UK's HSBC, first direct, Nationwide, Santander and Metro Bank will offer Zapp mobile payments, enabling these financials institutions to provide new, secure, convenient and a simpler way for their customers to pay for their purchases in real-time using their bank accounts and their mobile devices, supporting 18 million customers across the UK. UK's digital natives and internet savvy mobile shoppers are likely to benefit from the real-time payments made enabled on their mobile phone banking applications, which allow secure payments between consumers and merchants. As 
Zapp is integrated into the mobile banking applications of these leading financial institutions, customers would not need to download a third party app or make additional registrations. This will also remove the need to manage multiple digital wallets, long card numbers, new passwords and usernames. Zapp enables secure money tranfers instantly from a customer account to a merchant account, paying for goods and services using just his/her bank account, a smartphone and a mobile banking app. Customers will be able to see their account balances before they pay and will also be able to choose different accounts to pay from, thereby staying in control of their finances.
Zapp is integrated into the mobile banking applications of these leading financial institutions, customers would not need to download a third party app or make additional registrations. This will also remove the need to manage multiple digital wallets, long card numbers, new passwords and usernames. Zapp enables secure money tranfers instantly from a customer account to a merchant account, paying for goods and services using just his/her bank account, a smartphone and a mobile banking app. Customers will be able to see their account balances before they pay and will also be able to choose different accounts to pay from, thereby staying in control of their finances.
Zapp payments work through secure digital “tokens”, which means customers don’t need to reveal any of their financial details (including bank account details) to merchants when they are making the payments, with only the financial institutions being privy to their account information. In addition, all Zapp payments will be covered by protections similar to debit card payments to ensure that the customer is adequately protected in cases whereby goods are not delivered or when payment issues arise.
David Yates, Chairman of Zapp and CEO of VocaLink said, “Zapp is a major payment innovation for Britain that will bring significant value to consumers, merchants and financial institutions. VocaLink is yet again proving that we are at the cutting edge of payment innovation, delivering significant value for the UK economy.”
Steve Pateman, Executive Director, Head of UK Banking, Santander commented, “Listening to, and responding to customers and their needs is at the heart of what we do at Santander. Our customers want the choice to be able to pay on the go using mobile technology, and the Zapp proposition is second to none with its capabilities. Santander is as delighted to be involved with this initiative as we think our customers will be, when they start using it. Zapp helps us meet the growing demand from our customers to use their mobiles to pay for goods and services swiftly and securely. With the vast majority of UK merchants on board, we expect to see rapid take up of payments powered by Zapp.”
