Poland’s instant payment system BLIK is in discussions to join a European payments interoperability initiative that connects local payment solutions across multiple countries.
If the process moves forward, users of BLIK in Poland and Slovakia would be added to the network. The initiative currently includes Bancomat in Italy, Bizum in Spain and Andorra, SIBS/MB Way in Portugal, Vipps MobilePay in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and EPI/Wero in several European markets including France, Germany and Belgium.
According to the announcement, BLIK is the first payment solution to begin talks on joining the project after the initial interoperability agreement was announced earlier this year.
The initiative is focused on enabling interoperability between local payment systems across Europe. The participating companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding following a feasibility phase related to the development of shared infrastructure for cross-border payments between different payment platforms and currencies. Unlike earlier introduced Wero, that aims to build a unified pan-European payment scheme with a single digital wallet, this particular project is focused on connecting existing national payment systems so they can work with each other across borders while keeping their local brands and user bases.
The companies said the system is expected to support transfers between users of different payment solutions. One example mentioned in the announcement was the possibility for a BLIK user to send money to a Bizum user. The initial phase is expected to focus on peer-to-peer payments, while in-store payments are planned for a later stage.
BLIK confirmed its interest in joining the initiative and stated that the approach includes jointly building and funding the interoperability infrastructure.
In Poland, BLIK is used for peer-to-peer transfers, online payments and in-store payments. This real-time payment network processes about 7 million transactions a day, with annual volume nearing $80 billion.
The coalition initiative remains open to payment providers from European countries, including non-euro markets such as Switzerland.
