Raynor de Best
Content expert covering payments and (crypto)currencies
Digital payments landscape in Spain - statistics & facts
Digital payments in Spain are expected to pick up due to an increase in account-to-account (A2A) payments, even though Spain still relies on cash in 2024. That said, Spain's share of cash - while still high when compared to the rest of Europe - declined the fastest within the euro area. Spanish consumers typically prefer credit for e-commerce transactions to help manage inflation and the cost of living. Spain's curiosity towards interest-free buy now, pay later solutions, for instance, was higher than in the rest of Europe. Credit cards are the most preferred digital payment method at POS, after cash. This is expected to change, with wallets becoming more important and slowly chipping away at the leading position of cash in Spain.
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment or payments conducted without banknotes or coins in either an online or offline environment. This can include mobile payments (digital payments performed with a mobile device), fintech (such companies tend to be at the forefront of payment digitalization), or relatively young trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL) or cryptocurrency. Out of all these cashless options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for Spain?
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment or payments conducted without banknotes or coins in either an online or offline environment. This can include mobile payments (digital payments performed with a mobile device), fintech (such companies tend to be at the forefront of payment digitalization), or relatively young trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL) or cryptocurrency. Out of all these cashless options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for Spain?
Bizum, combining A2A and real-time payments in Spain
The main challenger to cash in Spain is Bizum. The local scheme's user base grew consistently since 2017, especially accelerating in 2023. A collaboration between leading banks in the country, Bizum functions similarly to UPI in India and Pix in Brazil - two major A2A brands developed by the country's central banks that process real-time payments using domestic bank accounts. Bizum is not responsible for the highest market size of real-time payments when compared to other countries in the world. Within the continent, Bizum is only one of a few such European bank-led payment initiatives. This was emphasized in 2023, when the Spanish payment scheme announced a cooperation with Italy's Bancomat and Portugal's SIBS, in an attempt to create a cross-country A2A network in Southern Europe.Local BNPL brands in Spain: Aplazame and SeQura
Even though international brands like PayPal and Klarna are downloaded for buy now, pay later in Spain, the country shares similarities with Italy in that it has domestic BNPL brands that appeal to a wide audience. Aplazame ranks among Europe's most downloaded BNPL apps in 2023, for instance. The Madrid-based company provides payments in installments, but also allows for deferred payments for up to 15 days. Barcelona's SeQura has Swedish origins, and has been described by some as a Spanish "clone" of Klarna. Nevertheless, Spain's BNPL solutions are less popular than Klarna. This is unlike Italy, where local app ScalaPay is a firm competitor to the BNPL provider from Sweden.
