Ibiza shops begin taking payments by Bizum: “During the summer it will spread quickly”

The introduction of Bizum payments in shops has got off to a slow start in Ibiza and Formentera, as it has in many other parts of Spain, but it is expected to spread quickly over the coming weeks, according to the president of the Pimeef Commerce association, José Javier Marí Noguera.

The official launch of Bizum Pay took place on Monday. The new service allows customers to pay by mobile phone in shops, bars and restaurants directly from their banking app, using contactless technology and without the need to enter any physical card details. However, availability will depend on several factors: whether the bank has enabled the feature, whether the user has configured it in their app and whether the establishment has a compatible payment terminal.

In Ibiza, “most shops still do not have it installed”, Marí Noguera explains to Diario de Ibiza, meaning that “for the time being they do not have the option of taking payments” in this new way. “It has been approved very recently and I understand that, from now on, most businesses that want it will have a payment method. Basically, all that is needed is a Visa terminal compatible with Bizum Pay, which is the payment system through this device”, he explains.

Despite this slow start, the Pimeef representative predicts that “during the summer it will spread very quickly” across the Pityusic Islands. “It is quite clear that it will be quick to set up and should not cause any problems. It may seem like a big change, but in reality it is an easy thing to do”, he says, stressing that the contactless payment process is identical to that used with current bank cards.

Well received by shops

“The difference is that the payment, instead of being made through the card, is charged directly to the customer’s account. Each business first has to negotiate with its bank to have the system activated, and it must be linked to the company’s account, not to a personal account. There are fees that each business has to negotiate with its bank, but it is understood that they will be lower than the fees for card payments”, he says.

For this reason, he predicts that Bizum Pay “will be important above all for shops that sell very low-value products”, because for many of these establishments “it may not have been profitable to accept card payments because of the fees”. “Today, practically most customers, especially younger ones, are already used to paying by card. It will be an important advantage for many businesses and also for many customers, of course”, he adds.

“Some generations will only ever see physical money in photos”, he concludes. According to financial sector data, four out of every ten transactions in Spain are already made by mobile phone, a trend that has completely changed payment habits in just a few years. How Bizum Pay works will vary depending on each bank. In some cases, users will have to activate it manually within their banking app in order to use their mobile phone as a payment method in physical establishments.