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CaixaBank and its digital subsidiary, imagin, have launched a new cross-border instant payment feature, allowing customers to send and receive money seamlessly across select European countries—without requiring the recipient’s phone number, bank card, or account details.
The initiative is powered by EuroPA, a growing interoperability alliance that connects leading national payment systems—Spain’s Bizum, Italy’s Bancomat Pay, and Portugal’s MB WAY. The collaboration links over 50 million users and 186 financial institutions across Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Andorra, paving the way for frictionless person-to-person (P2P) payments across borders.
The alliance is set to expand further, with Poland and several Nordic countries expected to join in the coming months, significantly broadening the reach and utility of the service.
Similar in ambition to the European Payments Initiative (EPI), EuroPA seeks to establish a European-owned payments infrastructure, offering a strategic alternative to dominant U.S. card networks. It aims to enhance the region’s sovereignty in the digital payments space.
In a joint statement issued in June, the member schemes announced plans to explore a unified solution covering all payment scenarios—ranging from P2P to commercial transactions, both online and at physical points of sale—across all participating markets.
This move signals a major step toward a more integrated, user-centric, and autonomous European payment ecosystem.
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