Bizum Pay Reaches 1.6 Million Terminals, but Faces Delays in Shops

Bizum Pay, the mobile payment system widely used in Spain, has now reached 1.6 million payment terminals nationwide, marking a significant milestone in its expansion into physical retail. Despite this technical achievement, the service continues to face obstacles when it comes to actual adoption in stores.

According to sources familiar with the rollout, many shops that already have compatible terminals have not yet activated Bizum Pay as a payment option for customers. "We have no planned date," one source admitted, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding a full nationwide rollout. This gap between available infrastructure and real-world usage illustrates the practical challenges of introducing a new payment method at scale.

The development comes shortly after a significant regulatory shift in Spain. It is now official that Spanish law has changed to guarantee every citizen the right to pay using Bizum in any physical store. This legal change effectively obliges retailers to accommodate Bizum as a valid payment method, even though implementation on the ground has been slower than the legislation itself.

At the same time, discussions are underway at a broader European level about creating a continental version of the service, sometimes referred to as a European Bizum Pay. The European Union is reportedly examining this option as part of a wider strategy to strengthen its financial sovereignty. Sovereignty, in this context, refers to a region's ability to control its own systems without depending on outside powers.

Currently, much of Europe's card payment infrastructure relies on companies such as Visa and Mastercard, both headquartered in the United States. This reliance has raised concerns among EU policymakers, particularly regarding the risk of U.S. sanctions that could, in theory, disrupt European financial transactions if political tensions arose. Sanctions are formal restrictions imposed by one country against another, and they can extend to companies and financial networks operating internationally.

By developing an independent, European-based payment alternative, modeled in part on Spain's Bizum, the EU hopes to reduce this vulnerability and create a more resilient financial infrastructure. Although such a project remains at an early stage, it reflects a growing trend among European institutions to seek greater autonomy in critical technological and financial sectors, especially as geopolitical tensions with the United States have occasionally surfaced in recent years.