UK bank Barclays has launched an app that enables users to carry out a range of banking services via their smartphone, its third major mobile money launch this year. The bank also said its Pingit app, which enables mobile subscribers to send and receive money with one another, has now been downloaded over 900,000 times in its first four months.

The new app, which is free, enables users to check their account balance, view recent transactions, transfer funds between accounts, pay bills and find the nearest bank branch and ATM. The app is initially available for Apple and Android devices with plans for BlackBerry to follow. In addition the bank already has a mobile web application that was launched three years ago that also offers banking services.

As well as the new app and Pingit, the bank has also launched its Paytag service earlier this year which enables Barclaycard Visa cardholders to make payments at contactless terminals by attaching a sticker to their existing mobile handsets.

Users of the new banking service register their phone and account details via the app using the bank’s PINsentry device (a handheld card reader). The users key in a five-digit passcode each time they access mobile banking.

Last year Barclaycard partnered with UK mobile operator Orange to launch an NFC-based mobile payment service called QuickTap.