“A new payment service launched this week which enables people to transfer money just by using mobile phone numbers.
The Paym – pronounced as ‘pay em’ – service has the potential to eventually link up every current account in the country via phone numbers and is immediately available for 30million to use.
Customers of Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander, TSB and Danske Bank can already use the service.
By the end of the year, 40million people will be able to access Paym, when Clydesdale Bank, First Direct, Isle of Man Bank, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Yorkshire Bank also come on board. By that point, Paym will be available on more than nine out of 10 current accounts.
Nationwide Building Society has confirmed its intention to join the Paym scheme in early 2015 while Metro Bank and Ulster Bank are also finalising their launch plans.
The fresh push for mobile banking from the big names on the High Street follows Barclays' Pingit app, which launched in 2012. It claims it has 2.5 million regular users on the service available to both Barclays and non-Barclays customers.
Banks are trying to claim a slice of mobile banking in the face of stiff competition from non-bank technology firms.
However, a survey of more than 2,000 people by Consumer Intelligence suggests nearly half the public are wary about the Paym service.”
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