Barclays launches new service for paying bills using mobile phone

Barclays’ new smartphone app, Barclays Pingit, is now available to corporate clients allowing them to receive payments from their customers. The new corporate collections functionality will provide customers with an easy and convenient way to pay their bills, as an alternative to paying by cash, cheque or bank transfer simply by using their mobile phone.

Barclays Pingit, which was launched in February, is the UK’s first service for sending and receiving money using mobile phone numbers. It allows users to receive and send money to anyone with a UK current account and UK mobile phone number, simply by using that mobile number, without the need to share bank details.

The corporate collections functionality has two offerings, enabling businesses to register for a unique Corporate ID and/or Quick Response (QR) code which is linked to a corporate current account held with Barclays. Businesses can then include their Barclays Pingit Corporate ID or QR code on statements and invoices, allowing customers using the free Barclays Pingit app to simply enter the Corporate ID into their phone or scan the QR code to initiate a payment.

Businesses will have the option to register for a standard Corporate ID or self-select a Premium Corporate ID which can be defined within certain guidelines. A utility company for example may self-select a Corporate ID such as UKtelecom or Utilityco. When using a Corporate ID, the Barclays Pingit app will automatically prompt customers to provide their reference information.

The QR code offering enables businesses to generate QR codes with specific customers’ unique reference details defined by the business at the time of generation. Therefore when customers initiate a payment using the QR code, it carries all the required reference data to the business.

Using Barclays Pingit will be a more efficient payment alternative for companies non-Direct Debit customers as well as reducing costs associated with manual and paper based processes. QR codes and availability of reference information will also be an enabler for auto reconciliation, which potentially allows for speedier allocation of payment to the customer account and the Faster Payments mechanism is used, making payments effectively near real time.

John Kelting, Head of Product, Barclays Corporate Banking said: “Customers increasingly want accessibility and ease when it comes to managing their money and Barclays Pingit provides just that. It gives customers a clean, straightforward and safe way to pay their bills by simply using their mobile phone.

“With the payments landscape rapidly evolving and expectation of immediacy of payment amongst consumers growing, the need for businesses to look for new and innovate ways to meet consumer demand and streamline payment processes will become increasingly important.”

The Barclays Pingit app can be downloaded for free and is available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry. Transfers are as safe as any other banking transaction and the app is protected by a five-digit passcode, set by the user. Both Barclays and non-Barclays current account customers can use the app.

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