Industry-wide mobile payments service 'expected this year'
Payments Council says flexible system will be available on any smartphone with an internet connection on any mobile network and with any bank or building society
The Payments Council says sending money via a mobile could soon be as easy as sending a text message. Photograph: Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images
A scheme to make sending cash via mobile phone as easy as texting will be in place this year, the UK payments body has announced.
Customers who register for the service will have their mobile numbers and account numbers linked on a central database and the initiative will be available to banks and building societies before the end of 2012, the Payments Council said.
The service will be available on any smartphone with an internet connection on any network, and customers will sign up with their own banks so they won't need to share their account details with anyone else.
Huge advances in mobile payment technology are expected this year, with Barclays already unveiling a free app allowing people to send and receive money via their phones. The bank plans to make the Pingit app available to all UK adults from March, regardless of the bank or building society they use.
Richard Martin, head of innovation at the Payments Council, described mobile payments as a "rapidly developing marketplace" with "limitless" possibilities, and said he expected the scheme to co-exist alongside a number of innovations.
"What we're doing is offering a common infrastructure that any institution can plug into. Our role will be to set out some minimum security requirements," he said.
He added that the body had considered how the payments might be used, for instance paying a friend or relative or a sole trader such as a plumber or window cleaner – all cases in which cash or a cheque might traditionally have been used. "Our proposition is giving consumers the option of simply and quickly firing off an electronic payment," he said.
The database, which is being built by VocaLink, will let registered customers make or receive "almost instantaneous" payments from their existing accounts. Banks and building societies can then customise how they offer the service, which will be most commonly delivered through an internet browser or an app.
Martin said: "We have deliberately designed the mobile payments system to be as flexible as possible; it is not tied to a particular operator or handset. We have found over the last few years banks have launched mobile banking applications which you can run on iPhones or my grandmother's four-year-old Nokia.
"Inclusivity is one of our key objectives. We want to design a service that reaches out to as many people as possible."
Martin added that although the infrastructure is based around mobile numbers, "other proxies could be used such as an email address or username. The sky is the limit. That's something which is certainly in the future".
The scheme will be subject to "common minimum standards" and customers will use pass codes to authorise payments. Banks will also be able to remotely disable accounts if a phone is lost or stolen.
Martin said that more concrete plans would be outlined over the coming months, with issues such as minimum and maximum payments still under debate.
"I expect it will be largely left up to the choice of the banks concerned – at least until banks become comfortable – and customers. The value limits will probably start out relatively low.
"Our collaborative role is about creating the conditions. We will be keeping an eye on the mobile payments market."
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 February 2012 16.24 GMT
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Industry-wide mobile payments service 'expected this year' | Money | guardian.co.uk
Payments Council says flexible system will be available on any smartphone with an internet connection on any mobile network and with any bank or building society
The Payments Council says sending money via a mobile could soon be as easy as sending a text message. Photograph: Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images
A scheme to make sending cash via mobile phone as easy as texting will be in place this year, the UK payments body has announced.
Customers who register for the service will have their mobile numbers and account numbers linked on a central database and the initiative will be available to banks and building societies before the end of 2012, the Payments Council said.
The service will be available on any smartphone with an internet connection on any network, and customers will sign up with their own banks so they won't need to share their account details with anyone else.
Huge advances in mobile payment technology are expected this year, with Barclays already unveiling a free app allowing people to send and receive money via their phones. The bank plans to make the Pingit app available to all UK adults from March, regardless of the bank or building society they use.
Richard Martin, head of innovation at the Payments Council, described mobile payments as a "rapidly developing marketplace" with "limitless" possibilities, and said he expected the scheme to co-exist alongside a number of innovations.
"What we're doing is offering a common infrastructure that any institution can plug into. Our role will be to set out some minimum security requirements," he said.
He added that the body had considered how the payments might be used, for instance paying a friend or relative or a sole trader such as a plumber or window cleaner – all cases in which cash or a cheque might traditionally have been used. "Our proposition is giving consumers the option of simply and quickly firing off an electronic payment," he said.
The database, which is being built by VocaLink, will let registered customers make or receive "almost instantaneous" payments from their existing accounts. Banks and building societies can then customise how they offer the service, which will be most commonly delivered through an internet browser or an app.
Martin said: "We have deliberately designed the mobile payments system to be as flexible as possible; it is not tied to a particular operator or handset. We have found over the last few years banks have launched mobile banking applications which you can run on iPhones or my grandmother's four-year-old Nokia.
"Inclusivity is one of our key objectives. We want to design a service that reaches out to as many people as possible."
Martin added that although the infrastructure is based around mobile numbers, "other proxies could be used such as an email address or username. The sky is the limit. That's something which is certainly in the future".
The scheme will be subject to "common minimum standards" and customers will use pass codes to authorise payments. Banks will also be able to remotely disable accounts if a phone is lost or stolen.
Martin said that more concrete plans would be outlined over the coming months, with issues such as minimum and maximum payments still under debate.
"I expect it will be largely left up to the choice of the banks concerned – at least until banks become comfortable – and customers. The value limits will probably start out relatively low.
"Our collaborative role is about creating the conditions. We will be keeping an eye on the mobile payments market."
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 February 2012 16.24 GMT
© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Industry-wide mobile payments service 'expected this year' | Money | guardian.co.uk
