A revolutionary new mobile banking app that allows money to be transferred between accounts using just telephone numbers launched yesterday (April 29) but most bank customers will have no immediate access to the technology and many will not be able to use the system fully until 2015.
Paym is an app that enables bank account holders to share their phone number with anyone else registered on the system, allowing them to make and receive payments without having to give out their bank details.
The maximum daily transfer that one person can make on their mobile phones is £250, although certain banks offer their customers a higher rate on request. Moreover, users of the app will receive transferred cash whether their phone is on or off, as the mobile device simply functions as a transfer mechanism.
It has been estimated that over 350,000 people have already registered for the app, with the Payments Council, the organisation responsible for its launch, forecasting that over one billion payments would have been made via Paym by 2018, as account holders begin to utilise the service to make payments to people offering a low cost service, such as handymen and babysitters.
However, around 20 million account holders will have no immediate access to the technology, while over five million, mainly customers of the Nationwide Building Society, will not be able to use the system fully until 2015. Meanwhile, customers of some other banks will be able to join the scheme later this year.
Critics are concerned about the security of the app, however, and a recent survey suggests that at least half of bank account holders would not use it, citing this as the primary factor behind their decision.
However, the Payments Council insists that the system is entirely secure, as users of the app will still need to log into their account using the normal password safeguards when attempting to make transfers.
