Payments Council to facilitate mobile payments for 90 per cent of the UK.
2014 could well be the year that mobile payments become the norm, after the Payments Council announced that it is set to launch a new mobile payments service in spring of next year.
The new service is designed to allow secure payments to be made directly to or from an account via your mobile phone, with no need to disclose your sort code or account number.
Eight financial institutions, which represent 90 per cent of UK current accounts, have already confirmed that they will be offering the new service from spring 2014. And, while there are already existing was to pay via mobile, the Payments Council project could potentially be the first to link up every bank account in the UK with a mobile number.
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.”
Prior top the launch, the participating financial institutions will invite customers to register by providing their mobile number and confirming which account they would like to link it to.
A recent study by the Payments Council saw over 5,000 consumers participate in a survey, which revealed that the service would prove most popular with smartphone users, accounting for 67 per cent of participants.
Furthermore, one in three smartphone users stated that they were either definitely or extremely likely to sign up for the new service.
Elsewhere, the research emphasised the security of mobile payments, ensuring that, at the very least, a passcode or similar security measure will be required to authorise payments.
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