Muted reaction to Paym Launch
Wednesday, 09 April 2014
Paym has arrived (for customers of some banks at least) – an initiative that, it is hoped, will make P2P payments in the UK easier while out and about. Apparently, though, there is some scepticism among the general public about the service regarding security, with a third of those asked in a survey by Consumer Intelligence not intending to use the service at all for this reason.
Consumers learned earlier this month that their online banking web pages may not have been as secure as they had been told due to a fault in the technology – the so-called Heartbleed bug – that has existed for years. Although a competent bank would have secondary security measures in place to protect customer information, it is hard to predict how this will affect people's online habits with respect to their banking and payment behaviour, if at all.
Information about Paym specifically seems to have been left mainly down to individual banks to inform their customers, which is disappointing given the fanfare that has accompanied its launch. Coverage in the media hasn't provided much in the way of consumer education either, often leaving the impression that it is just another app for your smartphone rather than a service integrated into banks' existing payment/banking mobile and web applications.
Hopefully, over time, security fears will balance out as customers realise what Paym really is but some visible, consistent and more detailed information going out to the public would likely help things along.