Banks begin verifying payee names in October – use Kansaneläkelaitos in all payments to Kela
As of October 2025, all payments made to Kela must be addressed to Kansaneläkelaitos for the payment to be transmitted correctly. If you enter some other name in the field where you have to write down the name of the payment recipient (payee), your bank may tell you that the payment information does not match.
According to a new EU regulation on instant payments, banks must begin verifying the name of the payee before they can transmit a payment to them starting from October 2025. The aim of this change is to improve the security of payments.
If the name of the payee does not match the official name on the bank’s record, your online bank may tell you that the payment information does not match. You may get this kind of notification for example if you write Kela in the payee field instead of Kansaneläkelaitos.
In this case, the payment will not be transmitted automatically, but the customer must check the details and either approve or reject the payment.
Use the name Kansaneläkelaitos when making payments to Kela
From October 2025 onwards, you must use Kela’s official Finnish name (Kansaneläkelaitos) when you make a payment to Kela. This applies to all payments Kela’s customers and partner organisations make to Kela, such as customer payments that relate to recovered benefits and repayments made by partner organisations.
We recommend that all customers and partner organisations check that they use the correct name for Kela when making payments via their online bank. You must use the name Kansaneläkelaitos. Do not use any other language version of our name.
The aim of this change is to improve the security of payments and prevent payments from being transmitted to the wrong recipient. The EU Instant Payment Regulation will enter into force on 9 October 2025.
Press release updated 6.10.2025.
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