Payment Council to launch mobile payment service in 2014

The UK's first mobile payment platform to garner widespread support from banks is set to launch in spring 2014, with eight high street institutions including LloydsTSB, Barclays and HSBC already signed up.

According to the Payments Council, customers will be able to send and receive payments from their accounts using their mobile phones to authenticate.

“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,” said Adrian Kamellard, chief executive of the Payment Council.

The payments will be made via the Faster Payment service and the Link network, which processes 3.1 billion cash machine transactions a year.

According to the Payment Council, the eight banks that have signed up to the scheme represent 90 percent of all current accounts in the UK.

Users will be asked to register their interest in the service shortly before launch, the Payment Council said.

The announcement is yet another indication of the burgeoning interest in mobile payments. Barclays and RBS already offer their own mobile payment systems, known as Pingit and GetCash respectively.

Meanwhile, technology firms including O2 and Google have also been developing methods for making mobile payments.

But with many Britons still wary of using online payment services, the Payment Council will be hoping that its mobile service will benefit from using tried and trusted systems, such as Faster Payments and Link.

It will need something that sets it apart, as by spring 2014, it will be very late to the party.