BLACK FRIDAY IS A SMASH FOR MOBILE SHOPPERS

New mobile payments technology, Paym, was a smash hit with shoppers on Black Friday, according to figures from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.

Since launching their new Paym mobile payments capability just 2 weeks ago, the Banks have seen it used for over 33,000 payments; worth more than £4.6million. “Black Friday” accounted for a quarter of all transactions by value – £1.13million. At its peak on Friday, the mobile app was used 57 times each second, 50% higher than peak use for ATMs on the same day.

Paym allows customers to make payments of up to £300 using just a smartphone to anyone registered with Paym, with just their phone number. Paym works through the Bank’s existing mobile banking service, so is easy and just as secure (www.paym.co.uk).

Having launched the new Android version of their mobile banking ‘app’ featuring Paym mobile payment capability on 18th November, the Banks have seen it downloaded at a rate of almost once every 20 seconds. Including iOS apps for iphone, which launched on 25th, the new apps have already been downloaded by more than 50,000 customers, and 30,000 customers have already registered to use the Paym service; already significantly exceeding expectations for the whole of 2015.

Stephen Verrecchia, programme director for mobile Banking at Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks, said:

“Seeing such large volumes of transactions, and particularly on Black Friday, shows an enormous amount of confidence in the service from customers. Mobile Payments are definitely here to stay. The launch of Paym has been a massive success for us. Clearly the service itself is a huge part of that, but we have also worked hard at making registration easy for customers. “

Monitise, the Mobile Money provider, partnered with Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks to develop their mobile banking apps and integrate Paym.

Monitise Managing Director EMEA & Asia-Pacific Will Jones added:

“We’ve worked with Clydesdale & Yorkshire Banks since the start of their mobile banking journey. The customer engagement resulting from the introduction of Paym capabilities really speaks to how banking is being transformed by technology that enables customers to easily manage their money when and where they want. Providing mobile banking services is about much more than basic functions – it’s about delivering value-add services for consumers, and that is what we’re seeing happen here.”