PKO Bank Polski carried out Poland’s first BLIK contactless payment on an iPhone. The transaction took place on 30 July 2026 at Lidl, using the PKO Junior app. The purchase, costing 5.49 zł, marked the start of the pilot for the entire process. Full roll-out is expected in a few months’ time at the earliest.
– We are number one in terms of BLIK contactless payments on Android – our customers account for over half of such payments on the market. iOS had so far been excluded from this solution, so we were the first to begin testing it in a real-world environment. We want to be ready to meet the needs of these customers and also be a leader within the Apple ecosystem. This is particularly important for young iPhone users, as some of them are currently unable to make contactless payments with their phones due to Apple Pay’s age restrictions. BLIK in the PKO Junior banking app can make this possible for them, whilst also helping them learn how to use money safely,” says Paweł Placzke, Director of the Retail Products Department at PKO Bank Polski.
The pilot scheme follows the opening up of NFC access on iPhones. In July 2024, the European Commission obliged Apple to allow competing digital wallets within the EEA. The rules are valid for ten years and include free access to NFC and the ability to choose a default payment app.
For BLIK, this marks an entry into an important part of the market, but also an attempt to accelerate growth in high-street shops. In 2025, the system processed 2.9 billion transactions worth PLN 441.5 billion, and the number of active accounts rose to 20.7 million. A total of 704.5 million transactions were carried out at points of sale, 48 per cent of which were contactless payments.
– A successful transaction on iOS marks a breakthrough in the development of BLIK contactless payments and sends a clear signal that the change long awaited by the market is drawing ever closer. At the same time, it shows that the system’s current scale does not exhaust our ambitions. The POS channel still offers us significant scope for growth, which is why we are developing solutions that expand the possibilities for using BLIK and support the business of our banking partners. Further testing and work on the service lie ahead, which will enable us to prepare it for wider availability to users,” says Monika Król, Vice-President at Polski Standard Płatności, the operator of BLIK.
If the pilot leads to full roll-out, banking apps on iOS will become a viable alternative to Apple Pay. For customers, this means greater choice; for banks, a stronger relationship with users; and for Apple, increased competitive pressure. Merchants will probably not need to change their infrastructure, as contactless BLIK uses Mastercard technology and works on terminals that accept payments from that organisation.
