Barclays bank has launched a PaPal alternative Pingit in UK, a mobile payment app that allows customers to transfer money via their smartphone. The Pingit app, available for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android smartphones, allows accounts to be associated with mobile numbers. Each transaction is protected by a five-digit passcode, which is set by you, and payments can be between £1 and £300 with a maximum of £5,000 per day.
The app requires a bank customer to link their current account with their mobile number, this enables payments to be sent directly to that account with just a phone number for reference. To send funds, you can download the free Barclays Pingit app (available on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry) or sign-up receive mobile transfers by registering online.
“Barclays Pingit could revolutionise the way people send and receive money”, claimed Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins at the launch. “For friends splitting the cost of dinner, repaying a borrowed £10 or people sending money to a son or daughter at university, it’s free, quick, convenient, secure, and easy to use. You can send and receive money in seconds, without having to enter account details.
Sending money
You can send up to £300 a day to family, friends and small businesses using just a mobile number, as long as you have a UK Barclays current account. Soon everybody will be able to use Barclays Pingit to send money even if their current account is with another UK bank.
Receive money
Anyone with a UK current account can register to receive payments, so you don’t have to share your bank details when asking someone to send you money. If you don’t have a Barclays current account or simply want to receive payments from other Barclays Pingit users, you just need to register online at www.barclays.co.uk/pingit.
Pingit is available to current account customers of all the other UK banks.