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Bizum on Payment Terminals: Mobile Payments in Stores

The new Bizum feature for in-store payments is being rolled out cautiously due to commissions and merchant adoption.

Generic image of a mobile phone using a payment application.
IA

Generic image of a mobile phone using a payment application.

The integration of Bizum into payment terminals will allow customers to pay with their mobile phones in establishments, although its initial rollout will be limited due to commissions and adoption rates.

Customers will be able to pay using their mobile phones at payment terminals or POS devices already configured for the new Bizum function. It will only be necessary to have downloaded the BizumPay application or use the app of banks with the activated functionality. Initially, availability will be limited, as only a few entities like CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell have adapted their systems, and merchants are showing some reluctance.
According to the general director of Ferrolan stores and Comertia member, Albert Antonijoan, low adoption is expected due to commissions, which are higher than for card payments. Bizum charges between 0.4% and 0.6% per transaction, while Visa or Mastercard are between 0.3% and 0.35%. Additionally, fixed fees per transaction are also higher with Bizum, particularly penalizing establishments with low average ticket sizes, such as cafes.
Although the new system will allow merchants to receive funds immediately, unlike cards which take 24 to 48 hours, Comertia considers the payment preparation process with Bizum to be "a bit slower," which could lead to queues in busy establishments.
On the user side, academics do not anticipate immediate widespread popularity. Paying with a card or Bizum involves the same action, but with Bizum, a separate app download is required, and it functions as a debit payment. Elisabet Ruiz, a Finance professor at UOC, notes that "unless companies and banks promote its use [...], the customer has no further incentive to switch." She highlights that Bizum's initial success was due to free peer-to-peer transfers, an incentive that is now absent. One of the few strong motivators could be the desire to move away from US platforms and support tools developed within the EU.
Antonio Gallardo, an economic expert from ASUFIN, emphasizes that Bizum's technology is secure, similar to Apple Pay or Google Pay, but acknowledges that "a lot of education" will be needed for citizens to perceive it as having comparable coverage to cards. In the long term, academics expect a coexistence of payment systems, with a potential launch of Bizum's own cards to facilitate access for middle-aged and older users, as indicated by the company's general director, Ángel Nigorra.

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