from the bank for each check: the account exists, is open, belongs to the ID, passport or registration number you entered, matches the account type, accepts payments and accepts debit orders. It also repeats the details you entered, the time of the check, the purpose you gave and a reference.

That is still a completed check, so it is not refunded: you get the PDF that says the account did not verify, and which checks failed. Do not pay into the account until you have confirmed the details another way, for example by calling the supplier on a number you already have.

We keep retrying, usually for about an hour. If the bank still cannot answer, your payment is refunded in full. A refund can take a few business days to reach your card.

You need a lawful reason under POPIA, such as paying a supplier or setting up a debit order, and you use the result only for that purpose. Many businesses ask for consent in their supplier or customer onboarding form. You choose your purpose when you order, and we keep it on the audit record.

No. The account number and the holder's name and ID, passport or registration number are removed from the order as soon as the check finishes. We keep an audit record: your name and email, the bank, the last four digits of the account, salted hashes of the account number and the ID, passport or registration number, the purpose you gave, the result, the price and payment references.

No. It is a CheckID summary of the bank's answer at the time of the check, obtained through our verification provider VerifyNow. It is not a bank-stamped letter, a guarantee that future payments will succeed, or proof that the holder agreed to a debit order.

To stop stolen bank details being tested, the same account number and the same ID, passport or registration number can each be checked three times a day, and each account can run ten bank checks a day.