bassethound
20-08-12, 12:40
Barclay's PingIt, the smartphone app that enables users to send money securely just by using a mobile phone number, is expanding to support international transfers.
The PingIt app, launched by Barclays earlier in the year, will allow payments to 13 African countries by the end of this year, followed by Europe in 2013.
Payments from the UK to Kenya will start this week in the first phase of the major international expansion.
The previous PingIt arrangements remain the same for overseas. Users who had downloaded the app can link their bank account to their mobile number and then send up to £750 a day to customers in Kenya, and also receive up to £5,000 a day.
Payments are 'free' and the money arrives within minutes. Barclays feels the app will be a "real game-changer" against traditional international payments services, which usually charge a fee and can take up to nine days for the money to arrive.
Barclays will charge no commission for international money transfers, but customers will incur the wholesale costs of foreign currency exchange.
However, retail customers are able to take advantage of more favourable wholesale currency exchange prices by linking the service to the BARX FX platform shortly after the launch.
This will allow them to benefit from currency exchange rates that are usually just made available to corporate clients.
The bank said that it is not charging a fee for PingIt transfers because it believes that the app will "really help people who need to send money abroad", such as small businesses, expats and travellers.
In its first six months of operation, PingIt has already achieved more than 1m downloads in the UK.
According to ONS data from 2009, there are more than 200,000 people living in the UK who were born in Kenya, and many more who have a family or business connection to the African country.
The Central Bank of Kenya has estimated that there were over 50bn Kenyan Shillings (£382m) of remittance payments made into the country from Kenyans working overseas in the first half of this year.
Barclays targeted Kenya first due to its "sophisticated adoption of mobile banking". PingIt will expand to customers in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, UAE, Seychelles and Mauritius by the end of 2012.
"Pingit is quick, convenient, secure and free - it's revolutionised how people send and receive money in the UK, and now has the potential to transform international payments around the world," said Antony Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking .
"Kenya is a key market where Barclays has operated for over 95 years, and we anticipate significant demand for mobile payments across Africa.
"We constantly strive to improve and evolve our services around our changing customers' needs, and this latest development is part of a series of enhancements to make mobile payments more accessible and easy to use. Barclays has a long history of innovation firsts and we continue to lead the way in the banking industry."
Barclays Pingit is available to the customers of all UK banks and building societies, but it will only be available to customers in Kenya who have signed up to the free Barclays Hello Money mobile service, currently estimated at around 120,000.
Barclays's PingIt app works with Android 2.2 and above, iOS 4.2 and above and Blackberry OS 5.0 and above.
The PingIt app, launched by Barclays earlier in the year, will allow payments to 13 African countries by the end of this year, followed by Europe in 2013.
Payments from the UK to Kenya will start this week in the first phase of the major international expansion.
The previous PingIt arrangements remain the same for overseas. Users who had downloaded the app can link their bank account to their mobile number and then send up to £750 a day to customers in Kenya, and also receive up to £5,000 a day.
Payments are 'free' and the money arrives within minutes. Barclays feels the app will be a "real game-changer" against traditional international payments services, which usually charge a fee and can take up to nine days for the money to arrive.
Barclays will charge no commission for international money transfers, but customers will incur the wholesale costs of foreign currency exchange.
However, retail customers are able to take advantage of more favourable wholesale currency exchange prices by linking the service to the BARX FX platform shortly after the launch.
This will allow them to benefit from currency exchange rates that are usually just made available to corporate clients.
The bank said that it is not charging a fee for PingIt transfers because it believes that the app will "really help people who need to send money abroad", such as small businesses, expats and travellers.
In its first six months of operation, PingIt has already achieved more than 1m downloads in the UK.
According to ONS data from 2009, there are more than 200,000 people living in the UK who were born in Kenya, and many more who have a family or business connection to the African country.
The Central Bank of Kenya has estimated that there were over 50bn Kenyan Shillings (£382m) of remittance payments made into the country from Kenyans working overseas in the first half of this year.
Barclays targeted Kenya first due to its "sophisticated adoption of mobile banking". PingIt will expand to customers in Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, UAE, Seychelles and Mauritius by the end of 2012.
"Pingit is quick, convenient, secure and free - it's revolutionised how people send and receive money in the UK, and now has the potential to transform international payments around the world," said Antony Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking .
"Kenya is a key market where Barclays has operated for over 95 years, and we anticipate significant demand for mobile payments across Africa.
"We constantly strive to improve and evolve our services around our changing customers' needs, and this latest development is part of a series of enhancements to make mobile payments more accessible and easy to use. Barclays has a long history of innovation firsts and we continue to lead the way in the banking industry."
Barclays Pingit is available to the customers of all UK banks and building societies, but it will only be available to customers in Kenya who have signed up to the free Barclays Hello Money mobile service, currently estimated at around 120,000.
Barclays's PingIt app works with Android 2.2 and above, iOS 4.2 and above and Blackberry OS 5.0 and above.