Spain’s popular payment platform Bizum is preparing to enter physical retail stores in a move that could reshape the country’s payments market and increase pressure on international card providers such as Visa and Mastercard.
Starting May 18, Bizum Pay will allow customers to make direct account-to-account payments at shop counters using near-field communication technology, commonly known as NFC. The system enables users to pay instantly from their bank accounts without routing transactions through traditional card networks.
The development marks a major expansion for the Spanish platform, which has already become one of the country’s most widely used digital payment services for transfers between friends and family.
Until now, most in-store electronic payments in Spain have depended on international card systems. Each transaction typically involves processing fees paid by merchants to card operators and payment service providers. With Bizum’s new model, payments will move directly between banks, reducing dependence on foreign-owned infrastructure and lowering transaction costs for businesses.
The rollout will initially involve several major Spanish banks, including CaixaBank, Banco Sabadell and Bankinter. Other participating banks are expected to join later this year, with a wider consumer launch anticipated by autumn.
Bizum was originally created as a joint initiative between Spanish banks to simplify mobile transfers. It has since grown rapidly and now claims more than 30 million users, covering most of Spain’s adult banking population. Around 111,000 businesses are already connected to the platform’s digital payment ecosystem.
According to company figures, Bizum processed approximately 3.4 million instant transfers daily in 2025. Its strong growth in e-commerce has also encouraged merchants to embrace the service, particularly as it reportedly helped reduce abandoned online purchases.
Industry analysts believe Bizum could capture between 25 and 35 percent of physical retail payment volume in Spain within the next few years if adoption continues at its current pace.
The expansion is also drawing attention across Europe. Spain’s banking sector succeeded in building a unified payment system while many European countries remain divided between competing national platforms. Bizum is now playing a central role in the EuroPA Alliance and broader European efforts to establish regional payment infrastructure independent of US-based systems.
For merchants, the appeal lies largely in lower processing costs and instant settlement. Traditional card payments can involve fees ranging from 0.2 percent to 2 percent depending on the transaction and provider. Bizum’s direct transfer system is expected to offer significantly lower charges.
International card companies are still expected to compete strongly through rewards programs, cashback offers and credit-based payment services, areas where direct transfer systems currently have fewer options.
Still, Bizum’s move into physical retail is being viewed as one of the most ambitious attempts yet by a European payment platform to challenge the dominance of global card networks on their own ground.
