BLIK SK, formerly VIAMO, has expanded its cooperation with one of the largest banks in Slovakia – Tatra Banka. „Soon, users of the Tatra Banka VIAMO mobile app will be able to make purchases online even faster, more conveniently, and securely thanks to the new service. Tatra Banka will make the BLIK payment method available to its clients in the coming months.” – according to the press release.
The BLIK payment involves displaying a 6-digit BLIK code in the mobile application, which is then entered into the payment form during the purchase process. In the next step, the user reviews all payment details and confirms the transaction with their PIN in the mobile banking application. Due to the expanded cooperation between Tatra banka and BLIK SK, users of the Tatra banka VIAMO application will soon have access to the modern BLIK payment method in Slovak online stores.
„Shoppers in Slovakia are active e-consumers, so we believe they will like the innovative BLIK payment method. We hope that the cooperation with Tatra banka, which will be the first to offer its users a new intuitive payment method, will demonstrate the benefits of BLIK to the bank’s clients. We are confident that people will use BLIK as eagerly as millions of clients of Polish banks do. BLIK is open for cooperation with all market participants and aims at creating universal payment solution available for clients of all banks. Work on further implementations is ongoing, and we will soon announce more partnerships.” – says Lubo Pozgay, CEO BLIK SK.
„For several years, the Tatra banka VIAMO application has been providing clients with a simple and practical possibility of sending payments to persons, firms and various organisations. I see the new feature of BLIK payments as a welcome extension of payment methods. It is a breakthrough solution our clients can use to pay for online purchases even easier than until now. Of course, while maintaining a high level of security.” – Lukáš Mochňák – head of the mobile applications department at Tatra banka.
Development of BLIK in Slovakia
In May 2023, the Polish Payment Standard (PSP), the operator of the BLIK system in Poland, finalized the strategic purchase of the Slovak company VIAMO, which was transformed into BLIK SK. As a result, the company’s offer was enriched with the modern BLIK payment solution.
It is worth noting that BLIK has been very popular among clients of Polish banks for years. This is confirmed by impressive transaction data. In the first quarter of 2024 alone, over half a billion transactions were carried out using BLIK in Poland, with every second transaction taking place in the e-commerce channel. At the end of March this year, over 16 million users were actively using the solution.
BLIK in Romania
BLIK Romania was entered into the Commercial Register in early December 2022. In March 2023, the BLIK Romania management board headed by Ryszard Drużyński, President of the Board, submited an application to Banca Nationala a Romaniei (BNR) for approval of the BLIK payment system in RON.
„Once the legal approval of the regulator is obtained and operations are started, the BLIK payment system will be settled in Romanian lei and available to all acquirers and issuers having an open BNR account with access to the ReGIS system.” – the company said when launched.
On 8th March 2023, BLIK company announced the launching in Romania, the second largest market in Central and Eastern Europe. The newly established company, BLIK Romania, „will develop a unique and innovative digital payment system in RON that will bring a number of major advantages, including high security and simplifying payments by generating and using an individual six-digit code for each transaction. In the first phase, the system operator will focus on implementing the solution in e-commerce.” – according to the press release.
As part of BLIK Romania’s business strategy, the company plans to introduce BLIK code payments in all sales channels: e-commerce, POS and ATM. In the first phase, the system operator will focus on implementing the solution in e-commerce.
„We want to provide local users of mobile banking applications with a fast, convenient and especially secure payment method for online shopping. We are sure that those who will use BLIK as a mobile payment system will become active and loyal users.” – says Ryszard Drużynski, President of the Management Board of BLIK Romania S.A.
The application submitted by BLIK to the National Bank of Romania is still in the process of being approved. The company confirmed to NOCASH that the accreditation file submitted to the NBR has a deadline for resolution in September 2024.
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DXC will modernize and adapt the BLIK central system to meet payment standards in Romania and Slovakia. „DXC will ensure BLIK is able to handle transactions in Romanian Leu and Euros, and can connect to the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) system.” – the company explained.
Polish Payment Standard (PSP) is a joint venture between six leading Polish banks (Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, Santander Bank Polska, ING Bank Śląski, mBank and PKO Bank Polski) and Mastercard. BLIK, introduced in 2015, is a key part of Poland’s shift towards a common payment system. It allows customers to use their mobile phones to withdraw cash from more than 20,000 ATMs and facilitates hundreds of thousands of digital payment transactions.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
