The UK Payments Council backed mobile payments system Paym (pronounced Pay’ em) has gone live today amidst security fears and low registration numbers.
Only 400,000 people have registered for the launch of Paym, the mobile-to-mobile
Paym has gone live today amidst security fears and low registration numbers.
payments system launched on this morning.
Paym, despite being backed by most of the major banks, including Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC, though not, initially, RBS/NatWest (it joins later this year), lets customers send and receive payments directly to a current account using just a mobile phone number.
The Payments Council, the body coordinating the launch, expects 1 billion Paym payments to be made by 2018 as bank customers use the service to make direct payments to people such as window cleaners and babysitters just by pressing a few buttons on their smartphones.
Customers will not need to remember or ask for sort codes or account numbers. They will be able to make a payment simply by selecting the person’s number from the contacts list on their phone or by entering their mobile number. To receive money, people will have to register their mobile phone number to the service and select the account into which they want payments made.
However,research by Consumer Intelligence, a polling company, found that nearly half of Brits have no intention of using the person-to-person mobile payments service.
Consumer Intelligence’s survey of 2,051 current account holders shows that 25% intend to use the service, rising to 39% among 18 to 34 year olds. Another 28% are undecided.
But 47% say they will definitely not use Paym. Of these, 71% cite security concerns as the reason for their reluctance. More than a third are worried about what would happen if they lost their mobile phone and 32% are concerned about paying the wrong person or the wrong amount. 42% simply prefer traditional payment methods.
David Black, Consumer Intelligence, says: “Consumers can take a while to warm to new banking developments but it’s clear that the banking industry has a job to do educate many of them that mobile payments are a safe and consumer-friendly development.”
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