Natwest and RBS launch mobile payment app

Millions of people will be able to send payments to family and friends as easily as texting due to a new service from NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

From today, customers using the RBS/NatWest mobile phone app will be able to send a payment of up to £100 to anyone with a Visa card, by entering their mobile phone number. The service mimics Barclays' Pingit app.

The new service is initially being tested out by some groups from today, with a full launch planned after Easter.

The announcement comes just days after the banking group apologised to customers for its second computer hitch in a year.

A hardware fault left RBS Group customers blocked from using cashpoints for several hours last week, while online and telephone banking services were also disrupted.

As well as currently having more than two million active users, the RBS/NatWest mobile banking app has 13 million logins per week.

The UK payments body the Payments Council is currently developing a similar industry-wide initiative which will be up and running from spring next year as mobile payments become increasingly popular.

The Barclays Pingit app, which also allows people to transfer small amounts of cash and has been downloaded more than 1.4 million times, can be used by any adult who has a UK current account, not just a Barclays one.

But RBS/NatWest claimed their new Pay Your Contacts initiative is the "UK's easiest payment service on mobile", with no need for people to register to receive their money and 115 million Visa cards currently in use in the UK.

The service is currently being made available to RBS customers in Scotland and NatWest customers in England and Wales.