How to Add a Trusted Transfer Recipient in Your Banking App

How to Add a Trusted Transfer Recipient in Your Banking App

Do you send money to the same person every month — perhaps to your granddaughter for rent, to your son for petrol, or to your hairdresser for her services? Each time you have to type out a long account number, digit by digit. You can make this much easier for yourself. This guide will show you, step by step, how to save that person once in your bank's app as a "trusted recipient". Then, next time you send money, you simply tap their name — no retyping the account number from scratch. Don't worry, you cannot break anything. If you make a mistake, you can always start again.

What is a "trusted recipient"?

A trusted recipient is simply a saved contact card in your bank's app, for a person or company you send money to often. You type in their name and account number once, and the bank remembers these details permanently. Next time you make a transfer, you choose that person from the list — the account number fills in by itself, so there is no risk of a mistake when copying it out.

In some banks, transfers to a saved, trusted recipient are treated as less risky. This means the bank may ask for fewer confirmations for such a transfer than for one sent to a completely new, unknown person. This is a convenience — but it does not free you from being careful. More on that shortly.

What to prepare before you start

• The exact account number of the recipient — ideally written down on paper or in a document, not "from memory".
• The recipient's name (or company name), so you can easily recognise them later on the list.
• Your phone within network range — the bank will send it a text message with a one-time code, a short string of digits confirming that it is really you adding the recipient.

Step by step — how to add a new recipient

1. Unlock your phone the way you usually do.
2. Tap your bank's app icon to open it.
3. Log in to the app — with your fingerprint, your face, or a password, whichever way you have set up.
4. At the bottom or top of the screen, find the "Transfers" tab — its icon often looks like two arrows arranged in a circle.
5. Tap that tab to open the transfers section.
6. Look for the words "Recipients" or "Recipient list" — sometimes it is hidden under a three-dot icon in the corner of the screen.
7. Tap those words to open the list of saved recipients.
8. Find and tap the "Add recipient" button — it may be marked with a plus sign "+".
9. In the field labelled "Recipient name", type the person's name, for example "Anna Kowalska", or the company name.
10. In the field labelled "Account number", type the recipient's account number slowly, digit by digit.
11. Compare the number you typed with your written source — check every digit once more.
12. Tap the blue "Next" or "Save" button.
13. Wait for a text message with a one-time code — it will arrive on your phone within a few seconds.
14. Open your text messages and read the code you were sent.
15. Go back to the bank app and type that code into the field provided for it.
16. Tap the "Confirm" button to approve adding the recipient.
17. Wait for the words "Recipient added" or a similar message — this is the sign that everything worked.

All done. From now on, this person will appear on your recipient list. Next time you send money, you simply tap their name, and the account number fills in by itself.

Careful — a trusted recipient is not the same as a safe transfer

Saving someone as a trusted recipient makes life easier, but it does not remove your responsibility. Remember a few rules:

• Only add people you know personally and truly trust.
• Always check the account number carefully before saving it — once it is on the list, it is easy to forget about it and stop checking it.
• Never add a recipient because someone on the phone, claiming to call "from the bank", asks you to — a real bank never asks this over the phone.

Scammers sometimes call and say something like: "Good morning, I'm calling from the bank's security department. To protect your money, please add the account I give you as a trusted recipient and read me the code from the text message." This is always a scam. The one rule that will protect you: hang up and call your bank yourself, using the number printed on the back of your payment card. Never read a text-message code to anyone over the phone — not to a "bank employee", not to a police officer, not to anyone. A real bank will never ask you for such a code.

What to do if something goes wrong

If your screen looks different from this description — don't worry. Different banks' apps look slightly different, and button names may vary. Just look for similar words: "Recipients", "Add", "Save".

• If the text-message code hasn't arrived after a few minutes — check that your phone has signal, and wait a little longer.
• If you made a mistake in the account number and haven't confirmed the addition yet — simply correct the number field before tapping "Confirm".
• If you notice a mistake after the recipient has already been added — you can remove them from the list in the same "Recipients" section and add them again with the correct details.
• If you have any doubts at all — call your bank using the number on the back of your payment card. Never a number given in a text message or by the person calling you.

Summary — remember these steps

If you're looking for a bank where adding trusted recipients is especially simple and convenient, you can calmly compare personal account offers at BankSorter.com.