2023 New York Laws › UCC - Uniform Commercial Code › Article 4-A - Funds Transfers › Part 2 - Issue and Acceptance of Payment Order › 4-A-207 - Misdescription of Beneficiary.

Section 4-A-207. Misdescription of Beneficiary.
(1)  Subject to subsection (2), if, in a payment order received by the
beneficiary's  bank,  the  name,   bank   account   number,   or   other
identification   of   the   beneficiary   refers  to  a  nonexistent  or
unidentifiable person or account, no person has rights as a  beneficiary
of the order and acceptance of the order cannot occur.
(2)  If  a payment order received by the beneficiary's bank identifies
the beneficiary both by name and  by  an  identifying  or  bank  account
number and the name and number identify different persons, the following
rules apply:
(a) Except  as  otherwise  provided  in  subsection  (3),  if the
beneficiary's bank does not know that  the  name  and  number
refer  to different persons, it may rely on the number as the
proper identification of the beneficiary of  the  order.  The
beneficiary's  bank  need  not determine whether the name and
number refer to the same person.
(b) If the beneficiary's bank pays the person identified by  name
or knows that the name and number identify different persons,
no person has rights as beneficiary except the person paid by
the beneficiary's bank if that person was entitled to receive
payment  from  the  originator  of  the funds transfer. If no
person has rights as beneficiary,  acceptance  of  the  order
cannot occur.
(3)  If  (i)  a payment order described in subsection (2) is accepted,
(ii)  the  originator's  payment   order   described   the   beneficiary
inconsistently by name and number, and (iii) the beneficiary's bank pays
the  person  identified  by  number  as  permitted  by  paragraph (a) of
subsection (2), the following rules apply:
(a) If the originator is a bank, the originator is obliged to pay
its order.
(b) If the originator is not a bank and proves  that  the  person
identified by number was not entitled to receive payment from
the  originator,  the  originator  is  not obliged to pay its
order  unless  the  originator's   bank   proves   that   the
originator,  before acceptance of the originator's order, had
notice  that  payment  of  a  payment  order  issued  by  the
originator  might  be  made  by the beneficiary's bank on the
basis of an identifying or bank account  number  even  if  it
identifies  a  person  different  from the named beneficiary.
Proof of notice may be made by any admissible  evidence.  The
originator's  bank satisfies the burden of proof if it proves
that the originator, before the payment order  was  accepted,
signed  a writing stating the information to which the notice
relates.
(4) In a case governed by paragraph (a)  of  subsection  (2),  if  the
beneficiary's  bank  rightfully pays the person identified by number and
that person was not entitled to receive payment from the originator, the
amount paid may be recovered from that person to the extent  allowed  by
the law governing mistake and restitution as follows:
(a) If  the  originator  is  obliged  to pay its payment order as
stated in subsection (3), the originator  has  the  right  to
recover.
(b) If the originator is not a bank and is not obliged to pay its
payment  order,  the  originator's  bank  has  the  right  to
recover.