According to the survey of the banked population collected in the 2025 Report “Digitization of payment flows between individuals” carried out by Nuek, immediate transfers are already the means used by 25% of users to pay other people. In Spain, immediate transfers between individuals, especially through Bizum, have achieved significant penetration, placing it in the group of leading European countries along with Portugal and on a par with other countries such as Brazil.
The study carried out by the payment infrastructure technology company of Minsait (Indra Group), confirms that payments between individuals (P2P) have left behind the purely experimental phase and are entering a stage of scaling, functional convergence and internationalization.
On the one hand, immediate payment solutions are consolidated as a real alternative to cash in several markets; On the other hand, users are beginning to demand that the same apps they use daily in their countries also allow them to send money abroad with the same ease, cost and speed.
In this global scenario, Spain is consolidating itself as a European benchmark in the adoption of immediate payments between individuals and in the digitalization of international remittances, thanks to the penetration of Bizum and interoperability with Portugal and Italy. The digital channel is now the majority in all ages and allows significant savings compared to the physical channel, although challenges in transparency and traceability persist.
Although Brazil (Pix) and Portugal (MB Way) have managed to unseat cash as the preferred means of payments between individuals, Spain is moving rapidly in that direction, with Bizum consolidating itself as a real alternative to physical money.
Furthermore, once critical mass has been reached in payments between people, these solutions are being extended to commerce, especially online. In Brazil and Portugal, more than 30% of users prefer these solutions for their online purchases.
More interoperable international P2P payments
The next vector of evolution is clear: bringing these same domestic experiences to the international arena. The Nuek Barometer shows that, in almost all the countries analyzed, a majority of users who already use immediate domestic P2P transfers would be willing to use that same solution to make payments between countries.
In fact, in Spain, they are already extending to online commerce, within a trend similar to that already followed by Brazil and Portugal, where more than 30% of banked users prefer these means for their Internet purchases.
However, the reality of the offer still lags behind that expectation. Most domestic P2P solutions do not yet allow you to send money abroad, although pilot projects are already being deployed. In Europe, the alliance between Bizum (Spain and Andorra), MB Way (Portugal) and Bancomat Pay (Italy) already allows immediate cross-border P2P payments to be made between the four countries, after the progressive deployment of the service that began in 2025.
Adding to this market movement is the regulatory push: the European Regulation on immediate payments, approved in 2024, requires that providers in Spain and the rest of the European Union (EU), who offer transfers in euros, also allow immediate payments in less than 10 seconds, 24 days a week and throughout the EU, with commissions that cannot exceed those of ordinary transfers.
The result is a phase change: from isolated domestic P2P systems to an ecosystem that is beginning to be more connected, regulated and interoperable, both within each region and between regions.
Spain consolidates itself as a European benchmark in the adoption of immediate payments between individuals and in the digitalization of international remittances
“The growth of payments between people reflects a fundamental transformation: users no longer compare one bank with another, but rather their payment experience with the one they have in any other mobile app. They expect to operate without barriers, in real time and transparently, regardless of the country in which they or their families are,” says Javier Rey, executive director of Nuek. “The challenge now is for technology, regulation and collaboration models between financial and non-financial actors to live up to that expectation, both in domestic payments and remittances.”
Remittances: an increasingly digital flow
The international dimension of payments between people is expressed with special intensity in remittances, a flow that, although lagging behind domestic payments, is immersed in an accelerated process of digitalization:
• 63% of the banking population that uses remittances already uses websites or apps to send or receive money from abroad.
• In Spain, the digital channel for sending and receiving remittances is the majority in all age groups (~80%), surpassing the European average and well above Latin America, where the in-person channel continues to be relevant for those over 55 years of age.
Beyond convenience, the report quantifies the economic advantage of the digital channel. In Europe, the user could save 2.6 dollars (2.23 euros) for every 200 sent by migrating from the physical to the digital channel.
Despite digitalization, 40% of Spanish users continue to encounter friction in remittances, especially in traceability, transparency and accreditation times, which indicates that there is still room for improvement to match the experience of this type of payments at the domestic level.
“What we see in this report is that payments between individuals in their domestic and international versions (remittances) are no longer two separate worlds. Users want a continuous experience, where the same solution they use to split an account in their city allows them to send money to another country with the same degree of immediacy, cost control and visibility of the payment status. That is where the next competitive advantage in payments will be played,” concludes Javier Rey.
