With two schemes in place and growth of 215% YOY, plus adoption across banks, merchants and billers, Spain is a fast-developing IP market.
Spain has offered SCT Inst since its launch in 2017, enabling customers to transfer money to accounts at participating banks in the payments network, and facilitating P2P, C2B, B2C and B2B payments directly between accounts via different channels such as online and mobile banking. SCT Inst transactions in Spain are processed by Iberpay, the local Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms.
Even before the launch of SCT Inst, the Spanish market utilized Bizum — a mobile payments solution that facilitates IP. It was launched by 27 Spanish banks in October 2016 and operates 24/7/365. The solution enables transactions directly between accounts using a recipient’s linked mobile phone number, and is accessed through the Bizum integration within banks’ apps. It allows users to conduct P2P and online transactions instantly, with plans to launch in-store support in the near future. All transactions made through Bizum are settled within five seconds, and there’s a per-transaction limit of €1,000 ($1,146). To use the solution, a user needs a bank account with any participating bank as well as a mobile number.
