 | |
| Developer(s) | Polski Standard Płatności sp. z o.o. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | February 9, 2015 |
| Available in | Polish, English |
| Type | Mobile payment |
| Website | blik |
Blik (stylised: blik) is Poland-based payments network founded in 2015. The Blik service enables individuals to electronically transfer money from their bank account to another registered user's bank account using a mobile device or the website of a participating banking institution.
Blik was launched in February 2015 by Polski Standard Płatności, an alliance of six Polish banks, [1] itself a member of the European Mobile Payment Systems Association. Blik had 8,6 million users [2] and processed 424 million transactions in 2020. [3]
Between 2019 and 2020, police reported several cases of fraud using Blik ATM withdrawal. By gaining access to a person's social media account, perpetrators were able to request a loan from victim's acquaintances and perform cash withdrawals if provided with a Blik code. [4]
In 2021, Blik introduced contactless payments in POS terminals on NFC-enabled Android devices using Mastercard virtual tokens. [5] Notably, this functionality is also available for Polish travellers abroad [6] and has been dubbed a viable alternative to Google Pay on rooted smartphones.
In early 2025, Blik compatibility was for the first time introduced by a foreign financial institution, the British-owned Revolut. Although available to all EU citizens who open a PLN account in Revolut, it still is limited to Polish businesses on the recipient side and therefore has no practical application outside Poland. [7]
The system allows users to make online and in-store purchases and to transfer money in real time between bank accounts and ATMs, [8] [9] including cash withdrawal from ATMs, without the need of a payment card.
Transactions are uniquely identified by 6-digit one-time codes, each time valid for up to 2 minutes, which the user obtains using their mobile banking app. The code can then be typed in online, entered on the ATM screen, or on compatible contactless payment terminals. The payment requires final authentification of the vendor and transaction amount in the app and is instantaneous.
Blik allows instant transfers between users by binding phone numbers to bank accounts. [10] These transfers are similarly free and instantaneous, even between accounts from different banks. Some online shopping platforms, like Allegro, are able to connect a customer account to a Blik-compatible app instance allowing for payment confirmation with just a notification prompt and pin code or biometric login.
The Blik service is available from 20 banks, including the following:
