Bizum
Also known as: Bizum Pay, Pay with Bizum
Bizum is a Spanish payment service backed by Spanish banks. It lets people send money from a mobile phone using the recipient's phone number, pay online by approving in their bank app, and, since a gradual rollout in 2026, pay in person by holding the phone near the terminal.
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Example
A customer picks Pay with Bizum at an online checkout, types their phone number and approves the payment in their bank's app.
Most Spaniards know Bizum as the way to send money to a friend. In 2026 it started to become a till option too.
How it works
Bizum's site says it is backed by leading Spanish banks and works from the phone, whichever bank the user is with. The user activates it in their bank's app. The phone number is the identifier, so a sender needs only the recipient's number.
For online purchases, the customer chooses "Pay with Bizum", enters their phone number and approves in the bank app. That makes it a card-not-present alternative that does not use a card number.
In person
Bizum's own release describes the in-store rollout as gradual. A payment goes directly from the customer's account to the shop's account. The customer holds the phone near the terminal over NFC, using either the Bizum Pay wallet or the app of some banks. Each bank decides which channel it offers, or both. Not every user or shop has access at once. The Banco de España's consumer page, dated 21 May 2026, says both the customer's bank and the shop must support it, and that there are no cards or PIN involved.
As of October 2026 the rollout is still in progress. Check with your payment provider and your payment terminal provider whether it is live for your shop, and which banks' customers can use it.
Not a card payment
Bizum's release says the in-person payment goes straight from the customer's account to the shop's account, with no intermediary. That is a different model from a card payment, so a card-fee table does not describe it. Ask your provider what it charges for Bizum, and from when.
The customer reaches for the phone first. The shop has to be ready for that.
