The Cumberland, Cumbria's largest financial institution, has become one of the first current account providers in the UK, and the first building society, to launch this type of mobile payment service.

The service allows the Cumberland's internet banking customers to send money simply and securely to a friend or relative's Cumberland current account using just their mobile phone number, without needing to share account details.

To send money, customers are able to download the free Pay2Mobile app, available on iOS and Android. To receive money, customers can simply register their mobile phone number to their preferred Cumberland current account via internet banking.

The Pay2Mobile app also includes an innovative feature called 'Balance Peek' which allows customers to check the balances on their Cumberland accounts without having to log on to mobile banking.

Peter Temple, Operations and HR Director at the Cumberland, said: "Sending money to a friend or family member is set to become much easier with Pay2Mobile. If you need to share the cost of a taxi, repay that £10 you borrowed or help out one of your children by sending them some money, you can do so simply, quickly and securely."

"Pay2Mobile is a simple but incredibly useful service and we are delighted to be one of the first current account providers in the UK to introduce it. This is another great example of the Cumberland developing an innovative product to make everyday banking more convenient for our customers."

The service has been developed in partnership with Sandstone Technology. Sandstone Technology is a long standing IT solution partner and has provided the Cumberland with internet and mobile banking services over the last 7 years. The Sandstone P2P mobile payments App is the first deployment of its type by any UK building society. Commenting on the Pay2Mobile launch, Bob Hall, Sandstone global CEO said, "Sandstone and the Cumberland have worked together closely for over 7 years deploying digital banking innovations. The launch of Pay2Mobile is yet another milestone for the two organisations".

Cumberland Building Society is at the forefront of innovation in mobile payments and is one of six institutions, and the only building society, that will be part of the launch of the Payments Council's industry-wide mobile payments service in spring this year. The collaborative project marks the first service with the potential to link up every bank account in the country with a mobile number - financial institutions representing around 90% of UK current accounts have committed to offering this service.