The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published new guidance outlining how banks and financial institutions may be required to monitor benefit claimants' accounts under the Eligibility Verification Measure (EVM). The initiative, part of the UK Government's crackdown on welfare fraud and error, will initially apply to people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
Under the new rules, banks could be asked to flag accounts where savings exceed benefit thresholds, such as the £16,000 upper capital limit for Universal Credit, or where there are signs a claimant has spent more time abroad than benefit rules allow. However, the DWP stressed that banks are prohibited from sharing transaction information, meaning they cannot see what people buy or their individual spending habits. “Special category data,” including political opinions, religious beliefs, ethnicity or health information, is also off limits.
The DWP cannot ask banks to search for named benefit claimants. Instead, financial institutions will apply eligibility criteria across their own systems and return limited information where accounts match the indicators set out in an Eligibility Verification Notice (EVN). The information shared may include account details, names and dates of birth, and confirmation that an account met a specific indicator.
The DWP emphasised that information returned by banks does not automatically mean someone has done anything wrong. “No decisions about benefit entitlement will be made automatically on this information alone,” the code of practice states. Officials must review the data alongside other evidence before deciding whether further checks are needed.
The system will undergo a “Test and Learn” rollout phase involving a small number of financial institutions before wider expansion. The DWP estimates that benefit fraud and error resulted in £9.6 billion of overpayments during the 2025/26 financial year.
