PAYM service to end from March next year. A bit of a shame. I never really used it as I knew very few others that did…
https://www.fintechfutures.com/2022/09/mobile-payments-service-paym-to-shutter-in-2023/
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Yes, a bit of a shame as it was the only service available that integrated across banks.
Still, I suppose the sender doesn’t have to have an account with Monzo, Starling or Revolut to use Monzo.me, Starling Settle Up, or Rev.me and it wasn’t that useful if nobody used it anyway. I imagine that ending it now is probably because banks have decided not to agree on joint funding for it going forward.
There is also PayPal, as a bank-agnostic option, although I believe both parties need a PayPal account for that.
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Used it once I think.
Won’t miss it.
In fact, forgot it was still a thing
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I use it occasionally, but it’s no quicker or better than a standard bank transfer once you’ve got the other person’s bank details.
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That’s true to be honest.
It would have been more useful if everyone used it, since it was cross-bank, as then you could pay anybody just by knowing their number.
As it was, with so few people enrolled, you always had to check if somebody used it before you could pay them anyway - and behind the scenes it was only a Faster Payment so it was no great innovation compared to just using their account details.
At least using account details creates a saved payee so it is very easy to pay them next time (something Paym didn’t do) and limits on payments were also quite low, further limiting usefulness.
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Some banks saved payees. It had a version of Confirmation of Payee too. It was a great idea but poorly promoted. Different banks had different names for the service.
Some like Santander auto enrolled when others didn’t. And then Natwest messed it up by overriding it with their internal transfers.
Great idea, just every bank had their own idea of how it was implemented.
Paying someones phone number with a confirmed name was very new pre Monzo/Revolut/ Starling
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Yes it was; I do agree with you that it’s now been superseded by a combination of Confirmation of Payee and new features from fintechs like Monzo, Starling and Revolut.
Wow. That is a real shame. Very surprised by that. I hope something else eventually fills the gap, as while bank transfers and payment request features have their place, they still have limitations and friction.
Paym was ideal when, say, you met up for a meal with a group of friends you didn’t see very often, one of them paid the bill and everyone needed to send them £XX. Asking everyone around the table to set them up as a payee with their account number and sort code is very cumbersome and feels archaic compared with Paym, as everyone already had their mobile number.
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I used to use Paym, but with things like the SettleUp link (Starling), I think there are already options there trying to fill the gap before it was even created.
The issue I found with Paym is the linking and registration. I don’t know many people who use it. In fact, the only person I know (forum users excluded) is members of my family, because I set it up for them. The banks already have mobile numbers on record in many cases, so they could have easily prompted people to link their number.
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Santander were the only bank to do auto registration for a while. NatWest crapped all over it by prioritising internal transfers. Then Barclays just went mad with Pingit. Overall, very inconsistent from the banks that participated. Then there were those who didn’t.
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I remember Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank dropped support for it in around 2017. I assumed it was because they had data which showed that nobody used it and they decided they couldn’t be bothered with it as a result.
This closure has now happened, Paym’s final day of operation was 7th March (Tuesday) but many banks withdrew the feature before then on a phased basis in preparation for the closure.
Everything seems to have gone fairly smoothly and the end of the line for Paym has pretty well passed by without note. A few banks have been updating their apps over the last few days to remove references to Paym, even ones not regularly updated.
The NatWest Group have decided to continue with their “Pay a Contact” feature, which works basically like Paym but only with other registered customers in the Group. So it does work across brands, but only across NatWest brands! Not too bad, considering they are one of the UK’s largest banks. They do also allow payment links and payment via QR code as alternatives.
We now have the alternatives of:
• Pay a Contact - NatWest/RBS/Ulster/Isle of Man Bank & NatWest International
• PayPal
• Monzo.me
• Starling Settle Up
• Kroo pay friends
• Revolut.me
• Monese pay friends
• Wise pay friends
• Ziglu pay friends
For all of them except NatWest Group, PayPal, Starling, Monzo and Revolut, you have to both use the same app/bank.
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It’s not something I ever had the need to use, but RIP.
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Ah, of course!
I knew I’d miss one!
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Also when you are willing to send someone money without informing the receiver (present or just a surprise) much easier to do it using just a phone number.
Whatever users/customers come across to they like it to be easy, simple and quick.
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Only any use if you had a reasonable expectation that these people you don’t have the account details for would be enrolled in Paym. And they probably weren’t.
Plus if you already had their sort code and account number saved, you could still send them a “surprise” gift.
The chances are, if it’s a close friend or family member you’ve sent money to before, you probably have their account details saved already.