Branding and marketing plans for cross-industry mobile payment service unveiled
The Payments Council has unveiled the branding and advertising plans to support the launch of a new service that will allow customers of the UK’s biggest banks and building societies to pay people using their mobile number.
The service, PayM, will launch in April when customers of Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander and TSB will be able to send and receive payment using their mobile number.
Customers of those banks will have to register their mobile number and choose the account they want payments made to and from. It is anticipated the service will be used to split restaurant bills or repay friends without the need to exchange account and sort code numbers.
Those participating will be able to use the PayM, which is meant to be pronounced “pay em”, logo from April and it is expected they will launch advertising activity to promote the service to their existing mobile banking customers.
The Payment Council will launch its own campaign to introduce the service and detail its benefits soon after launch.
Adrian Kamellard, chief executive of the Payments Council, says: “We’re all used to the idea of a ‘mobile update’ to improve our apps – Paym is a mobile update for payments that means you can pay securely using just a mobile number. Paym will make it easier to repay a friend for cinema tickets, split a restaurant bill or settle up for a colleague’s birthday collection.”
Clydesdale Bank, first direct, Isle of Man Bank, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Yorkshire Bank will offer the service before the end of 2014 while Nationwide Building Society will join at the beginning of 2015.
PayM is similar to Barclays’ Pingit app. It is understood PayM will be available through the Pingit. It also resembles Zapp, due to launch in the autumn, which also counts HSBC and Nationwide among launch partners.
PayPal was quick to point out the similarities to its own mobile payment service.
Rob Skinner, director of PR at PayPal UK and Ireland, says: “We welcome innovation in the payment industry, and to hear that a service we have offered for the past 8 years is becoming an industry standard is great news. For many PayPal customers Paym will be nothing new; over 18 million PayPal accounts in the UK have been able to send money via their mobile since 2006.”
