Isle of Man Bank, NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank customers are able to receive Paym payments from today with the ability to send payments coming for these customers from the middle of 2015.

Customers of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank are able to send and receive Paym payments from today. They join Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, first direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander and TSB in offering Paym - which is the first mobile payment service with the potential to link up every current account in the country with a mobile number.

Since the service launched in April this year 1.6 million customers have registered their mobile number with their bank or building society to receive payments through Paym - and over £15m has been sent. The roll-out will continue with Ipagoo, Metro Bank, Nationwide Building Society and Tesco Bank all planning to join from next year onwards.

Paym is integrated into customers’ existing mobile banking or payment apps as an additional way to pay, making it possible to send and receive payments to friends and family using just a mobile number. More than 40 million customers are now able to register for Paym - representing over nine out of ten current accounts.

Maurice Cleaves, Interim Chief Executive of the Payments Council, said:

“Paying back a friend using their mobile number is as easy as sending a text, so it’s no surprise that 1.6 million people have signed up for Paym since it launched in April. More banks joining today is great news for customers and we look forward to the service continuing to grow through 2015 and beyond.”