Barclays iPhone app update allows for payments to be sent to contacts with Siri

Barclays has taken advantage of Siri integration to add the ability to pay people and business that have already paid in the past just using Siri.

Payments are limited to people in the user's iPhone contact list, or existing payees through the bank. Users command Siri to make the payment, and the transaction is authenticated with Touch ID.

Barclays does not that there are "single and daily payments limits" without specifying the amounts. Additionally, payments may only be made in pounds. Users must opt-in to the feature in the app before it is available for use.

The bank's Siri integration comes nearly a year after Apple officially opened Siri APIs to third-party developers. PayPal subsidiary Venmo was first to receive Siri at launch, with PayPal itself following two months later.

The Barclays app is free, available only to U.K. App Store account holders, occupies 283MB of device storage space, and requires iOS 9.3 — with voice payments needing iOS 10. An Apple Watch version is available.