Financial institutions representing 90% of all current accounts in the UK have committed to launching a new mobile payment service in spring next year. Customers will be able to make payments by quoting the recipient’s mobile phone number instead of their bank sort code and account number.
Mobile payments will be available to customers of Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Metro Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander UK. Discussions involving other payment services providers are currently taking place.
Customers simply need to register their mobile phone number with their bank when the scheme launches.
This new project has been set up by the Payments Council, which is formed from payment service providers in the UK.
Adrian Kamellard, Chief Executive of the Payments Council, said “The mobile payments project is a fantastic example of the unique role the Payments Council can play in delivering far-reaching, innovative improvements for customers. This new service will offer a simple, secure way to split a bill for dinner, receive money from a friend or pay a tradesman without needing to remember or share account details.”
Last year Barclays launched Pingit, a mobile payment app that enables smartphone users to transfer money by using a mobile phone number to identify the recipient. Unlike the proposed scheme from the Payment Council, both sender and recipient need to register their bank details with Barclays Pingit.