Payment app from Barclays allows transfers via a mobile number

Barclays has launched a service that allows current account customers of all UK banks and building societies to switch money with only a cell phone number.

Barclays Pingit allows users to receive and send money, free of charge, to anyone with a UK current account and UK cellphone number, just by using that mobile number and without the necessity to share bank details.

Money is shipped using the quicker Payments service; to send money, users can use the free app or they are able to register online to receive payments. Barclays said transfers are as secure as every other banking transaction and the app is protected by a five-digit passcode set by the user.

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, said: “Barclays Pingit could revolutionise the best way people send and receive money. You possibly can send and receive money in seconds, while not having to go into account details.

“We're committed to creating customers' lives much easier, giving them more choice in how they manage their money, and Barclays Pingit absolutely does that. I'm sure we'll soon be wondering what we did before it.”

Only Barclays current account customers shall be capable of send money via the app, but all current account customers (UK residents aged 18 and over) should be ready to register online to receive money. The app could be available to all by early March. The Barclays Pingit app may be downloaded at no cost now from the Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World and Android Market.

Pat Carroll, CEO of ValidSoft, called the launch of PingIt as a 'very positive leap forward within the development of mobile money, but called for all necessary security safeguards to be installed place for such technologies.

“For example, the move to Chip and PIN (EMV) reduced card fraud, but it's popular that criminals just move directly to the subsequent weakest area. In mobile money, which means the manipulation of both the sending and receiving of money, through tactics along with SIM swap: a method whereby fraudsters can divert calls or actions made via phone clear of the number they're intended to arrive and towards one other number for his or her own gain,” he said.

“We believe that any services provided within the mobile payments area should have both strong inherent security and a powerful enrolment process. It really is fundamental to making sure both customer security and bank reputation.”