NatWest launches Tap to Pay on Android

Following this launch, clients can turn their compatible Android devices into contactless mobile card readers in order to accept payments. 

The Tap to Pay application has an easy set-up process that allows businesses and firms to present users with a payment screen on their Android phone and accept the contactless transaction in a secure and efficient manner. The solution will include credit cards, debit cards, as well as digital wallets. 

The soft POS service was designed to offer users the possibility to accept payments without needing to have physical hardware. 

As an initial launch phase, the Tap to Pay on Android is set to be available for a small part of Tyl by NatWest traders and merchants, before the product will have a full launch later in 2023. NatWest will keep an eye on the rollout process and the experience customers have with the new product in order to deliver useful insights and ensure its offerings are seamless and secure. 

NatWest’s strategy of development

UK-based bank NatWest had multiple partnerships and product launches in the last couple of months, covering multiple geographies. 

NatWest was recently mentioned in the Financial Crime and Fraud Report 2023 published by The Paypers in May 2023. The report delved into the landscape of financial crime and fraud prevention, where the company was listed as one of the partners. 

In March 2023, NatWest made its new Customer Attribute Sharing service available to companies and businesses, as an embedded digital ID product. This was made in collaboration with OneID. The bank was set to roll out the service after it signed a deal with OneID, covering a wide range of use cases, such as digital onboarding and e-document signing processes. 

The Customer Attribute Sharing solution was designed to offer users an easy and safe way to consent to businesses that are accessing bank-held data. The service aimed to speed up their online experiences, including the procedure of buying products and goods online or signing up for new services. It also enabled clients to digitally verify their details when buying age-restricted products, like hiring a car. 

Earlier in the same month, NatWest implemented daily and monthly limits to crypto payments and transfers in a bid, in order to protect its users against cyber-criminals. The company decided to put a limit of GBP 1000 per day, as well as a 30-day payment limit of GBP 5000 to cryptocurrency exchanges, as a way to secure its customers that lost a considerable sum of money.

The company partnered with NAB to publish a white paper in February 2023, focusing on exploring the common threads that bind both the UK’s Open Banking regime and Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR). 

The white paper highlighted the similarities that exist in the policies that underpin both regimes, including innovation, increasing competition, and empowering customers and clients with control over their data. Furthermore, it focused on how the two countries diverged in their journeys in order to implement these frameworks, in relation to the respective scope each has in terms of ‘breadth versus depth’.

The NatWest Rooster Money updated its pricing in February 2023 to offer clients of the NatWest Group free access to its prepaid kids’ debit card subscription. The service was extended to NatWest users with the condition that they remained with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, or Ulster Bank.