The Payments Council, the organisation that sets strategy for UK payment mechanisms, has confirmed the name of a new secure way to pay using just a mobile phone number.
The new method will be called Paym, and will be integrated into customer's existing mobile banking or payment apps. At its launch (the data of which will be announced in April) nine bank and building societies will adopt the method.
Customers will be able to register their mobile number and select the account they wish to use before the service goes live. The new system, the Payment Council claims, will be the largest and most wide-ranging service for moving funds without an account number or sort code.
Easy, simple payments
The system will be expanded further in 2014, with other banks being added to the original nine, meaning that Paym will be available on more than nine out of 10 current accounts.
If a Paym user finds their mobile phone is lost or stolen and is concerned that that someone could access their account, they can ask their bank or building society to suspend service from that phone.
"Paym is a mobile update for payments that means you can pay securely using just a mobile number," said Adrian Kamellard, chief executive of the Payments Council. "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."
