Launched in 2015 by a group of some of the largest banks in Poland, the Blik service is now offered in most Polish banks.
The Polish mobile payment system known as Blik is coming to Slovakia, hoping to convince Slovaks that they can pay for online purchases faster and more easily.
Clients will only have to enter a generated six-digit code to pay for something. The company Polski Standard Płatności (PSP), which operates the payment system, promises that clients will need no QR codes, nor card numbers.
“I personally use it mainly for online payments,” Warsaw-based Slovak Juraj Gomboš told the HN daily, noting that Blik is very popular in Poland.
Launched in 2013 by a group of some of the largest banks in Poland, the service is now offered in most Polish banks. More than 15 million people in Poland used the service last year. Between July and September 2023, Blik facilitated 455 million transactions worth $15.7 billion.
Two banks will launch the system
In Slovakia, two banks are said to be launching it in the near future: mBank (which also operates in Poland and Slovakia) and Tatra Banka. It’s not clear when the service could be available to clients.
“We will make payments via Blik available to our clients in the coming months,” said Tatra Banka’s spokesperson Simona Miklošovičová, as quoted by the HN daily. The system will be available through the bank’s Viamo application, she added.
Slovenská Sporiteľňa, Fio Banka, ČSOB Banka and 365.bank are not considering using the system for now. UniCredit Banka’s response was described as ‘mysterious’ by the Slovak newspaper. Other banks failed to provide a comment.
The Polish firm can start its Blik business in Slovakia because the central bank (NBS) has greenlighted the acquisition of Viamo. As a result, the Blik SK company has been established.
Polski Standard Płatności, a joint venture between six top banks (Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, Santander Bank Polska, ING Bank Śląski, mBank and PKO Bank Polski and Mastercard), plans to expand to Romania, too.
