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We all have that friend who never carries cash and who will invite us next time. It may or may not comply, extend the formalism over and over again, yes, the money from the cane, dinner or movie ticket will take time to return to our portfolio. Good news, it seems that the bargain is going to run out , Bizum tops the list of transactions or payments services between individuals in Spain.

What does the name not sound like? More than six million Spaniards yes . A number of record users considering that, in national territory, cash is the main payment method. "As for the registration of users, we have a growing trend, concentrating the biggest peaks on dates such as Christmas," explains the general director of Bizum, Angel Nigorra, to PIXEL. Looking forward to this 2020, taking into account these data, the service has been proposed to reach 12 million users .

Bizum is an instant payment platform between individuals, by electronic commerce (through a button incorporated in the payment page) , for donations to NGOs and for a specific type of business payments to individuals (benefits, discounts and other related actions to marketing).

For now, the service is not available for professional use , but its director says that "Through 2020 we will address a specific solution for freelancers ."

Using the smartphone as a tool to use the service can lead to the error of identifying Bizum as an application. Driven by Spanish banks, this is not an independent app, so it is not found on Google Play or App Store . The platform is accessed from the application of our bank . Depending on the entity, the Bizum section will be located within the general app, in the wallet (wallet) or within the electronic banking section.

Bizum Requirements

Having a bank account in Spain and a mobile number is enough to be a user of the application. In the case of making a payment to or from foreign mobiles, while operating with a Spanish entity, the operation may be carried out in the same way. In addition, more than one telephone number can be associated with the same account, as would be the case with shared bank accounts.

In the case of sending a payment to a person who is not a user of the service, this establishes a period of 48 hours to register, after which, the operation would be canceled and the money would return to the recipient .

Bizum: Faster and safer than PayPal

Sometimes the comparisons are odious, but in this case there are three keys that make Bizum different from other forms of payment such as PayPal. "Our source point is immediacy, money goes from account to account in less than five seconds, " says Nigorra. "Another important point would be the comfort of the user, since the service is carried on the smartphone and you do not need to have another intermediate product or make prepayments or refills, " he adds.

That is the simplicity of the platform, you do not need to know the recipient's account, just enter the phone number or email address of the person to whom you want to send a payment or select the contact in the phonebook. As long as that person has an account in Spain, since it only works between Spanish bank accounts .

Finally, the director of the service highlights the extension of Bizum , both for the number of users and for the number of banking entities with which they operate. " We work with the main Spanish banks that cover more than 96% market share, " says Nigorra.

The latter is key to guarantee secure transactions, especially in payments to electronic businesses. Nigorra says that, as of today, they have not registered any cases of fraud . "The incorporation of electronic stores to the service always occurs through a bank, so it is fully supported by the security systems of the entities. This ensures that payments are made with the maximum security conditions ."

The limits and commissions of Bizum

The list of entities that work with Bizum amounts to 25 , although it will be expanded throughout this year. Specifically, they work with: CaixaBank, Banco Santander, BBVA, Bankia, Banco Sabadell, Bankia, Kutxabank, Caja Rural Group, Unicaja, Ibercaja, Cajamar Cooperative Group, Abanca, Bankinter, Liberbank, Laboral Kutxa, EVO Bank, Eurocaja Rural, Caja de Engineers, Banco Mediolanum, Cajalmendralejo, Bankoa Crédit Agricole, CajaSur, Deutsche Bank, Imagin bank, Openbank and soon with Arquia Banca.

In most of the entities this service has no cost , although it will always depend on the policy of each bank. For example, BBVA charges a commission of 0.10 euros per transfer from the year of use, the first being free .

It should be noted that, like other payment platforms, Bizum sets some limits . Per month, the limit of operations for both receiving and sending money is 150, with 1,000 euros being the maximum amount allowed per sending operation and 0,50 euros the minimum . A day, the customer of the service can receive a maximum of 2,000 euros and in a multiple application can only include up to 30 recipients . Likewise, each entity adds or modifies some of these values, so it is advisable to read the particular conditions.

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