PH Consulate General in Barcelona Now Accepts Bizum Payment
The Philippine Consulate General in Barcelona receives Ms. Angelica Mae Danao (left photo) and Ms. Perla Lomboy Sibucao (right photo), both based in Barcelona city, as among the first clients to pay their consular fees via Bizum instant payment (Barcelona PCG photo)
BARCELONA 22 March 2024 – The Philippine Consulate General in Barcelona has yet again added another cashless payment alternative for its consular services with the launch of the Bizum instant payment service, coinciding with the outreach events held simultaneously in Barcelona and Palma De Mallorca, Spain, on 16 March 2024.
The widely-used Bizum app or system serves as a virtual Point-of Sale (POS) exclusive to Spain and compatible with all top Spanish banks. “Bizum lets you send or receive money instantly using your smartphone, to or from anyone, without having to know their account number. For us at the Consulate, we just share with our client the QR Code or mobile number we have dedicated for Bizum payments. The payment our clients make will then be received in under 10 seconds”, shared Consulate General Maria Theresa S.M. Lazaro.
As it is virtual, Bizum payments to the Consulate may also be made remotely. “This is particularly advantageous for consular services received from the islands and distant areas under the Consulate’s jurisdiction that need urgent attention. Our kababayan or foreign clients alike may not need not to travel to our Barcelona office just to partially or fully execute their emergency transactions,” added Consul General Lazaro.
According to the latest Bizum reports, the number of Bizum users, called “Bizumers”, has already reached 26 million, which means that it is now being used by more than half of the Spanish adult population. In addition, it has also registered 2.6 billion transactions thus far.
The Consulate is now among the 60,000 merchants in Spain offering Bizum.
Consumer behavior in Spain has been shifting with more digitally savvy consumers gradually reducing their cash usage. In fact, such preference for cashless mode of payment is evident among Filipino consular clients who have adopted the city’s behavior towards mobile payment solutions, becoming “Bizumers” themselves.
Last week in Ibiza, the Consulate launched the long-awaited card payment option, including the offer for e-wallet. The Bizum and all other alternative cashless payment modes at the Consulate bear no extra charges to the client. END.
For more information,visit https://barcelonapcg.dfa.gov.ph/ or https://www.facebook.com/PHinBarcelona/.