Barclays share price: Bank to pioneer Twitter payments

Barclays (LON:BARC) has become the first British bank to allow payments to individuals and businesses by using just their Twitter handle. The service – to be launched on March 20 on both iOS and Android devices – aims to give the UK’s 13.5 million Twitter users the ability to make transactions through the bank’s Pingit App, without providing bank details or a phone number. Customers, regardless of whether they bank with Barclays, can use the service by linking their Twitter account to their Pingit profile via the app’s settings menu. To reassure consumers that may have security concerns about the new payment system, Barclays stressed that all transactions would be carried out within its Pingit app and not Twitter, which means the usual safety and security measures for regular Pingit payments apply.

Darren Foulds, Barclays’ director of mobile banking and Pingit said in a statement yesterday: “We are always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to make people’s lives easier and customer feedback plays a big part in how we chose to further develop our apps. 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.”

Launched in 2012, Pingit has to date received 3.7 million downloads and more than £1billion has been sent using the app. The new Twitter service will also be available to businesses, including the 57,000 companies in the UK currently signed up to Barclays’ Pingit service.
Barclays’ share price closed yesterday’s trading session slightly lower at 264.01p. According to the Financial Times, the 26 analysts projecting 12 month price targets for the FTSE 100-listed bank, have a median target of 292.50p, with a high estimate of 365.00p and a low of 210.00p. As of 14 February 2015, the consensus forecast amongst 38 polled investment analysts covering Barclays has it that the company will outperform the market.
As of 07:58 GMT, Thursday, 26 February, Barclays share price is 262.90p.