Countdown starts to mobile payments for all

Countdown starts to mobile payments for all 15 January 2013


   - *Financial institutions representing 90% of UK current accounts commit
   to spring 2014 launch of first industry-wide mobile payment service*


   - *Sending security-protected payments by mobile will be as easy as
   texting, without the need to disclose account details*


   - *Customers will be able to send and receive payments straight from
   their account after simple sign-up process with their provider*

Paying a friend or business on your mobile as easily as sending a text is
set to become a mainstream option in spring 2014, when the Payments
Council’s new mobile payments service launches.


The new service will enable secure payments to be made directly to or from
an account without the need to disclose the sort code and account number,
by simply using a mobile phone number as a proxy. Eight financial
institutions1 - representing 90% of UK current accounts - have already
committed to offering the new service from spring 2014, with discussions
continuing for more institutions to join.


While there are existing ways to pay using a mobile, the collaborative
Payments Council project marks the first service with the potential to link
up every bank account in the country 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.”*

*
*

Shortly before launch, participating financial institutions will invite
customers to register via their online banking service, mobile app or other
approved method to provide their mobile

phone number and confirm which account they want to link it to. More
details about the industry-wide registration process and precise launch
date will be announced in due course.


Over 5,000 consumers participated in Payments Council research2 which
revealed that the service is likely to prove most popular with smartphone
users, who accounted for two thirds (67%) of those surveyed. One in three
smartphone users said they were either definitely or extremely likely to
sign up to the new service at launch.


The consumer research also highlighted the importance of the security of
mobile payments. The Payments Council service will ensure that, as a
minimum, a passcode or similar security feature will be required to
authorise payments. The service will also offer the technical capacity for
financial institutions to remotely disable an account in case of suspected
misuse. Beyond these common features providers will be free to innovate and
customise exactly how they offer the service to customers.


The new mobile payments service will move money directly between accounts
using tried and tested payment schemes: the Faster Payments service, which
processed more than 800 million online and phone banking payments in 2012;
and the LINK network, which processed 3.1 billion real-time ATM
transactions last year.


Over the next year, the Payments Council’s delivery programme is continuing
the work needed to set rules defining minimum service standards for
security, speed and other technical requirements. This includes
comprehensive end-to-end testing, preparing and implementing the pre-launch
registration campaign and speaking with other interested financial
institutions to ensure the service is made available to the highest
possible number of customers.


This final phase of the mobile payments project follows the on-time
completion in December 2012 of the central database that enables banks to
securely store their customers’ mobile phone numbers and link them to their
account details. The Payments Council will also continue to test and
enhance the capacity of the central database and work with the
participating financial institutions to ensure the operation of the service
is as easy as possible for customers.


http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases/-/page/2378/