May 14, 2007 at 10:17 pm · Authored by Alex · Filed under Mobile Services

Link: Post Office delivers handset payments

Here’s the second story on barcode usage in the UK that I’ve blogged about today. Hopefully with the power of the Post Office behind this one it’ll turn into a popular method for companies to send cash to consumers.

A METHOD of paying out cash by sending barcodes to mobile phones has been launched by the UK’s Post Office. Known as Payout it is now available from any of the Post Office’s 14,000 UK branches. The system will handle amounts up to £100 and is an ideal way of sending small amounts of cash or providing refunds to people who don’t have bank accounts.

There’s no costs mentioned in the article, but one of the trialists - consumer giant Unilever - are quoted as saying ‘raising a cheque is 600 per cent more expensive than using the Post Office payout service’.

Now if the Post Office offer it as a consumer to consumer service, we will be cooking on gas..