Barclays Adds Twitter Payments to Pingit

Barclays PingitBarclays has become the first British bank to enable mobile payments using Twitter usernames, through its Pingit service.

Users can link their Pingit and Twitter accounts in the Pingit app, and then enter a friend or businesss Twitter handle to directly send them money.

Due to launch on 10 March, the service will be available to all Pingit users, who dont necessarily need to be Barclays customers.

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

Since it launched in 2012, Pingit has been downloaded 3.7m times, and a total of more than £1bn has been sent using the service.