Leading UK banks and building societies will later this month launch a service for account holders to send and receive money by using their mobile number rather than sharing sort code or account number.

Customers of participating UK banks and building societies can start to register from this week (2 April) for the Payments Council’s proposed P2P money transfer service called Paym.

The council also announced that the commercial launch date for the service is 29 April.

Paym’s pitch is towards users who want to repay informal loans to friends and family. The Payments Council has produced research which shows that UK consumers run up an average of £256 each year in such loans to each other. Typically this includes lunch with friends, as well as larger costs such as putting cash towards household bills.

The service will enable payments to be made to or from a bank account without subscribers having to share sort code or account number, using the more secure option of a mobile number as a proxy. Users can use it for payments to other individuals or to businesses.

From 2 April, registration is being rolled out for customers of Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Cumberland Building Society, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander and TSB. Customers of Danske Bank can register from 25 April. More banks are due to follow later this year and in 2015.