Polish payment fintech BLIK enters the Romanian market

BLIK company, leader on the payment systems market in Poland, is 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.

Top mobile payment system

BLIK is a payment system available in mobile banking applications, connected to a bank account that does not require the user to have a physical or virtual card. It allows payment in online stores and traditional payment terminals, as well as cash withdrawal from ATMs. Payment via BLIK involves generating a unique six-digit code valid for two minutes in the bank's application, which is then entered online, at a terminal or at an ATM to initiate the transaction. Each transaction needs to be confirmed in the bank's mobile application.

BLIK is currently the most popular payment method in Poland. In the eightd years of its presence on this market, BLIK has attracted a significant number of active and loyal users – approximately 26 million mobile apps are already registered in the BLIK system and almost 13 million BLIK users perform payments regularly every month. From 2015 to the end of 2022, almost 2.8 billion transactions worth EUR 78.7 billion (PLN 371.4 billion) were completed in the system.

The popularity of the BLIK system among various user groups is also confirmed by periodic measurements made by the data analysis company KANTAR. According to them, BLIK is the best-known cashless payment brand in Poland, which represents a high level of recognition and offers a great advantage over the competition. At the end of December last year, 96% of banking app users said they were familiar with BLIK, and 49% chose it most often to trade. Last year, BLIK recorded the highest Brand Power index that reached 44%. This result is twice as high as that of other well-known companies in the same payment category, such as Mastercard and Visa.

"BLIK is a payment system that has established itself in Poland and won the trust of millions of users, becoming one of the most important digital payment systems in Europe. BLIK is designed to meet the expectations of both banks and payment providers in international markets. We chose Romania because it is among the countries with the fastest economic growth in Europe. Using our own expertise and the right business model, we are ready to develop in Romania a modern and unique mobile payment system as well", declares Dariusz Mazurkiewicz, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BLIK Romania S.A. and President of the Board of the Polish Payment Standard, BLIK mobile payment operator.

The first steps in Romania

BLIK Romania was entered into the Commercial Register in early December last year. In March 2023, the BLIK Romania management board headed by Ryszard Drużyński (photo), President of the Board, will sub-mit 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 pay-ment 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.

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.

"Romania has one of the most important digital economies in Central and Eastern Europe. Mobile banking and e-commerce are at a very high level of development, and customers are ready and willing to use modern payment services. According to Statista, the number of e-commerce users in Romania will increase by 16%, up to almost 11 million by 2025, which means a real development potential for BLIK. 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.

Next steps in development

In Romania, BLIK intends to follow the payment system development strategy that was tested in Poland. This means that it will support all participants in the payments ecosystem with experience and proven business practices.

“We completed months of intense work that involved many challenges, such as adapting the system to the regulations and laws in force in this market. Over this time, we had many discussions and develo¬ped a suitable business strategy, which we are going to follow in the next quarters of this year”, sums up Ryszard Drużyński.