Barclay’s Pingit: First impressions on the service that lets you text money

Barclays has launched its new Pingit service. This lets anyone with a current account and a smartphone text money to someone using only their mobile phone number.

It’s the first time Britons have been able to send money this way – straight to someone else’s bank account without being charged.

But what are their first impressions?

[Related article: Barclay’s launches Pingit letting you text money free]

Registration problems

The first figures on uptake are coming through – with a spokeswoman from Barclays telling Yahoo! Finance the bank had had 3,000 downloads of the app in the first hour of business alone.

But the reviews are not universally positive.

“Faults in Barclays Pingit registration to receive page,” said Paul Webster on Twitter, adding:  “New Barclays Pingit service has problems with NatWest.”

Financial journalist Emma Lunn, who spent 20 minutes on the phone to the helpdesk, also had problems. “On the phone to Pingit help desk after the app repeatedly went back to the beginning without registering me. Not a good start Barclays,” she Tweeted.

“Pingit helpdesk say there is an error with Pingit meaning some people having problems setting it up. It's ‘working on it’,” she added.

“I appreciate that some people could have problems downloading the app,” Barclay’s told Yahoo! Finance, adding that there could be “some server problems” at their end if demand proved unexpectedly high.

[Related link: They're not all the same - switch to a top-rated current account]

Acclaim too

But for those who did manage to sign up, the opinion seems very positive.

“Have just used Barclays new Pingit app to send money. Absolutely fantastic,” said Matthew Carpanni on Twitter.

“The user interface and user experience is fantastic. The set up process is quick, simple and effective,” said Carl Martin.

[Related story: Should you trust your mobile with your money]