Lleida's businesses will begin to gradually accept Bizum payments starting next Monday through contactless NFC technology. The system will reach establishments through the applications of entities such as BBVA and CaixaBank, and also with Bizum Pay, a new multi-bank digital wallet that will become operational on June 1.
The novelty begins with a contradiction on the street. While commercial organizations see room for the payment to spread, several businesses in the Eix Comercial admit that they are still unaware of the measure or do not plan to use it for now, either for operational reasons or because they do not want to link their personal number to the establishment's activity.
Pimec Comerç Lleida and Fecom endorse the system, but do not know how many businesses will join
Manel Llaràs, president of Pimec Comerç Lleida, positively assessed the incorporation of Bizum for in-person payments. In his opinion, it is another modality that can work because it is already common among many users and can facilitate the commercial relationship between consumers and establishments.
"We see it as good, as it is another payment method that can work" - Manel Llaràs, president of Pimec Comerç Lleida
Llaràs added that the main caution lies in possible bank commissions. Both Pimec Comerç Lleida and the Federació de Comerç demanded maximum security in payment systems and stated that they do not foresee any incidents arising from the implementation.
Maria Rosa Armengol, general secretary of the Federació de Comerç, argued that any useful tool to facilitate transactions between customers and businesses can fit into local commerce. She also linked its deployment to the willingness of both parties.
"If the consumer wants it but the merchant is not prepared, it cannot be done, but with time it will become normal" - Maria Rosa Armengol, general secretary of the Federació de Comerç
Neither Pimec Comerç Lleida nor Fecom specified how many establishments will join in this first phase. The implementation, therefore, will begin without a fixed number of businesses in the city and with a deployment that will depend on each business and the banking entities that already integrate it into their applications.
The Eix Comercial receives Bizum payments amidst ignorance and testing
In the Eix Comercial, the initial response is not uniform. A merchant stated that he will not use the system because he does not have a company phone and does not want to use his personal number for business activities.
Another business explained that they will only keep the card reader and cash. Faced with these reservations, a third merchant did positively value the initiative and opened the door to incorporating it.
Bizum will allow contactless payments in stores supported by NFC, the same technological environment that other mobile payment systems already use. The Bizum Pay application will start operating on June 1 and will serve as a multi-bank digital wallet to store credit and debit cards from participating entities.
The platform, created in Madrid in 2016, allows transactions between 0.50 and 500 euros. Additionally, since last summer, it has supported transfers between individuals with Italy, Portugal, and Andorra.
Today, it brings together more than 31 million users and nearly 100,000 businesses. Its integration is already included in the applications of CaixaBank, BBVA, Santander, Sabadell, Unicaja, Kutxabank, Caja Rural, Ibercaja, Cajamar, Abanca, and Bankinter.