GoCardless release PayLinks

GoCardless the company that is revolutionising on-line payments has just released its Paylinks system. This allows anyone with a UK bank account to receive payments through a website. It is a very simple sign-up process that asks for an email/password and then a driving license or passport number and address/date of birth etc. Then back account details. You get a confirmation email and that it everything is done. The PayLinks site then prompts for an amount, whether it's a single payment or recurring (weekly, monthly, annually) and then it generates a unique URL that can be added to a site. Anyone clicking on the link will be prompted for their details and that's it a payment is made to the GoCardless user's account. GoCardless will hold payments for 7 days to ensure that nothing dubious is going on (probably earning interest for them too). GoCardless only charge 1% of the transaction or £2.00 whichever is less. GoCardless already offer what amounts to direct debit payments for merchants (i.e. no credit cards requited, just bank details) and this will just add to their disruptiveness and other payment providers must be quaking in their boots.