BLIK is a Polish mobile payment system operated by Polski Standard Płatności. Launched in 2015, BLIK represents a major innovation in the Polish payment market, with 21.1 million active users who made nearly 756 million transactions in the first quarter of 2026.

With BLIK, users can make payments and send money via an app-generated code linked to each user's banking app and phone number. It's a convenient and secure way to make e-commerce purchases, peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, and in-store contactless payments. BLIK accounts for 70% of all e-commerce transactions in Poland. Its large user base, increasing transaction volumes, and expansion into new markets indicate a strong and growing position in the mobile payment market.

What's in this article?

• Where is BLIK used?
  
• Which Polish banks support BLIK?
  
• Who uses BLIK?
  
• How BLIK works
  
• Business benefits of accepting BLIK
  
• BLIK security measures
  
• How to accept BLIK payments
  
• BLIK alternatives
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

Where is BLIK used?

BLIK is primarily used in Poland but has spread to other European countries, after acquiring the Slovakian company VIAMO in 2022 and entering the Romanian market in 2023. BLIK has also partnered with payment solutions providers, which has made it a payment option on more e-commerce platforms. This collaboration, among others, has helped BLIK stay competitive in the alternative payments industry.

In late 2024, Revolut added BLIK as a payment method for its Polish customers, letting them generate a BLIK code directly in the Revolut app to pay in stores, check out online, and withdraw cash from ATMs. In May 2025, BLIK joined the European Payments Alliance (EuroPA), a coalition of European mobile payment systems that also includes Spain's Bizum, Italy's Bancomat, Portugal's MB WAY, the Nordic region's Vipps MobilePay, and Greece's IRIS.

The alliance is working towards interoperable, phone-number-based payments across Europe, and BLIK has since piloted early cross-border transfers with several member systems. As part of this broader eurozone push, BLIK also began enabling Slovak users to pay at Polish online merchants, with reciprocal support for Polish BLIK users at Slovak merchants expected to follow. In December 2025, Coinbase integrated BLIK, letting Polish users buy cryptocurrency directly in złoty.

BLIK transactions are always presented in Polish złoty (PLN), regardless of where the customer or merchant is based. BLIK doesn't support settlement in other currencies. Businesses don't need a Polish Stripe account to accept BLIK, either: any Stripe account registered in one of 36 supported countries, including the US, the UK, Australia, and most of Europe, can accept BLIK payments from customers located in Poland.

Which Polish banks support BLIK?

BLIK is available through roughly 20 banks and financial institutions in Poland, spanning both major domestic banks and international players with a Polish presence. This includes key providers such as PKO Bank Polski, mBank, Bank Millennium, Alior Bank, Santander Bank Polska, BNP Paribas, ING Bank Śląski, and Revolut (for customers holding a PLN account).

BLIK is accessed directly through each bank's own mobile banking app, where users generate the six-digit code needed to complete a payment, withdraw cash, or send money.

Who uses BLIK?

BLIK's user base is expansive because the service can be used for nearly every type of transaction in Poland: retail shoppers paying in-store, online shoppers checking out on e-commerce sites, younger users and families sending P2P transfers to split bills or support relatives, and even ATM users withdrawing cash without a physical card.

Add in service providers, gig workers, and small businesses that rely on it for everyday payments, and BLIK reaches customers across nearly every age group and retail context. For merchants, this breadth is the real takeaway: because BLIK is embedded in so many different transaction types, accepting it can help businesses in almost any sector meet Polish customers wherever and however they prefer to pay.

How BLIK works

BLIK operates through mobile banking apps. To use BLIK, you need to have an account with a bank that supports it. You can access BLIK in that bank's app without downloading additional software. BLIK works across all platforms and devices that can access the supported banking app, creating an easy way to pay and send money when you don't have access to physical cards.

Since 2021, BLIK has also supported contactless payments via near-field communication (NFC), using Mastercard virtual tokens on Android devices. This allows customers to tap to pay in-store without generating a code first.

For merchants, BLIK works as a customer-authenticated bank debit. The customer generates a code in their banking app and enters it at checkout. The merchant's payment processor handles authorisation and settlement in real time, with no card data transmitted.

Here's how it works:

1. The customer selects BLIK at checkout.

2. The customer opens their banking app and generates a six-digit BLIK code, which is valid for two minutes.

3. The customer enters the code on the merchant's checkout page or payment terminal.

4. The customer receives a push notification in their banking app and confirms the transaction within 60 seconds.

5. The payment is processed instantly. Both the merchant and the customer receive confirmation.

Keep BLIK's timeout behaviour in mind: The six-digit code stays valid for two minutes, but once the customer initiates the payment, they only have 60 seconds to authorise it via push notification. If that 60-second window lapses, the transaction times out and the customer must generate a fresh code to try again. Merchants should account for this when designing retry/error messaging at checkout.

Business benefits of accepting BLIK

• Fast transactions: BLIK processes payments quickly, allowing businesses to complete transactions in seconds. This speed improves the customer experience and keeps queues moving in retail settings, reducing wait times at checkouts.

• Reduced payment friction: BLIK's code system is easy for customers to use and minimises friction during payment. This simplicity can increase sales, as customers are less likely to abandon purchases due to complicated checkout processes.

• Broader reach: BLIK is widely used in Poland, giving businesses access to a large customer base. In the first quarter of 2026, BLIK's transactions were valued at €27.6 billion – a 14% year-on-year increase. By accepting BLIK, businesses can attract more customers who prefer mobile payment methods, increasing their market reach.

• Security and fraud prevention: BLIK's system is designed with strong security features. The unique codes and required transaction confirmations reduce the risk of fraud, giving businesses and their customers peace of mind.

• Easier cash management: BLIK's instant transactions simplify cash management for businesses, reducing the need for handling cash or dealing with delayed card settlements.

• E-commerce integration: BLIK is easily integrated into online payment systems and compatible with various platforms, making it ideal for e-commerce businesses.

• Reduced chargebacks: BLIK's required transaction confirmation can potentially help reduce the likelihood of chargebacks compared to standard card payments.

BLIK security measures

BLIK's combination of unique codes, transaction confirmation and secure banking apps provides a strong defence against unauthorised transactions and fraud.

• Unique BLIK codes: Every BLIK transaction requires a unique six-digit code generated by your banking app. This code is valid for only two minutes, reducing the risk of unauthorised use.

• Transaction confirmation: To complete a transaction, you must confirm it in your banking app. This additional step ensures that you have full control over the transaction, minimising the risk of unauthorised payments.

• Secure mobile banking apps: BLIK operates through mobile banking apps, which already have security features such as encryption, biometric authentication (e.g., fingerprint or facial recognition), and secure passwords. These measures add a strong layer of protection to your transactions.

• No information sharing: BLIK transactions do not require sharing sensitive information such as credit card numbers or personal identification data. This reduces the risk of identity theft and fraud during transactions.

• Fraud detection systems: BLIK employs advanced fraud detection systems to monitor for suspicious activity. If the system detects unusual patterns, it might trigger additional security checks or require extra confirmation.

• Encryption: The communication between the BLIK system, your banking app, and the payment terminal or online platform is encrypted, protecting sensitive information during transmission.

• Multifactor authentication: Depending on your bank's security settings, BLIK might require multifactor authentication (MFA) for added security. This can include verifying your identity through a combination of something you know (a password), something you have (a device), or something you are (biometric data).

A note on social engineering risks

While BLIK's built-in security measures are robust, no system can fully protect against social engineering. One fraud tactic involves bad actors impersonating a friend, family member, or trusted contact via social media or messaging apps, then asking the victim to "share" a BLIK code to help with a fake transaction or emergency.

Since a BLIK code entered outside a legitimate payment flow can be used by the scammer to authorise their own transaction, businesses should warn customers to never share a BLIK code with anyone, for any reason, outside of the payment process they themselves initiated.

How to accept BLIK payments

To accept BLIK as a payment method, businesses need a merchant account with a payment processor or bank that offers BLIK as a payment option. Almost any business operating in Poland can use BLIK, although some sectors (such as high-risk industries) may face additional screening by payment processors.

1. Choose a payment provider that supports BLIK. Confirm the processor or bank offers BLIK for your business type and region, and check whether they support both e-commerce and point-of-sale (POS) use cases if you need both.

2. Sign a merchant agreement. This contract with your payment processor or bank outlines terms and conditions, including fee structures and settlement procedures. You'll typically need to complete underwriting or risk review at this stage.

3. Review the technical documentation. Your provider will supply API references, SDKs, or plugins for BLIK integration. Check whether your e-commerce platform (e.g., Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento) has a pre-built extension, which can significantly cut down development time.

4. Integrate the API or plugin into your checkout flow. If building a custom integration, this generally involves:

• Adding BLIK as a payment method option at checkout
  
• Implementing the API calls to generate and submit the 6-digit BLIK code prompt
  
• Handling the payment confirmation and status callbacks (BLIK payments are typically confirmed within seconds via the customer's banking app)
  

5. Test in a sandbox environment. Most providers offer test credentials so you can simulate transactions, confirmations, and failure/timeout scenarios before going live.

6. Complete compliance and security checks. Ensure your integration meets required security standards (e.g., PCI DSS) as specified by your payment provider.

7. Go live and display the BLIK logo. Once approved, display the BLIK logo on your website and at physical locations as a signal to customers that you accept this payment method.

Recurring payments

BLIK does not currently support recurring or subscription-based payments. If you run a subscription business, you'll need to offer an alternative payment method (such as card payments) for recurring billing, and might want to use BLIK only for one-time purchases or as a secondary checkout option.

BLIK alternatives

While BLIK is hugely popular in Poland, businesses operating in these markets should consider integrating multiple payment methods for their customers. BLIK's primary competitors in the Polish market are outlined below:

• Debit and credit cards: Debit and credit cards are a mainstream payment method globally. In Poland, cards remain a large payment category by volume, accounting for roughly 65% of payments processed in the country, even as BLIK narrows the gap.

• Google Pay and Apple Pay: Google Pay and Apple Pay are popular contactless payment methods tied to smartphone wallets, offering ease and convenience. These are commonly used e-wallets and are often embedded as card-on-file options within the apps of major Polish retailers.

• PayPal: PayPal is a widely trusted online payment platform that lets customers link their bank accounts or cards for quick online purchases. PayPal has lower acceptance in Poland than in Western Europe, and is used largely for cross-border purchases from overseas merchants rather than for domestic Polish e-commerce.

• Traditional bank transfers: Bank transfers can be initiated via online banking apps and websites. Bank transfers have long been a trusted and regularly used online payment method in Poland, predating the rise of BLIK.

• Quick transfer services: Some banks offer faster transfer services, often known as "express transfers", that provide near-instant settlement. This is popular in Poland through services such as Przelewy24. Przelewy24 is a widely used Polish payment gateway that supports multiple payment methods including bank transfers, credit cards, and BLIK itself.

• Buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers: BNPL services such as Klarna and Afterpay let customers spread payments over instalments. BNPL adoption in Poland is still low relative to Western Europe, and BLIK has moved into this space with BLIK Pay Later, available at more than 20,000 online stores through several major Polish banks.

Consider the following factors when choosing which payment options to adopt in a new market:

• Customer preferences: The payment methods that are popular and preferred among your target market

• Cost: Fees and transaction costs

• Security: Security measures to protect customer and business data

• Integration: How easily these methods can be integrated into your existing e-commerce or POS systems

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payments solution that helps any business – from scaling startups to global enterprises – accept payments online, in person and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimise your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs, access to 125+ payment methods and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.
  
• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies. For example, businesses using Stripe can accept BLIK payments from Polish customers without building a separate integration.
  
• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalise interactions, reward loyalty and grow revenue.
  
• Improve payments performance: Increase revenue with a range of customisable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorisation rates. BLIK and more than 100 other payment methods can be enabled directly in the Stripe Dashboard, so you can expand payment coverage without added engineering work.
  
• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% historical uptime and industry-leading reliability. BLIK is available through Stripe Checkout, Stripe Payment Links, and the Stripe Payment Element, so you can add it to whichever integration path you're already using.
  

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments or get started today.