As social media becomes more important to communication between individuals and businesses, it continue to be used in new and innovative ways. Now, Barclays has announced plans that will allow people and small businesses to make payments using only their Twitter identity.
This is a significant landmark in the use of social media and a first for UK banking. From next month, people will be able to use their Android and iOS devices to link their Twitter handle to the bank’s Pingit service, which was launched in 2012. Both the sender and receiver must have a Twitter account, but do not necessarily have to be Barclays customers. This means that the service will be open to the 13.5 million UK residents and businesses who currently use Twitter for social networking. Users can already use Pingit to send and receive payments using just their mobile number rather than their bank details, but this new development will make it easier than ever before to make payments quickly over mobile devices.
Over the past few years, technology has continued to alter the way customers can make payments, for example with contactless cards. Consumers are now demanding easier ways to pay, and are increasingly shopping for goods and services on the go using their mobile devices. This new connection between Barclays and Twitter is one of the most important developments to take place in recent times. This is sure to open up many new opportunities for small businesses and widen their customer bases more than ever before.