Bizum, the mobile payment app that revolutionized dinners among friends, has set its sights on a bigger target: businesses. The Spanish platform wants to challenge giants like Visa and Mastercard for a slice of the 68-billion-euro pie. Its plan is to become a common payment method, both in physical stores and in online commerce, defying the dominance of major US tech companies.
The technical challenge of integrating Bizum into the commercial ecosystem 🔧
Bizum's expansion requires overcoming a notable technical challenge: integrating its instant payment system into point-of-sale (POS) terminals and e-commerce platforms. Unlike person-to-person transfers, commercial transactions demand more robust security protocols, refund management, and compatibility with multiple systems. The company is working on an API that allows businesses to add Bizum as a payment option, directly competing with traditional gateways and digital wallets from major firms.
Goodbye to searching for coins, hello to reaching for your phone 📱
After years of being the hero that lets you pay for dinner without anyone pulling out a calculator, Bizum now wants to collect payments at the bakery. The irony is that, after so much effort to avoid contact with physical money, we might end up paying for bread with the same phone we use to avoid calls. Of course, now the phrase will no longer be Can you send it to me via Bizum?, but rather Can you charge me via Bizum?. Progress, folks.