Take-up of NPP Australia’s PayID service has accelerated, with a 44 per cent increase in registered PayIDs over the past 12 months, taking the number to 12.7 million.

NPP Australia reported that more than 100 banks and other financial institutions now offer their customers the ability to link a PayID to their bank account.

PayID allows people to send money to the recipient’s mobile number, email address, ABN or ACN. It replaces BSBs and account numbers for “pay anyone” payments.

NPP Australia said round 18 per cent of NPP payments are initiated by the payer using the payee’s PayID – a 24 per cent increase over the past 12 months.

It said 47 per cent of PayID users are using it weekly and 68 per cent said they would like to see it offered as a payment option by more businesses.

Back in May, the Reserve Bank’s head of payments policy, Ellis Connolly, was critical of the industry for not encouraging greater use of PayID.

NPP Australia has been promoting the service as a more secure way to make payments. PayID provides a measure of security through its “confirmation step”: when a person makes a payment to a PayID, they are shown the name of the recipient before making the payment.

This process can help identify when a scammer is imitating a person or business in a bid to redirect customer payments. NPP Australia said one in four users reported that they have stopped or edited a payment where they noticed the recipient’s details were wrong.

It is also promoting PayID’s functionality with PayTo. Launched at the end of June, PayTo is a mandate payment arrangement for consumers and businesses. Payers will be able to use PayID when they set up payment arrangements, rather than using their BSB and bank account number.