UK's Barclays to allow payments with Twitter

Barclays will become the first British bank to allow people to make payments to each other and small businesses using just their Twitter handle.

Launching on both Android phones and iOS devices next month (Tuesday 10th March), Twitter payments through Pingit will expand the existing service to social media and a potential  13.5 million Twitter users in the UK.

All Pingit users can take advantage of the service, regardless of whether they bank with Barclays, by linking their Twitter account to their Pingit profile under the app’s settings menu.

Darren Foulds, Director of Barclays Mobile Banking and Pingit said: “We are always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to make people’s lives easier and customer feedback plays a big part in how we chose to further develop our apps.

“Adding the ability to pay people or a small business using just a Twitter handle brings together a social and digital experience to create a new step forward for mobile payments in the UK”.



With eighty per cent of UK Twitter users now accessing the social network through their mobile regularly, the offering gives people a new, fast and safe way to pay without having to always provide either bank details or a phone number.

Launched in 2012, Pingit has now received 3.7 million downloads and over £1 billion has been sent using the app.

Apple launched their own mobile payment system called 'Apple Pay' at the end of 2014. This uses a special processor within the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus that enables the device itself to become a contactless key, and tapped against payment points. It’s already launched in the US and is said to be coming to the UK this year.