The Pay to Mobile feature lets you send money to the contacts in your smartphone address book, even if they're with a different bank to you. Unlike standard bank transfers, you don't need the payee's bank account details. All you need is the recipient's mobile number.
If you're both with the same bank the transfer is simple and instant. Otherwise, the person you're sending money to will receive an SMS code and instructions on how to claim the payment (this is usually via clicking on a secure link and entering a verification code). Sending a payment to a friend's mobile number doesn't attract extra banking fees.
Only a limited number of banks still include Pay to Mobile functionality in their mobile banking apps. Westpac no longer offers Pay to Mobile in the latest version of its app, but does have it via online banking.
This will vary slightly between different banks, but the steps to make a payment using Pay to Mobile will generally be as follows:
Pay to Mobile is an easy way to pay someone quickly. It's useful if you need to pay a friend back for a purchase or split a bill at a restaurant.
Finder surveyed over 1,100 Australians about their banking app usage. We found that most Australians use their bank apps to transfer money or pay someone.
| Response | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Transferring money or paying someone | 28.79% | 25.56% |
| Checking your balance | 27.41% | 26.5% |
| Transaction monitoring | 11.55% | 13.35% |
| I don't use a banking app | 9.66% | 10.53% |
| Budgeting and expense tracking | 3.62% | 3.01% |
| Find nearby ATMs | 0.86% | 1.5% |
| Customer support | 0.69% | 0.94% |
| Rewards and offers | 0.86% | 0.75% |
| Other | 0.34% | 0.38% |
PayID is the standard way to pay someone via a mobile number today. Even if your bank offers Pay to Mobile, they'll most likely also offer PayID as a transfer method too.
PayID allows you to assign your mobile number to your bank account. Then, when someone wants to send you money, they can simply enter your mobile number to do so instead of asking for your account details.
To send someone money to their phone number using PayID, they'll need to have their phone number registered with the service.
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How Do I transfer money from my Bank account to a personal mobile phone number?
Hi James,
The capability to transfer money from your bank account to a personal mobile phone number depends on the bank. This feature is not always available. You can check your bank’s website or call their customer support to enquire if this is possible.
The article above also outlines how it generally works. Please refer to the section “How to use Pay to Mobile” for details.
I hope this helps!
Regards,
Alison