Barclays Pingit smart phone application for consumers to transfer cash between bank accounts simply by using phone numbers, see Figure, is now available to corporate clients to make and receive payments.

Barclays Pingit App

Source & Copyright©2012 - Barclays

Pingit was rolled out to retail banking customers earlier in the year, the new corporate collections functionality will provide corporate 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. Pingit only requires mobile phone numbers to transfer payments. It allows users to receive and send money to anyone with a registered UK current account and UK mobile phone number.

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 UK telecom or utility co. 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.

Available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry, the Barclays Pingit app can be downloaded for free. The app is protected by a five-digit passcode, set by the user. Both Barclays and non-Barclays current account customers can use the application as it relies upon the UK Faster Payments Service shared infrastructure.

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The extremely easy to use mobile based payment systems just needing mobile numbers to make payments are going to be common world-wide. The first was ANZ's 'goMoney' launched in 2010, initially ANZ focused on Person-2-Person payments. In mid 2011 they added BPAY® to enable consumers to pay' your bills when and where it suits you.'

Barclays are focusing the Pingit service on corporate clients much earlier in their product development. They are positioning Pingit as "a more efficient payment alternative for companies' non-Direct debit customers as well as reducing costs associated with manual and paper based processes." The QR codes and availability of reference information will also be an enabler for auto reconciliation. Pingit combined with the cheap Faster Payments mechanism can be used to make and collect payments effectively near real time.

For large companies, an important new channel for collecting payments is emerging. For small businesses, Pingit type solutions represent an easy way to make and collect payments.