Barclays Boosts Pingit with B2C Payment Feature (Nov. 20, 2013)
Adding another dimension to mobile payments, Barclays has retooled its Pingit mobile payment app to enable large firms to send funds for insurance claims, utility refunds and other corporate payments directly to consumers. Barclays this week announced that the service, which aims to cut business-to-consumer payout costs by eliminating the need to mail checks or exchange bank account or card data, is available to all U.K. residents 16 and older with bank accounts and mobile phone numbers who download the Pingit app, even if they’re not Barclays account holders.
Barclays launched Pingit in February 2012 as a P2P tool for users to send money to anyone with a mobile phone and bank account, regardless of the financial institution. Funds recipients that have not signed up for Pingit receive a text message notifying them of how to register and receive payment. Pingit’s latest feature harnesses Barclays’ existing File Gateway channel so corporations may send electronic payments to Pingit accounts. CEGA Group, a global marketer of travel insurance and emergency services, already has signed on to use Pingit as an option for delivering funds owed to consumers.
Pingit is free to download from the Apple App Store, BlackBerry App World and Android. Pingit has been downloaded more than 2 million times since its launch, according to Barclays.
