Payit by NatWest launches single-use payment link feature for businesses

Open Banking payments solution Payit by NatWest has launched a feature that allows business customers to send a domestic payment without the need for recipients’ bank account details, by issuing a single-use payment link.

The new feature, developed for users of NatWest and RBS business banking mobile, issues the payment link via email, text messages and social media channels.

Recipients then “claim” the link by selecting which account to credit the payment to via NatWest’s Payit service.

Users will receive push notifications when a link is paid, failed, or expired, and can also cancel active links at any time and resend expired ones.

The feature was launched to personal customers back in February, and since then, more than 100,000 payments have been sent through Payit for a total of £5 million.

Mike Elliff, chief executive officer of Payit by NatWest, said: “Customer research has highlighted that businesses are time poor. A significant chunk of admin time is spent communicating with clients and customers to obtain their payee information to send them money.

“With Payit, we’re helping customers save time previously lost on admin by allowing them to pay someone without needing to know their bank account details.”

The functionality is secured by the mobile app’s multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of a payment to an incorrect bank account.

“As a leader in Open Banking payments, Payit ensures we provide customers with an easy and secure way to pay someone compared with alternative and traditional methods,” added Elliff.

The feature has been designed primarily for small and micro businesses, as well as sole traders, as it can be used for sending low-value payments of up to £250, to pay suppliers or for goods and materials, for instance.

According to NatWest, the feature is particularly useful for issuing non-card refunds, returning deposits, and sending one-off payments.