How to pay for crucial deliveries
Need to fork out for medicine or food brought to your door?
The lockdown means millions of households are now relying on friends, family and neighbours to deliver food, prescriptions and other essentials to their doors.
But many readers are worried about how to pay these good samaritans when they can’t leave the house to get cash and are warned against handing over their debit or credit card and Pin.
some community groups have advised volunteers not to expect any payment.
But with many of the country’s most vulnerable people, including the over- 70s and those with health conditions, self- isolating for three months, this just won’t be practical in many cases.
Banks have suggested using cheques, but just like cash, many fear these can carry bacteria.
here, Money Mail guides you through the ways you can transfer money without leaving the house . . .
DO AN ONLINE BANK TRANSFER
IF you have online or mobile banking you can send money directly to someone’s bank account within a few minutes. You just require their name, account number and sort code.
Those who have not yet set up online banking should visit their bank’s website for instructions.
The registration process varies from bank to bank, but you typically need to provide personal details including your name, date of birth and account information. You may then be sent an activation code by text message or post.
Many banks also require you to set up some security questions that you will need to answer when logging into your account.
Alternatively, smartphone users could download their bank’s mobile app.
You can then make bank transfers in much the same way — and it may even be quicker, as you can often approve new payments using your fingerprint.
Just be very careful you enter the correct account number and sort code.
Getting one digit wrong could mean your money lands in a stranger’s account, and it is difficult to then get it back.
Try transferring just £1 first and then calling the person you are paying to check it has arrived before sending the rest.
MAKE PAYMENTS BY PHONE
Those with telephone banking are able to pay bills and transfer money to individuals just by calling their bank.
The service is usually set up over the phone using your account number, sort code and personal information such as your date of birth.
however, bear in mind that many banks have reduced the number of staff in their call centres, so it could take a while to get through.
Banks have also said they will be prioritising their more vulnerable customers, key workers and those in financial difficulty. If you have access to the internet, check to see if you can set up telephone banking online.
Royal Bank of scotland customers who register for Digital Banking, for example, will also get access to its telephone banking service.
SIGN UP FOR A PAYPAL ACCOUNT
PAYPAL allows you to send money to friends and family in the UK for free with ease, if they have a PayPal account, too. To sign up you need to register your email address and choose a password. You then have to add your bank account or card details.
once your account is up and running, you can make a payment by logging in and clicking ‘send and request’ at the top of the page.
Then select the type of payment you want, and enter the recipient’s email and the cash amount. When sending money to individuals, such as neighbours dropping off your groceries, choose the ‘sending to family and friends’ option.
This will ensure the recipient does not pay a fee to receive the money.
SEND MONEY BY TEXT MESSAGE
You can pay friends and family using just their mobile phone number with free services such as Paym — which should already be an option if you use a mobile banking app.
You and the recipient must both register your mobile numbers. You can do this on your banking app. The payee does not need a smartphone for payments to go through, but will need to register their number with their bank or building society.
once you are both registered you can just make a payment as normal through your banking app. But instead of entering their account number and sort code, you can simply choose a number from the contact list stored in your phone.
Then just confirm the name, enter the amount you want to pay (usually up to £250 a day) and press send.
You should receive confirmation that your payment has been sent straight away.
LOAD UP A PREPAID CARD
A prepaid card may be useful as you can just top it up with the money needed to do your shopping for that week.
You can apply for the cards online in minutes. Many are free, although some come with spending limits.
You can add funds by debit card or bank transfer.
one card provider, Monese, has a simple mobile account that is free to use, but you must pay £4.95 for delivery of the card.
A Transferwise account comes with a free card that can be topped up.
USE THE ATM WITH A CODE
Royal Bank of scotland and NatWest allow customers to access cash at an ATM without a bank card or Pin.
The customer just needs to generate a code using their mobile banking app which can then be entered into the cash machine.
select the ‘Get Cash’ option in the app and select how much money you want to be made available ( up to a maximum of £130).
The code will then be texted to you, and you can forward it to the friend or neighbour who needs the money to pay for your groceries.
They can use it at any RBs and NatWest ATMs or those found outside Tesco stores. They should press the ‘ enter’ key on the machine and follow the prompts on screen.
The code remains active for three hours.