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Comment by iagooar | Hacker News Reader

I need to use this thread to mention the Polish payment system Blik. It is one of the most convenient payment systems out there - you generate an ephemeral 6-digit code in your banking app, copy it to the vendor, confirm, done. Works P2P with phone numbers, too.

Interestingly, it would be the perfect system for payments using AI agents - the agent tries to pay, asks user to provide 6-digit code, submits payment request. User confirms via banking app. Done.

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There's an interesting angle to BLIK vs Wero. While I believe QR codes are more convenient it is actually possible to give BLIK over the phone. Which means that youngsters (or fraudsters ;)) have access to their guardians' money over the phone line.

QR codes are still less convenient when you're paying using the same mobile device you're using to generate the BLIK codes.

Doubly so when the phone is a foldable, so you can keep the bank open in a popup over the browser or app you're buying in.

There is also a Blik feature to pay in one click - merchant remembers your payment and allows making subsequent payment without code, just by confirming transaction via banking app.

There are similar payment options across the EU. There is Bizum in Spain which works in similar way (and also offers phone-to-phone transfers).

There is EMP association (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Mobile_Payment_System...) which both BLIK and Bizum and bunch of others (I'd say majority of Europe) are members of that are already working on integration and Spain and Italy already work.

https://www.corporate.sibs.com/europa-the-future-of-payments...

Basically with Wero on decathlon.de the DACH is discoveryng local-digital-payments and are excited about something that the rest of Europe enjoyed for a long while ;)

Blik is convenient for making transactions through phone calls. Stores have payment terminals that accept blik codes, I just shared the code to the cashier while ordering flowers from abroad and accepted the transactions in my bank app on my phone.

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