- Ordo will permit those volunteering to help others with shopping during the coronavirus outbreak to keep track of their cash flows
- “Smart request” system enables senders and recipients to make online money transfers with ease – and there is a supermarket receipt attachment option too
- “…using Ordo not only makes simple work of processing individual transactions, it makes it easy for the person helping to keep track of the money”, said firm’s CEO
A British online money transfer service has announced that it will offer its consumer to consumer payment services at no extra cost due to the coronavirus crisis.
Ordo said that it would launch a new version of its service called Ordo Neighbour2Neighbour, with the aim being that next door neighbours can buy goods and services – and then reimburse – each other if needed.
Ordo is understood to envisage that users might make the most of the service for grocery shopping, prescription collection and similar.
According to press reports, the move from the firm will be continued for the whole duration of the self-isolation and social distancing periods.
It will be possible to make payments via the sender’s bank’s online banking or mobile banking services.
Once a user has paid for the items, they can then use the Ordo app or website to send a so-called “smart request” to the person who needs to pay them back.
This can be done via an email address or mobile phone number, and an alert is then sent to the relevant person.
There is a function to include a photograph of a receipt.
A link for senders to click on will be included in the alert, and this enables payment.
Recipients can also specify which account they get the funds paid into.
According to Craig Tillotson, who serves as CEO of Ordo and is also its co-founder, the new service “makes it easy” for recipients to manage cash flows while helping others.
“Every day, more and more people are offering their support to help members of the community – whether that’s NHS staff or other key workers, the elderly or those with medical conditions”, he said.
"In the current climate, many are unable to make cash or contactless payments themselves in store and are looking for safe ways to settle up with the people helping them.”
“Often these volunteers are supporting several people in the same street, and using Ordo not only makes simple work of processing individual transactions, it makes it easy for the person helping to keep track of the money they need to collect and know when they’ve been paid without asking or having to look in their bank account”, he added.
Ordo, which is a relatively new fintech firm, describes itself as a “new trusted way to request, make and receive payments that’s simple, swift and secure”.
To discover more about what’s happening to the cross border payments industry and its related sectors during the coronavirus outbreak, check out our magazine pages.
