HSBC business customers can now take payments using just a mobile phone number, as the UK bank rolls out the Paym service for Business Internet Banking subscribers.
Until now HSBC’s 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.
HSBC will offer customers the option of registering up to 50 different mobile numbers to receive payments across their eligible business current accounts. The bank says this will be particularly useful for businesses with larger sales forces.
With no limits specified on the value of transactions that can be sent by HSBC customers over Paym, the bank says 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.
James Cliffe, HSBC’s head of business banking, says: “Paym offers a convenient way for businesses, from local shops to tradespeople, to get paid by their customers - and HSBC is offering them 50 different mobile numbers to register 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.
With more banks joining the service in waves, more than 40 million UK bank customers are now able to register for Paym - representing over nine out of ten current accounts.