Latest news with #VOP
Newsweek
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Newsweek
Anti-Government Militia Targets Weather Radars: What To Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An "anti-government militia" called Veterans on Patrol has declared that it is targeting weather radar installations in Oklahoma. In an interview with News 9 on Tuesday, Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, the founder of VOP, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as an anti-government militia, confirmed the group's intentions. When asked whether they were targeting the radars, Meyer replied, "Absolutely." Newsweek contacted the SPLC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for comment on Friday via an online form and email, respectively, outside usual working hours. Why It Matters Following widespread floods that have devastated Texas in the past week, a number of conspiracy theories have swirled online around cloud seeding and weather manipulation. Founded in 2015, Veterans on Patrol initially focused on vigilante activities along the U.S.-Mexico border but has since shifted toward conspiracy-driven campaigns, including those involving weather manipulation. The group's rhetoric has grown more extreme in recent months, raising concerns among public safety officials. A radar during the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's media day about a field campaign to study southeast U.S. tornadoes in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 8, 2023. A radar during the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's media day about a field campaign to study southeast U.S. tornadoes in Memphis, Tennessee, on February 8, 2023. Seth Herald/ AFP/ Getty/Getty Images What To Know Meyer's recent admission follows the vandalism of News 9's radar system in northeast Oklahoma City. Surveillance footage captured an individual tampering with electrical components, disabling power to the radar, damaging the generator and control panels, and knocking the system offline for several hours on Sunday. CBS affiliate KWTV reported having footage of a man disabling the power supply to its NextGen Live radar. The station suggested the incident may be connected to rhetoric from VOP. Police arrested Anthony Tyler Mitchell, 39, in connection with the incident on suspicion of felony malicious injury to property, burglary and damaging critical infrastructure, NBC News reported, citing Oklahoma City Police. Investigators have not confirmed whether he is affiliated with VOP. NOAA previously warned of escalating threats to the Next Generation Weather Radar network, a nationwide system of more than 160 radars used to monitor severe weather. In Oklahoma, where tornadoes and extreme storms are frequent, damage to these systems could have deadly consequences. VOP has said weather radars are being used for sinister purposes. Meyer alleged that the radars, along with other technologies embedded in homes, were part of a larger weather control and individual targeting program. The group said it had placed warning signs near radar sites in protest. Though NOAA has debunked various weather modification claims, lawmakers in several states have moved to ban weather modification. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, announced on July 5 that she was introducing a bill to tackle the "dangerous and deadly practice of weather modification." She wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that she was creating legislation to make "the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity" a felony. Newsweek contacted Greene for comment via email on Friday. What People Are Saying News 9's Chief Meteorologist David Payne refuted Meyer's claims, saying: "We have one of the most powerful live radars in Oklahoma, and one of the most powerful live radars in the country, but we cannot do any weather modification at all." He added that if the equipment is sabotaged, "we cannot track severe weather. We cannot track tornadoes, and it basically becomes instantly obsolete." The Oklahoma Department of Public Services told News 9: "Fusion centers play a crucial role in monitoring and mitigating threats to critical infrastructure by serving as focal points for information sharing and analysis. OCTIC (Oklahoma Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center) actively monitors all threats to critical infrastructure in Oklahoma. If you see suspicious activity near critical infrastructures, it's important to report it via the free ProtectOk app. If you witness vandalism taking place, call 911 immediately." The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told NBC News: "NOAA is aware of recent threats against weather radar sites and is working with local and other authorities in monitoring the situation closely." What Happens Next In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Meyer denied giving any directions to attack weather equipment. However, he suggested that VOP was planning further action and said they were capable of targeting up to 15 radar sites simultaneously across Oklahoma.
Finextra
08-07-2025
- Business
- Finextra
EPC invites Directory Service Providers to collaborate on VoP scheme
The European Payments Council is seeking Directory Service Providers to help with checking routing algorithms that may be used by Verification of Payee (VoP) scheme participants. 0 Payment service providers will have to offer VoP IBAN/name matching services to their customers for their Sepa transactions from October. As part of the scheme, the EPC contracted Swift to develop the EPC Directory Service (EDS), a centralised platform storing all EPC scheme participants' information needed to securely identify and authorise them, and to secure reachability and interoperability at the VoP scheme level. Now the Council is issuing a public 'call for interest' to Directory Service Providers that own directories of BICs, official national identifiers and/or IBAN ranges, and allowing retrieval of BICs from customer account numbers. These providers are being invited to collaborate with the EPC with the goal of checking routing algorithms that may be used by VoP scheme participants when issuing VOP Requests. The EPC wants to work with them to verify the availability of the required dataset (Account Holding BICs) to support correct configuration of the EDS in line with EPC specifications, and to test options for implementing the IBAN-to-BIC mapping algorithm. Interested parties have until 18 July to respond via email.
Finextra
01-07-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Belgian banks are the first in the Eurozone to go live with Verification Of Payee
Belgian banks are the first in the Eurozone to go live with Verification Of Payee (VOP), well ahead of the October 2025 deadline set by the EU Instant Payments Regulation. 0 With this milestone, SurePay, Europe's largest VOP vendor, officially welcomes Belgium into its rapidly growing European VOP community. Thanks to this expansion, banks in Belgium and the Netherlands can now perform mutual VOP checks. This provides enhanced protection for cross-border payments within the EU—including for customers of these banks with accounts in other European countries. Country-level approach benefits Belgian banks, businesses and consumers Like the Netherlands and Denmark, Belgium has opted for an extended version of the standard VOP service. This enhanced approach provides clearer notifications to payers, more data for banks to detect fraud early, and support for country-specific needs such as multilingualism (French, Dutch and German) and special characters. The result: 30% more effective fraud prevention, higher customer satisfaction, reduced liability for banks, and a safer payment experience for consumers. SurePay now processes 200 million VOP checks per month. Once batch payment verification is added, this figure is expected to double. 'This is a major step forward in creating a more secure European payment landscape,' says David-Jan Janse, CEO of SurePay. 'We are the first vendor live with VOP in Belgium and are seeing strong and growing demand in the market - including for fallback solutions. A successful implementation and go-live sends a clear signal: SurePay is ready to support Europe with VOP compliance and beyond.' 'This successful launch was made possible through excellent collaboration with CEC, Febelfin and the participating Belgian banks. Their efforts ensured a smooth and timely implementation, positioning Belgium as a model for other European countries'. To date, over 200 banks across Europe - including 17 Belgian institutions - have selected SurePay as their trusted provider for UK Confirmation of Payee (CoP), EU Verification Of Payee (VOP) and Swift Beneficiary Account Verification (BaV).
Finextra
10-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Banfico becomes the first Routing and/or Verification Mechanism certified by the EPC for VoP
Banfico, a leading global fintech specialising in account verification solutions, has become the first Routing and/or Verification Mechanism (RVM) to achieve full qualification status in the European Payments Council's (EPC) Verification of Payee (VOP) scheme. 0 This milestone achievement positions Banfico at the forefront of the European payments ecosystem as the industry prepares for the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) compliance deadline of 9 October 2025. The VOP scheme has attracted over 70 RVMs to support the market-wide implementation of verification of payee services, with the community working on an exceptionally tight timeline. Banfico's achievement of full qualification on 5 June 2025 represents a critical milestone in ensuring timely VOP delivery to Payment Service Providers (PSPs) across Europe. Comprehensive Qualification Achievement Banfico's full qualification encompasses passing all functional tests within the EPC's API Reference Toolbox (ART), obtaining self-certification status, and successfully implementing EPC Directory Service (EDS) integration. The EDS is now fully integrated as a cache service, enabling scheme participants to make API and web-based updates to operational data within the directory. "Achieving this industry-first qualification demonstrates our commitment to supporting the European payments ecosystem through this critical transformation," said Paulo Barbosa, COO at Banfico. "Our early qualification enables us to support PSPs in meeting their regulatory obligations whilst ensuring robust, secure verification services." Production Readiness and Market Support Looking ahead, Banfico is collaborating with other leading RVM partners to conduct comprehensive buddy testing for PSP clients. Upon completion of this testing phase, Banfico will be fully production-ready to support the scheme's go-live date of 5 October 2025. Beyond its RVM qualification, Banfico offers a comprehensive suite of VOP implementation solutions, including VOP RVM services, VOP Conformance Testing, and VOP Service Management. Notably, Banfico's conformance testing capabilities extend beyond the scope of the EPC's API Reference Toolbox, providing enhanced validation for PSP VOP implementations.
Finextra
23-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
RT1 and STEP2 participants across 14 countries to adopt EBA's VOP solution
EBA CLEARING announced today that over 55 RT1 and STEP2 Participants across 14 countries are preparing to adopt its Fraud Pattern and Anomaly Detection (FPAD) Verification of Payee (VOP) solution to deliver VOP checks in compliance with the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR). 1 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. These participants will connect hundreds of payment service providers (PSPs) across Europe, already representing more than 40% of the traffic in STEP2 and RT1. This strong uptake is positioning FPAD as the leading pan-European VOP solution and building up significant reach for VOP across Europe in preparation for the upcoming IPR deadline in October 2025. At the same time, a new release of the VOP functionality has been delivered in May 2025. With this release, EBA CLEARING has integrated the European Payments Council (EPC)'s Directory Service (EDS) into its VOP offering and aligned its VOP interface with the EPC application programming interface (API). To ensure maximum flexibility and choice for PSPs, the release has further enriched the solution with additional requesting and responding options. It has also extended the available connectivity options, including managed connectivity over SWIFTNet and SIANet. Developed with the support and input from fraud experts across EBA CLEARING's multinational user community, the VOP solution builds on FPAD's capabilities to offer flexible options for both sending and receiving VOP checks. FPAD VOP reach will be significant amongst STEP2 and RT1 users and complemented with the EPC VOP Scheme reach. This will allow PSPs to evolve their VOP strategies over time while ensuring pan-European reach from day one. By using FPAD for VOP, PSPs can meet compliance requirements, reduce user friction and strengthen their fraud risk management. Dr. Patrik Pohl, Managing Director, Head of Corporate Cash Management Germany at Deutsche Bank, said: 'FPAD VOP stands out by going beyond standard VOP checks. We will be able to enrich account checks with additional FPAD indicators, which offer deeper insights to help us prevent fraud and avoid unnecessary friction for our corporate customers. With distinct user needs driving the design and development of FPAD, EBA CLEARING has delivered a comprehensive set of VOP solutions that provides stronger results, greater security and an improved client experience.' Sophie Giorgi, Head of Payment System and Infrastructure Relationships at Crédit Agricole Payment Services, said: 'For us, FPAD VOP is the best solution for cross-border transactions and provides a reliable back-up. What is more, with FPAD, we are not only getting a scheme-compliant, IPR-compliant VOP solution, but also access to a fully-fledged fraud detection solution leveraging a pan-European network view.' Tanja Konrad, Head of Daily Banking Services at Erste Group, said: 'Thanks to the pan-European approach and coverage of FPAD VOP, we will be able to roll out a single VOP solution across our network of banks in Central and Eastern Europe. We look forward to combining the VOP check with other FPAD indicators to strengthen our risk controls, while also making the VOP experience as smooth as possible for our customers.' Erwin Kulk, Head of Service Development and Management at EBA CLEARING, said: 'FPAD VOP is real and ready. PSPs have ample time to introduce the mandatory VOP in all their channels. By providing options and choice, we will be servicing a diverse and large group of PSPs. This formula has proven its value in operating pan-European market infrastructures. The broad adoption that FPAD VOP is already seeing today demonstrates the importance of a not-for-profit, user-driven approach to solve infrastructure challenges in the SEPA ecosystem.' EBA CLEARING's FPAD functionality was developed in 2023 with the support of fraud experts from STEP2 and RT1 Participants across Europe, following the release of a blueprint and subsequent RT1 and STEP2 user consultation in Q4 2022. STEP2 and RT1 are pan-European retail payment systems processing SEPA Credit Transfers and Direct Debits (STEP2) and SEPA Instant Credit Transfers (RT1) respectively. Both systems are operated by EBA CLEARING, a European-owned, European-governed and European-overseen financial market infrastructure provider providing cost-effective solutions to the SEPA payments ecosystem.
