Businesses will be able to take payments from customers using just a mobile phone number with the launch of HSBC’s Paym service. Up until now, the Paym service which launched in the UK in April this year, has been limited to personal current account holders, but now the bank's 6000,000 online business customers will also be able to sign up to receive payments direct to their accounts.

Since the nationwide service launched in April this year, 1.6 million customers have registered their mobile number with their bank or building society to receive payments through Paym - and over £15m has been sent. 

HSBC Paym service

HSBC will offer customers the option of registering up to 50 different mobile numbers to receive payments across their eligible business current accounts.  HSBC believes this will be particularly useful for businesses with larger sales forces.

In addition, there are no limits specified on the value of transactions that can be sent by HSBC customers over Paym.

Future development

HSBC says that it is also exploring the option of allowing business customers to conduct B2B and B2C payments over the service, which uses the UK's Faster Payments rails to initiate near real-time transactions.

Already more than 40 million UK bank customers are now able to register for Paym - representing over nine out of ten current accounts, and more banks are joining the service.

---

CTMfile take: Paym is going to become vital in the UK for collecting payments from remote locations.