Nearly two million UK consumers registered for 'Paym' mobile payments service

The 'Paym' service, provided by Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander, among other major banks, enables users to link their mobile number and their bank account details so that they can pay for goods and services using just their mobile phone.

Research has found that transactions worth more than £26 million in total have been processed through Paym since the launch of the service at the end of April 2014.  

The study found that 66% of UK consumers are now aware of mobile payments and 52% of the Paym service itself. Nearly half of Paym payments (49%) are made on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, with the most popular items being bought including food, cinema tickets and petrol. The Paym service is used most frequently during the hours of 6pm to 9pm in the evening.

According to the survey, consumers believe mobile payments are most useful for allowing them to pay for things without having to give out their account details to others. The joint second most frequently identified benefits of mobile payments was that it avoids the need for consumers to carry cash and visit cash machines and that it is easier to use than having to cite bank account and sort code details to make payments, it said.

Current account holders at the Clydesdale Bank, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, first direct, Halifax, TSB and Yorkshire Bank can already register to use the Paym service. Customers at Isle of Man Bank, NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank will be able to register for the service from this summer, and the Metro Bank, Nationwide Building Society and Tesco Bank are also "planning to join the service" too, Paym said.

Technology and payments regulation expert Angus McFadyen recently identified a number of forthcoming changes to EU legislation that will affect companies operating in the payments market.

McFadyen said that companies involved in providing mobile payments solutions could be placed subject to regulation for the first time under the reformed Payment Services Directive (PSD2), but that other businesses in the mobile payments market may not be "in-scope". He said it will "ultimately come down to the functionality that they offer" as to whether businesses in the mobile payments market will be subject to regulation under PSD2.

An Ofcom study published late last year identified privacy and security concerns as holding back the mobile payments market from reaching its fullest potential.