A payment transfer method for transferring funds from a payer to payee is provided, including designating a payee and specifying a payment amount and an account; debiting the funds from the account and crediting a first trust account; and identifying the payee by verifying responses received in response to one or more challenge-response questions defined by the payer. If the one or more responses are verified, a second trust account may be debited and a payee account credited with the payment amount. The first and second trust accounts may then be reconciled. There is also provided a payment transfer facility for transferring funds., comprising an application server for storing payment data relating to a transfer of funds and a notification server for providing a notification of the transfer of funds.