Bizum’s vision for A2A payments: towards a sovereign European payments ecosystem

Martín Azcue, Head of Business Development at Bizum, discusses European payments sovereignty, showcasing EuroPA’s approach to cross-border A2A payments.

 

While account-to-account (A2A) payments are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in some regions, what are the most common factors preventing their widespread adoption?

In the current context, marked by strong support from European institutions for sovereign payment solutions and the growing adoption of instant transfers, building a pan-European payment network has become a strategic priority.

Europe has developed successful domestic payment solutions such as Bizum in Spain, MB WAY, Bancomat, and others, but today, many rely on different payment instruments. As pioneers in SEPA Instant adoption, Bizum and the Spanish banking sector have faced the key challenges of bringing A2A to retail: notably, the absence of critical merchant-demanded features like dispute mechanisms, payment reversals, and variable recurring payments. These are still not fully supported at a scheme level or are restricted by regulation. For Europe to establish a sovereign alternative, it must go beyond current efforts like the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA) and strengthen public-private collaboration to address regulatory and technical gaps.

How do A2A payments position themselves in the cross-border space, and which strategies have proven successful for their international expansion?

The European Central Bank (ECB) has promoted A2A payments via instant transfers. In Spain, this is already a reality – instant transfers accounted for 55.6% of all transfers in 2024, compared to 19.7% in the eurozone.

This trend is now extending from person-to-person (P2P) to merchant payments, with major retailers aiming to shift 30%-40% of ecommerce transactions to A2A in the coming years.

Bizum has played a key role in this shift, being widely adopted for P2P, online purchases, and donations. In 2024, it averaged 3 million daily transactions (35 per second). Similar solutions across Europe, which lead their local markets and enjoy high user preference, make a strong case for interconnecting them to enable pan-European coverage and build an efficient, sovereign payment ecosystem.

What is the European Payment Alliance’s (EuroPA) approach to the challenge of cross-border A2A payments?

EuroPA is based on the principle that interoperability (i.e., building on existing financial sector investments and recognised brands) improves adoption prospects, as opposed to launching new brands. This enhances the competitiveness of financial institutions against emerging players like mobile wallets and contributes to a sovereign European ecosystem.

Connecting solutions that users already trust also benefits them by preserving a familiar experience – e.g., sending money to a phone number or paying through known apps, without the need for new registrations. All this is delivered via banking services that fully comply with European payment and data privacy standards.

How do mobile and QR technologies help push A2A payments into the mainstream and encourage adoption?

Smartphone penetration across Europe is high, and this reality has driven the development of payment solutions like Bizum. The key to scaling mobile payments lies in providing a simple, intuitive user experience.

Technology choice can influence adoption significantly. For example, QR codes dominate in regions like Asia. In Spain, a market with strong banking infrastructure and advanced payment acceptance, contactless has become the preferred method. For Bizum, offering a secure and straightforward A2A point-of-sale experience through contactless aligns best with user expectations, which is why we are pursuing this as our strategy to enable fast and secure in-store payments.

What are Bizum’s plans for the future, and will EuroPA expand its use cases beyond P2P?

Bizum aims to remain the preferred payment method for individuals and businesses. As our next target, we plan to enable NFC-based in-person payments through either bank apps or the new Bizum Pay wallet, which is set to be launched as a standalone app. We are also exploring new roles for Bizum in digital ID, with a login feature for merchants, and services like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL).

For EuroPA, we anticipate expanded reach across more countries, inside and outside the eurozone. Aligned with our goal of pan-European acceptance, our roadmap includes supporting new use cases – both ecommerce and point-of-sale – as Bizum has already done in Spain, reinforcing an innovative, reliable, and sovereign European payment network.

How do you expect the A2A payments industry to evolve in the following years?

A2A payments are growing exponentially. This is not only due to the regulatory push by EU institutions to make instant payments mandatory all across Europe, but also because both users and merchants are demanding more solutions of this type. This is something that we are discussing with other industry players. The adoption of instant payments still has room to grow, not only for P2P transactions, but also for merchant payments. For instance, the ECB predicts that 60% of ecommerce payments and 20% of point-of-sale transactions could be made using A2A solutions by 2023.

Current market momentum supports further increases in the adoption of account-based payments. Alongside favourable regulation and the balance between user experience and security that instant payment solutions deliver, this will all play a decisive role in their successful uptake. Together with the strong commitment shown by European payment solutions to making their systems compatible with A2A payments, these trends demonstrate the market’s beliefs in instant payments as a potential favourite payment method in Europe.

 

This editorial piece was first published in The Paypers' Account-to-Account Payments Report 2025, which features insights into global trends, key players, partnerships, and the next phase of the A2A evolution. Access the full report to understand where the A2A payments ecosystem stands today and what’s next.

 

About the author

 

Martín has worked as a Product Manager in different mobile banking initiatives over the last six years. Since 2021, he is responsible for Innovation and New Projects at Bizum, the leading mobile payment solution in Spain, where he drives its growth, as well as the expansion of its use cases, to make Bizum a universal payment solution (P2P, ecommerce, and POS) and the preferred payment method for the Spanish population.

 

About Bizum

Bizum is a success story in Europe, with almost 30 million users in Spain, more than half of the Spanish population. Since its launch in 2016, Bizum has gradually impacted the Spanish and European financial landscape. More than simply a mobile payment solution, Bizum has represented a change of habits in how consumers make payments in more and more areas of life – and in how businesses, companies, administrations, and organisations collect and receive funds and payments.