In a UK high street first, Barclays now lets customers make payments from current accounts held with other banks from within its app.
Initially, the feature has been rolled out to customers who have a linked current account with NatWest, Nationwide or Bank of Scotland. It will shortly be rolled out to other providers including Santander, Lloyds, Halifax and RBS.
The service uses the industry-approved Open Banking API technology, ensuring the process is secure for customers, says Barclays. In the next few weeks, Barclays plans to add the ability to save new payment contacts within the app.
Customers can already view current, savings and credit card accounts held with other UK banks in the Barclays app.
Caroline Ambrose, director, Open Banking, Barclays, says: “Day-to-day life is busy enough without juggling multiple banking apps to stay on top of your finances. That’s why we’re working to make our customers’ lives easier by putting everything in one place and adding features that help them manage their money in a secure and straightforward way.
“Payments is the next step in our journey towards giving our customers even more control over their money, and easier ways to do their everyday banking tasks.”