Spain's Bizum to Enable Account-to-Account Payments in Physical Stores

Spain's Bizum payment system will start supporting account-to-account transfers at physical retail locations from 18 May, according to Euronews. The service uses NFC technology to move funds directly from a customer's bank account to a merchant's via instant transfer.

Until now such in-store payments have typically relied on Visa or Mastercard networks. Bizum, which began as an interoperability project among Spanish banks, has grown to more than 30 million users, representing nearly the entire adult banking population.

It includes 111,000 businesses and around 40 banking institutions. In 2025 the platform handled 3.4 million instant transfers per day. The initial rollout will be led by banks including CaixaBank, Sabadell and Bankinter, with remaining banks following in stages.

Full availability is anticipated before the end of the year, although the main consumer push is expected in September or October.

Merchants currently pay interchange and service fees for each card transaction, while spending data is processed on servers outside Spain. Bizum's direct-transfer model cuts out those intermediaries and is expected to offer lower fees. Euronews reported that if the in-store experience matches the online one, local businesses will have a financial incentive to adopt the domestic system.

In e-commerce, Bizum recorded more than 100 million payments in 2025 and reduced cart abandonment rates. Projections cited by Euronews suggest the service could capture between 25 percent and 35 percent of physical-shop payment volume in Spain within two to three years.

Mastercard have historically responded to similar domestic systems by expanding loyalty programs, rewards and deferred-payment options. Bizum moves funds instantly and does not yet offer credit or rewards features. The networks are expected to focus on higher-value purchases and micro-payments.

Spain's unified banking approach contrasts with more fragmented systems elsewhere in Europe. The Spanish model is being positioned as the foundation for the European Payments Initiative, with the goal of enabling seamless cross-border payments among participating countries.

For businesses serving only Spanish customers, the lower fees and instant settlement of Bizum may reduce the need for international payment aggregators.