An authorized push payment is a transfer that the account holder starts and confirms. The holder tells the bank whom to pay and how much. The bank sends the money because the holder asked, not because a biller pulled it.
Across the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), a credit transfer works this way. The holder’s bank pushes the funds toward the recipient’s bank after the holder has approved the payment.
Why the Holder’s Approval Is the Risk
The bank’s check is that this holder really did approve the transfer. It does not, by itself, prove that the recipient is the person the holder meant to pay. A false invoice or a false support call can persuade the holder to approve a real transfer to the wrong account.
- The holder starts it. The instruction comes from the holder’s session or from a payment file the holder released.
- The bank can confirm the action. A second prompt, a limit, or a review queue can sit between the request and the send.
- The name can still be wrong. Matching the account number does not always match the name the holder was shown.
Push Transfer and Pull Collection
| Compared | Push Transfer | Pull Collection |
| Who starts the movement | The account holder who is paying | The biller, after an earlier mandate |
| What the bank relies on | The holder’s approval of this transfer | The mandate that lets the biller collect |
| A payment to the wrong party | The holder was persuaded to approve it | The biller used a mandate the holder disputes |
