More banks set for Paym
It has been six months since banks in Northern Ireland introduced to customers a new ‘pay by mobile number’ service. The service, called Paym, is integrated into existing customer mobile banking apps and allows users to transfer money without needing the other person’s sort code or account number. From the launch date (29th April 2014) customers of ten banks and building societies across the UK have been able to use the ‘pay by mobile number’ service. The institutions who currently offer the service are: Barclays, Danske Bank, Halifax, HSBC, First Direct, Lloyds Bank, Santander, TSB, Bank of Scotland and Cumberland Building Society.
Danske Bank is the only one of the four main local Northern Ireland banks that currently offer Paym. Tony Wilcox, Managing Director of Personal Banking at Danske Bank, has been delighted with customer uptake in the first six months.
He said: “The demand for the service has exceeded our expectations, with over 20,000 of our customers having registered for Paym so far. Over £1 million has been transacted by our customers using Paym, with an average transaction value of £44. Developments like Paym and the continued popularity of contactless technology are revolutionising the way we as a society pay for things and I believe their introduction locally will be seen as a key milestone in terms of changing consumer behaviour when it comes to day to day finances”.
Paym is an industry-wide collaboration that has been led by the Payments Council and has the potential to link every current account in the United Kingdom with a corresponding mobile phone number. This month the Payments Council confirmed that ten more brands have plans to join the Paym service in the coming months, these are: Ulster Bank, Nationwide Building Society, Tesco Bank, Clydesdale Bank, Isle of Man Bank, NatWest, RBS International trading as NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ipagoo and Yorkshire Bank.
The Payments Council has said that the new service simplifies age-old problems such as settling up informal loans and IOUs with friends and family.
Jemma Smith, Director of Communications and Education at the Payments Council, said: “We are really pleased that even more people will have the chance to join the 1.5 million that have already registered for Paym. It is a great example of industry-wide collaboration that delivers an easy to use, secure new way to pay for customers.”
People can find out more about registering for Paym by visiting paym.co.uk or by contacting their bank or building society directly.
