Hard setback for Bizum: the EU forces banks to offer free and instant transfers
Bizum is a service that has transformed the way of sending and receiving money in Spain, where anyone can make instant and free transfers between bank accounts, regardless of the bank you belong to.
This way, you can forget about the delays and fees that usually accompany traditional transfers. It’s like having an ATM on your mobile, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Before, transferring money was a slow, cumbersome and expensive process. But with Bizum, all that was left behind. Now, we have an agile, comfortable and secure tool to send and receive money between individuals, whether they are friends, family or even strangers.
However, the mobile payments platform could be threatened by new European regulation. The European Parliament has given the green light to a law that requires banks to provide free and immediate transfers to their customers.
Thus, Users will be able to send and receive money without paying any type of commission, thus matching the advantages that Bizum offers. This measure could make the application less attractive, which will have to compete with banking services themselves.
When will the new regulations come into force?
The regulations have not yet been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, but it is expected to do so in the coming weeks. Once published, Banks will have 9 months to adapt to the new conditions and start offering instant and free transfers.
The change will apply to all banks operating within the EU and the entire SEPA area, regardless of the country in which they have their headquarters or branches.
Besides, Banks will have to implement security measures to prevent fraudwhich may include verification of the client’s identity using fingerprint or facial recognition, as well as the use of alert and blocking systems in case of suspicious operations.
How will this affect Bizum?
One of the unknowns posed by the arrival of instant and free transfers to Europe is how it will affect services like Bizum, which have become popular in recent years. There is no doubt that it could lose some of its appeal if users can send and receive money free of charge from their bank accounts.
However, the platform also offers other functionalities that differentiate it from conventional transfers, such as the option to pay in online stores or distribute an invoice among several contacts. In any case, What is clear is that the payments sector in Europe is going to undergo a significant transformation with this new measure.
The new European Union regulations on transfers represent an important innovation for the financial market. This measure will facilitate access to immediate and free transfers between member countries, which will benefit both consumers and businesses.