BLIK, an account-based mobile payment system built and funded in Poland, introduces „a new approach to contactless payments without credit or debit card,” according to a press release. Thanks to Mastercard’s tokenization technology, „consumers will be able to use contactless BLIK payments via their phone in a secure and convenient way, wherever Mastercard payments are accepted,” the company says.
BLIK is one of the most scaled payment solutions based exclusively on the bank’s mobile app. After 6 years on the market, it is available to more than 16 million users of mobile apps of banks in Poland. Almost half of all transactions performed in mobile apps of banks in Poland are BLIK payments. More than 1 billion transactions have already been conducted since the system was activated. There were 44 million in 2020 alone. BLIK has become synonymous of mobile payments, especially in e-commerce, in Poland.
Polish Payments Standard (BLIK operator) estimates that BLIK has a share of almost 70% of all e-commerce payments made by customers of Polish banks and is starting to be used increasingly more in international e-commerce.
„Contactless payments by phone at ground terminals constitute the most convenient, safest and increasingly popular method of payment in the world. The use of tokenization combined with mobile payments based solely on the user’s current account is a breakthrough in contactless payments,” says Dariusz Mazurkiewicz, president of Polski Standard Płatności, operator of the BLIK system.
„There is no longer any need to have any other physical payment instrument to be able to pay with a phone at a ground terminal. This solution will popularize mobile payments even more among people who have never done this before,’ he adds.
BLIK contactless payments were developed based on tokenization technology – Mastercard Digital Enablement Services (MDES). Users of bank mobile apps receive the most convenient contactless payment experience available globally. Customers of the first, largest six banks in Poland will be able to make contactless payments with BLIK in the coming weeks. Payments will be made by phone on the basis of the customer’s current account and will be available worldwide in terminals with the Mastercard logo.
„BLIK’s partnership with Mastercard is an example of exceptional, visionary cooperation on a worldwide scale. A combination of a fast-growing local player with a global company provides consumers with what is best in payments – convenience, security, innovative technology and global reach,” says Zbigniew Jagiełło, member of Supervisory Board of Polish Payments Standard, former CEO of PKO Bank Polski and BLIK system originator.
„BLIK’s cooperation with Mastercard is a unique partnership worldwide. The technology and combination of various payment schemes that have been operating separately to date have given customers a solution that does not require digitization of existing physical payment instruments, but purely a device with NFC functionality and an installed mobile app of the bank providing contactless BLIK,” the company says.
The BLIK Contactless is on a par with the technology giants, such as Apple or Google, in terms of security or user convenience in the fixed channel (POS). All the customer has to do is unlock the device and bring it close to the payment terminal.
„The adoption of mobile payments is growing every year. Mastercard is very excited to enhance BLIK’s mobile platform with our contactless technology and global reach. We are thrilled about this cooperation with the fastest growing payment solution in Poland. It is also yet another great example of Mastercard’s approach to working with fintech companies and how we help them scale their business. Now BLIK’s users have more convenient way to pay in-store here in Poland, but also around the world,” comments Bartosz Ciołkowski, general manager for Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia in Mastercard Europe.
Payments will be available on devices with the NFC function running on an Android system. Every user of the mobile application of a bank that offers the service can take advantage of the ability to make contactless payments with BLIK.
For security reasons, the requirement to trigger a payment is having an active device lock – namely to be able to lock the phone with a code, fingerprint or facial biometrics. It is sufficient to bring the phone close to the payment terminal after unlocking it (the NFC function must be activated on the phone) in order to make a payment. The phone does not even have to be within range of a mobile network or have an internet connection while the payment is being made. Once activated, the service is only available if the bank’s mobile application is installed on the smartphone.
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The BLIK mobile payment system enables Internet payments, as well as payments at POS terminals, cash withdrawals from ATMs and mobile P2P payments to be made. More than 3/4 of the transactions made with Blik are online payments, more than 9% are P2P transactions, slightly less are F2F transactions at terminals, and almost 7% are ATM withdrawals. BLIK has a dominant share of the mobile payments market in Poland.
Polski Standard Płatności (PSP) is BLIK’s operator. PSP was established in February 2015 by six Polish banks: PKO Bank Polski S.A., Alior Bank S.A., Bank Millennium S.A., ING Bank Śląski S.A., Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. (currently Santander Bank Polska S.A.) and mBank S.A. 16 banks are currently offering BLIK to their customers.
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Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
