Payment Processing in Spain

• Currency: euro (EUR), with settlement to a SEPA account.
• Most used online payment methods: cards, then Bizum, which counted 30.6 million users at the end of 2025.
• Payment regulator: Banco de España, which authorises payment institutions and electronic money institutions.
• Gambling regulator: the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), under Ley 13/2011.
• Securities and crypto regulator: the CNMV.
• Surcharges: Spain does not allow merchants to add a fee for any payment method, including corporate cards.

Cards remain the main way to pay online in Spain. Bizum is now the second: in 2025 it processed 1,237 million operations worth €67,751 million, 13.2% more operations than in 2024, and had 30.6 million users. Online shopping is its fastest growing use. Bizum e-commerce payments rose 82.1% in 2025 to 105.6 million operations, worth €5,400 million, and 28,600 new merchants and platforms started accepting it during the year.

For a Spanish checkout, that means cards plus Bizum. A card-only checkout leaves out a growing group of shoppers who prefer to confirm a payment in their banking app. For recurring billing, cards and SEPA Direct Debit are the usual options.

• Strong customer authentication applies to online card payments in Spain, as across the EEA, since the PSD2 technical standards took effect on 14 September 2019. Spain transposed PSD2 through Royal Decree-law 19/2018.
• Spain goes further than PSD2 on surcharging: merchants may not add a charge for using any payment method, including corporate cards.
• Payment institutions are authorised by Banco de España under Royal Decree-law 19/2018 and Royal Decree 736/2019. Electronic money institutions are authorised by Banco de España under Law 21/2011 on electronic money.

• The company's NIF, the tax identification number issued by the Agencia Tributaria. A company gets a provisional NIF first and a definitive one once it is entered in the Registro Mercantil.
• The Registro Mercantil entry: legal form, registered office, directors and share capital.
• Beneficial owners. Spanish companies declare them to the Registro Central de Titularidades Reales, created by Royal Decree 609/2023 and run by the Ministry of Justice.
• Whether your activity needs authorisation from Banco de España, the CNMV or the DGOJ.
• A euro account in the company's name for settlement, your website, and recent processing statements if you already take payments.

Online gambling aimed at Spanish players needs a licence from the DGOJ under Ley 13/2011: a general licence per type of game, plus singular licences for specific games. Licensed operators run a dedicated website under a .es domain, and activity without a licence is prohibited. Ley 13/2011 also lets the regulator require payment service providers to give information on unlicensed operators and to stop providing services to them, so payment routes for unlicensed gambling into Spain are closed off.

Each licensed operator sets deposit limits per player, which under Royal Decree 1614/2011 are currently €600 a day, €1,500 a week and €3,000 a month unless the player asks for a higher limit under the conditions in that decree. Royal Decree 520/2026, published on 25 June 2026, adds joint limits across all licensed operators of €700 a day, €1,750 a week and €3,300 per four weeks. It is not yet in force: it applies from 25 March 2027.

Advertising is governed by Royal Decree 958/2020. In April 2024 the Supreme Court annulled several of its articles, including the limits on bonuses for new customers, the ban on well-known personalities and the social media restrictions, because they lacked backing in the law. The other restrictions, including time limits on audiovisual advertising, remain. A reform of Ley 13/2011 that would restore and extend some of these limits went to public consultation in May 2026 and is not law yet.

Investment firms offering forex and CFDs to Spanish clients are supervised by the CNMV. Under a 2023 CNMV resolution, advertising CFDs to retail investors in Spain is banned, leverage is limited, and providers may not accept deposits by credit card for these products.

For crypto, the MiCA transition period in Spain ended on 1 July 2026. Since then, a crypto-asset service provider needs a MiCA authorisation to serve Spanish clients, and unauthorised providers must wind down their activity. In Spain the CNMV handles these authorisations.

A foreign company does not need a Spanish entity to sell to Spanish customers in most industries. What matters is that your provider can process Spanish cards with strong customer authentication, offer Bizum where you need it, and settle in euros. Regulated activities are different: gambling aimed at Spain needs a DGOJ licence, and crypto services need a MiCA authorisation, whatever the operator holds elsewhere.

Acquipayer is not a payment provider. You add your business, markets, volumes and the payment methods you need once, and your profile is matched with a payment provider that accepts your business type and can take payments from Spanish customers. Your account is then prepared with that provider so you can start taking payments.

• Bizum 2025 figures, as reported by EFE (January 2026).
• Banco de España, authorisation of payment institutions and electronic money institutions; briefing note on SCA (September 2019).
• Royal Decree-law 19/2018 on payment services.
• Ley 13/2011 on gambling, Royal Decree 1614/2011 and Royal Decree 520/2026 (BOE).
• Supreme Court ruling on Royal Decree 958/2020, Poder Judicial (April 2024).
• CNMV resolution of 11 July 2023 on CFDs and leveraged products.
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), Article 143.
• Royal Decree 609/2023 on the Registro Central de Titularidades Reales.