As the fifth Unchain Festival opens in Oradea, Romania, on June 17–18, one question hangs over Central and Eastern Europe’s banking leaders: can the region build payment rails that don’t run through American companies? And so far, Poland’s BLIK has become the clearest answer.
Visa and Mastercard accounted for 47% of the eurozone’s card payment volume in 2025, with 13 of 19 countries relying on the two providers for at least 96% of their card transactions. The duopoly’s combined eurozone share has doubled since 2010. The fear driving European officials is that Washington could one day restrict access, as sanctions cut off Russia after 2022. Whether that threat is realistic or not, the dependency is real, and policymakers are treating it as critical infrastructure.
How Did BLIK Reach 20.7 Million Users?
BLIK is the homegrown system proving that an alternative can work at scale. In 2025, BLIK users completed 2.9 billion transactions worth PLN 441.5 billion (EUR 104.9 billion). The system has processed a cumulative 10 billion transactions since its 2015 launch and over the past 12 months, more than 2 million new users joined the system, bringing the number of active accounts to 20.7 million at the end of December. On peak days the system has handled nearly 13 million transactions, with quarterly averages reaching nearly 100 transactions per second.
Built by six Polish banks, BLIK uses a six-digit code linked to a banking app, with no card required. E-commerce remains its engine, accounting for nearly half of all transactions. That track record is why Coinbase integrated BLIK in December, allowing Polish users to buy crypto directly in złoty.
EuroPA: Scaling to 100 Million Europeans?
BLIK’s bigger move is going cross-border. It has joined the EuroPA alliance alongside Bancomat, Bizum, MB Way, Vipps MobilePay, and the European Payments Initiative’s Wero wallet. The alliance aims to reach over 100 million users across 10 European countries by linking trusted national brands. P2P transfers between platforms are expected later in 2026, with in-store payments following in 2027.
The progress is genuine but early. In its first operational year, EuroPA processed roughly EUR 6 million in cross-border transfers without any marketing push, though small, it is a clear signal of demand. Wero, by contrast, has scaled faster, reaching around 48.5 million users in France, Germany, and Belgium by early 2026.
Why Unchain 2026 Is Perfect Timing for BLIK
The festival’s agenda reads like BLIK’s playbook: instant payments, the digital euro, and monetary sovereignty. The ECB’s own work on a digital euro, which Disruption Banking has tracked through its innovation platform, points to a layered future in which Wero handles domestic and European payments, cards handle international payments, and a digital euro serves as a public backstop.
BLIK has shown the model works in one country. The harder test is whether it works across the continent before the window closes.
Author: Ayanfe Fakunle
The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organisations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.
See Also:
UNCHAIN 2025: Igniting Finance, Innovation, and Collaboration in CEE | Disruption Banking
Central Eastern European Fintech Associations gather at Unchain Festival | Disruption Banking
Is Poland’s Regulatory Environment Limiting Its Crypto Market? | Disruption Banking