The FINANCIAL — Ian Cable has become the first driver of a London black cab to accept payment by mobile phone only, through Barclays Pingit, the UK’s first mobile payment app, according to Barclays.
Passengers in Ian’s taxi can pay for their journey using the Pingit app, with the fare on the meter transferred within 30 seconds from their bank account to his.
Ian, driver of a London black cab for 23 years, is trialling the cash-free, mobile only initiative with Barclays Pingit for five days in Greater London.
“I am very excited to take part in this trial. I have been a cabbie for many years and am always up for trying new technology to help make mine and my passenger’s lives easier. I was the first black cab driver in London to accept chip and pin back in 2004 and I will be the first to trial only accepting payment by Barclays Pingit,” Ian Cable, the cabbie said.
“Not only is the app convenient for my passengers, because they don’t need to worry about getting cash out, it means I have more time on the road to earn money – rather than stopping off at the bank to pay in my earnings or pulling up at ATM’s for passengers with the risk of getting a hefty parking fine,” he added.
Since it launched in February 2012, Barclays Pingit will have been downloaded 3 million times and the total amount of money sent using the service has reached £540 million, according to Barclays.
For London black cab drivers there is a huge opportunity to cash in on Pingit users, with one in four UK Pingit users based in London. In the first six months of this year, over £60 million has been sent by Londoners on the app and the total amount of money sent using the service in the capital has reached £130 million.
“I will definitely be encouraging my fellow black cab drivers to download the free app and get their own unique QR code too. I’ve found that it keeps your money safer in what has always traditionally been a cash–heavy business. It also means we can capitalise on the huge number of people who use the service in London. We are experiencing major technological changes in our country and I believe it is our duty to keep up with what our passengers want and need,” Ian continued.
The Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr) predicts that, by 2020, 20 million adults will use their mobiles to pay for goods and services and that the total value of mobile payments will reach £18.1 billion by 2018 (the combined value of all mobile purchases and bank-to-bank transfers), according to Barclays.
“We are always keen to support new ways to make people’s lives easier. This Pingit trial in a London black cab really demonstrates the huge potential for mobile payments as they gain more widespread use,” Darren Foulds, Director of Barclays Mobile and Pingit at Barclays said.
“For quick, secure transactions on the go, mobile is fast-becoming a trusted method of making payments – whether from person-to-person or, as in this case, to transfer money from a bank account to a small business.
“For small businesses, Pingit enables payments to be accepted conveniently and instantly. For consumers it offers a totally secure way of making payments that are at the same time quick – and on a device that almost everyone in the UK carries with them on a permanent basis,” he added.
During the trial, passengers in the London black cab will be able to make a Pingit payment by using the QR code reader with the app, and scanning a unique code inside the taxi. Anyone can download and use the Barclays Pingit app, regardless of who they bank with. It is available for Barclays customers and non-customers.
While the majority of person-to-person payment systems are being used to split bills in restaurants or to send money to family members – a son or daughter at University for example – Barclays has been working on a variety of innovative applications for Pingit with businesses and merchants. For example, earlier this year, Barclays and leading national estate agency created a partnership enabling customers to buy houses on their mobile phones – in what is believed to be a world first. Customers can also pay their utility bills with a major water supplier, making it even easier for them to manage their household finances, according to Barclays.
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