Paym, a new mobile payments system, launched in the UK today, allowing users to make payments to friends and family using just their mobile number.

Around 30 million customers of Barclays, Bank of Scotland, Cumberland Building Society, Danske Bank, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander and TSB can use the service by registering their mobile number with their bank.

The service will be available for an additional 10 million customers with RBS, NatWest, Ulster Bank, First Direct, Clydesdale Bank, Isle of Man Bank and Yorkshire Bank by the end of the year, covering nine out of 10 current accounts.

However, Nationwide Building Society members will be unable to fully use the system until 2015, while Metro Bank is finalising plans to join the scheme.

The Payments Council, which is behind Paym, is pitching the service towards users who want to repay informal loans to friends and family.

Users register their mobile number with their bank to link it to their current account and access the service via their mobile banking or payments app.

In order to make a payment, they select a friend’s mobile number, confirm the recipient and hit send. The recipient of the payment must be registered to use the service but does not require a smartphone.

The service allows £250 to be sent each day, with some banks offering a higher limit, and users can receive payments even when their phone is switched off.

However, research by Consumer Intelligence (cited by the BBC) found that only around a quarter of consumers will use the service with 47 per cent of account holders not planning to use Paym at all, with many concerned about security of the system.

The Payments Council said the technology is secure, with chief executive Adrian Kamellard claiming Paym is “a safe and easy option”.