Polish mobile payment system Blik eyes euro zone expansion after Romania, Slovakia

By Mateusz Rabiega and Alicja Surdy

SOPOT, Poland, June 2 (Reuters) - The operator of Polish mobile payment system Blik expects at least three large Romanian banks to begin integrating its technology later this year, while positioning Slovakia as a hub for wider euro zone expansion, its CEO told Reuters.

Such integration can take from several months to a year and a half, Dariusz Mazurkiewicz, the CEO of Polski Standard Platnosci, said on Monday at the annual European Financial Congress in Sopot. He added some Romanian banks were prioritising local payment system RoPay.

Operated by PSP and jointly owned by major Polish banks, including PKO BP, mBank, ING BSK and Erste Bank Polska, Blik is Poland's most popular mobile payment system.

PSP views Slovakia as the euro zone hub for Blik after acquiring a local platform and starting cooperation with Tatra banka. It is also working with other local banks like VUB.

Following Romania and Slovakia, the company could develop its presence in Hungary in parallel with further markets such as Austria and the Czech Republic, Mazurkiewicz said.

"We want to build this and it's important not to let the train leave the station," Mazurkiewicz told a panel, warning against ceding the payments market to U.S. tech giants like Apple or Google.

PSP is working to deepen its cooperation with Austria's Erste Group, which recently became a Blik shareholder through its stake in Erste Bank Polska. It also owns Slovakia’s largest bank, Slovenska sporitelna.

Integrating Blik into Erste's digital banking platform George could facilitate a broader expansion into other markets where the banking group operates, Mazurkiewicz said.

Last year, 2.9 billion transactions were processed through Blik and it ended 2025 with 20.7 million active users.

(Writing by Rafal Nowak, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)