Who has not said or heard in recent months the expression I make you a
bizum
?
This instant payment platform through mobile phones has spread exponentially in recent years and reaches all age groups with force.
So much so that it offers dizzying usage figures: in 2022, an average of 24 transfers were made through Bizum per second.
That is, 762 million operations for a value that exceeded 40,700 million euros (an average of 53 euros per transaction), as reported by the firm this Wednesday in a statement.
That is, almost the same amount in 12 months as accumulated in the previous five years of the platform's life.
The advance of the digital platform continues unstoppable.
The pandemic triggered electronic payments and represented an opportunity for this type of platform.
This instant mobile payment solution has more than 22.6 million users, according to company data, which is a joint project of the banking sector.
Although the use of Bizum in recent years has skyrocketed, it is still a long way from the use of credit cards or other electronic payments.
It has meant a revolution for money transfers between individuals and, now also, for paying amounts in businesses.
The record of operations in one day occurred on December 1, with 3.3 million (an average of 38
bizums
per second).
“These figures highlight that Bizum is already part of the daily life of nearly 23 million Spaniards and show its consolidation as a simple, fast and secure payment method, which acquires a more universal profile thanks to its evolution towards new uses. , increasingly recognized and used by users”, explains Ángel Nigorra, the company's general director, in a statement.
One of the great recent changes for the growth of this form of digital payment has been the possibility of using it in payment in stores.
Last year, Bizum users paid for 15 million purchases through the platform, more than double that of 2021. Thus, in the last 12 months amounts of 870 million euros were paid.
Of course, this part still represents a very small part of Bizum's activity, which mainly includes payments between people, as well as electronic commerce, donations to NGOs and social entities, as well as payments and collections in State Lotteries and Betting.
This advance is more than significant and threatens other forms of payment, especially cash.
Cash has
fallen
in recent years, according to data from the Bank of Spain and the European Central Bank, but it still remains the most widely used option.
In fact, two thirds of purchases in physical stores are still made in cash.
This does not mean that the advance in the use of mobile phones has been important, especially in payments between individuals where 13.1% of operations are already concentrated, according to the Bank of Spain.
"The decrease in the number of cash payments would be related to a greater ease of making this type of payment digitally thanks, among other things, to new payment methods, such as Bizum," adds the study.
Use of cash and other means of payment: how is the way we pay changing?,
Prepared by the Spanish banking supervisor.
Physical and digital purchases
Electronic commerce has been one of the great drivers of growth in the past year.
"In 2022, entities have made a great effort to get more
online
businesses to join Bizum and offer it to their customers as a payment method, providing them with a better shopping experience," adds Nigorra.
This increase in the offer made the platform break its record for use in digital stores coinciding with Black Friday: 6.5 million euros were paid in a single day (Friday, November 25).
On the other hand, in face-to-face payment, the agreement with State Lotteries and Gambling to pay and collect with Bizum in more than 11,000 establishments has been relevant.
This has facilitated 226,000 operations to pay 2.4 million euros and collect 24.7 million.
The highest figures were registered, as expected, shortly before the Christmas draw, on December 21, when 1.5 million were recorded in payments.
On the collection side, the prize record occurred the day after the draw, on December 23, when more than 3 million euros were received by Bizum.
Users of the instant mobile payment platform also used it for solidarity payments: in 2022 they made 530,000 donations to NGOs and other social entities that represented a volume of more than 22 million euros.
more growth
Furthermore, the evolution of Bizum has not reached a ceiling.
The company's prospects for 2023 contemplate new growth rates thanks to the expansion among
online
businesses and the entry of new users.
Specifically, the firm hopes to reach 60,000 digital stores and exceed 25 million users.
On the other hand, the platform is already working to incorporate new functionalities to further increase its use.
Among them, the possibility of paying subscriptions through Bizum or the use of the digital identification of the payment platform for registration and access to virtual environments stands out.
There are also internationalization opportunities.
Recorded success offers you the opportunity to be relevant in cross-border payments.
In fact, Bizum joined EMPSA (European Association of Mobile Payment Systems) in mid-2022 with the aim of exploring the possibilities of a European mobile payment network.
And last year the first foreign entity also joined the platform, specifically from Andorra, which began to offer the service to its customers at the end of the year.