payments

secure payments outside of Google

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Installing an alternative ROM on an Android phone is still perfectly possible, and there is an active community that has been developing systems based on the Android open source project for years. However, that technical freedom does not always translate into the same user experience that a phone with Google services offers. The contrast becomes especially visible when sensitive applications come into play, such as banking, payments or digital identity, which often rely on verification mechanisms to evaluate the environment in which they run. This practical difference is the starting point of an initiative promoted by several European companies that seeks to offer another way to check these devices within the Android ecosystem. The advertisement. The novelty that explains this movement is the announcement of Unified Attestationan initiative promoted by the German manufacturer Volla together with other companies, such as Murena, iodé and Apostrophy. according to heisethese companies have launched a consortium to develop a system that allows verifying the integrity of Android devices without necessarily depending on Google services. The project is proposed as an open alternative to Google Play Integritythe interface that many applications use today to evaluate whether a device meets certain conditions before allowing certain functions or access. How a part of Android works today. Play Integrity allows applications to request information about the environment in which they are running and receive signals that help assess risks, detect tampering, or check whether the device meets certain integrity conditions. This information does not alone decide whether an app can work or not, but it does serve as a basis for developers to determine how to react. In practice, many applications that handle sensitive data use this type of verification as part of their protection systems. What the project promoters are looking for. As Volla explained In announcing the consortium, one of the goals of Unified Attestation is to offer a verification mechanism that is not controlled by a single company. From that perspective, the project is presented as a step towards greater autonomy for manufacturers, developers and systems based on the Android Open Source Project. The idea, in the words of its promoters, is to create a transparent and verifiable procedure that allows the integrity of a system to be verified without relying exclusively on Google’s infrastructure. The real challenge. Presenting a technical alternative is only part of the journey. For a system like the one proposed by this consortium to have real impact, it would have to be accepted by the services that today use verification mechanisms to protect their applications. In this scenario, the challenge is not only to develop the technology, but to convince these actors that the new procedure offers sufficient guarantees to integrate it into their systems. Not everyone agrees. Although the project tries to offer a different way to verify the integrity of these systems, not all actors in that environment see the proposal in the same way. GrapheneOS, a ROM known for its focus on privacy, security and freedom, reacted publicly after the announcement and expressed his disagreement with the initiative. He argued that the new system would not solve the structural problems associated with this type of verification and asked developers who prioritize those principles not to adopt it. There is intention, there is no action. If the project goes ahead, it could allow mobile phones based on alternative ROMs to have more options to be accepted by applications that today apply strict integrity controls. For now, however, it is a proposal in development whose path will depend both on its technical evolution and on the trust it manages to generate among the services that should adopt it. Images | Jonas Leupe In Xataka | I have used my Android mobile as a PC thanks to desktop mode. It is a fantastic option

There is so much misinformation with the Treasury and private payments in Bizum that the Treasury has had to come out to deny them

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In recent days, Bizum has become an unexpected protagonist of the tax debate in Spain as a result of the reform on operations communications that financial institutions must send to the Treasury. Given the confusion generated, the Tax Agency has published an official clarification to clarify what really changes and what does not in the communication of payments made through Bizum. What the Treasury has had to clarify. The Tax Agency has published an explanatory note to stop the idea that Bizum is going to impose massive control of payments between individuals. As explained in his note, there is no change in the taxation of individual users or in the obligation to declare the daily payments that individual users make through Bizum. What does change is the information that banks must send to the Treasury about certain payment systems. Bizum becomes explicitly included along with other means such as credit cards, debit cards or other electronic platforms. But this information obligation does not apply in the same way to all users. The key nuance is who uses Bizum and for what purpose. And that is where the confusion skyrocketed and the private use of the platform was confused with the professional use and supervision of those payments through Bizum. The reform that caused it all. The origin of the controversy is in the regulatory reform that regulates communications between financial entities and the Tax Agency, recently published in the BOE. This text establishes that banks must report all movements made through electronic payment systems when the recipient is a company or professional. That is, Bizum is comparable to other common collection methods in economic activity. If a business, a self-employed person or a company receives payments through Bizum, these movements must be fully communicated to the Treasury, just as occurs with card payments. These payments will be included in your accounting books and tax regulations will be applied to them. like any other paymentand the tax entities will communicate the existence of these payments by identifying the bank or payment accounts through which these charges associated with the company are made. The standard does not introduce a new obligation for businesses, but rather standardizes the treatment of Bizum with other payment systems that were already under that level of control. What happens to private users?. The Treasury clarification is blunt on this point: individual users are left outside the individualized control of each movement when they use Bizum for day-to-day payments: shared dinners, gifts, money refunds or small payments between friends are not communicated in detail to the Tax Agency. There is no new threshold, no obligation to declare each transfer, nor automatic monitoring of daily operations between natural persons. In that sense, Bizum continues to work the same as it has until now for the majority of users. The exemption, however, does not mean carte blanche from a tax point of view. And this is where the second important nuance about the use of Bizum comes in, understood as a payment channel that has already been equated with any other existing payment system. Bizum is only a payment channel. In a own statementBizum wanted to clarify that the exclusion of individual users from automatic reporting does not eliminate their tax obligations. The platform insists that the payment method (Bizum, in this case) does not change the nature of the income. Yeah a user charges a rent by Bizum and does not declare it, it is still taxable income. If you receive a donationmust pay taxes in accordance with the corresponding regulations. And if you use Bizum for a hidden economic activity, the Treasury can demand liability in the same way as if the payment had been made in cash or by transfer. The key is in the concept of payment, not in the payment channel used. Bizum does not inspect or exonerate itself, it simply channels payments. The obligation to declare depends on the origin and purpose of the money. SMEs and microenterprises. By equating Bizum with other payment systems and differentiating between individual users and companies, there is a risk of diluting the limit in cases where the holder of a bank account belongs to the 5463% of sole proprietorship SMEs in which a self-employed professional develops his profession and uses a single checking account to receive his Bizums, both personal and professional. As and as they recommend from Bizum, in these cases, it is essential to identify the specific cause of each payment received through Bizum or, to avoid problems, separate payments from Bizum directed to the professional activity of the personal Bizum into different accounts. In Xataka | Bizum and the Treasury: what changes in the control of transfers after eliminating the 3,000 euro threshold

Smart glasses find their “iPhone moment” in China. The key to your success: payments

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In China, AI glasses allow you to pay by looking at a QR code and giving a voice command. Alibaba itself launched its Quark for $268, integrated with Alipay for payments and Taobao for purchases. Xiaomi presented its glasses with AI in June and they became the third best selling in the world in the first half of 2025, despite being available for only one week. The Chinese market for smart glasses is growing exponentially in the second half of the year, according to a study by BigOne Lab. Why is it important. After more than a decade of unfulfilled promises, smart glasses have finally found their reason for being. And it is something as prosaic as paying without taking your cell phone out of your pocket. AND It’s working in China like nothing else has before. in this sector. From the adoption for payments, the rest of the value proposition is built. The context. China’s digital infrastructure, where even the elderly use their smartphone for everything, facilitates adoption. QR codes are in all shops and Meta does not operate in China without a VPN, which has left the field clear for local companies to experiment without direct competition. Yes, but. The price is determining. Chinese glasses cost between 200 and 300 dollars, a price not too high. Xiaomi, RayNeo, Thunderobot, Kopin, Baidu and Alibaba compete in the Chinese domestic market. The payment functionality does not require very sophisticated screens or complex optics. All you need is a basic camera, voice recognition and connection to the payments ecosystem. This makes production much cheaper. The big question. Will we see something similar in Europe with Bizum? Mobile payments here are less ubiquitous than in China, but Bizum has achieved enormous penetration in Spain. If businesses adopted Bizum QR codes, as some already do, smart glasses could find their practical use here as well. The European ecosystem has advantages: stricter privacy regulation, greater consumer trust in traditional banking systems, and a population accustomed to incremental innovations. But it doesn’t have the density of QR codes that makes China the perfect terrain for this experiment. Between the lines. Chinese companies are not just developing hardware. They are creating the use case that justifies wearing smart glasses all day, and instead of looking for something spectacular and complex, they have found something much simpler and everyday: not having to take your phone out of your pocket. Rokid boasts that its glasses are not tied to a single generative AI model: they work with OpenAI, Llama, Gemini and Grok. They also offer simultaneous translation into English while someone speaks in Chinese. But none of that matters as much as the payment feature. And now what. Meta dominates the global market with a 73% share in the first half of 2025, according to Counterpoint. His success with Ray-Ban Meta This is explained by a design that is almost indistinguishable from normal glasses. In addition, Western manufacturers maintain advantages in chips. But Chinese companies have obvious advantages: many brands and models, rapid iteration, and the ability to adapt quickly to market changes. In Xataka | The POCO F8 Pro and F8 Ultra are a great change of direction for the brand. We spoke with POCO to find out what awaits us now Featured image | Xiaomi

If it is better to collect in 12 or 14 payments

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One of the most common questions that many workers answer when starting to work in a new company is: How do you want to collect your salaryin 12 or 14 payments? It is a question that seems simple, but choosing one or the other can be decisive for the personal finances of each employee. As finance experts explain, understanding the advantages of each modality is essential to plan expenses and savings during the year or obtain greater profitability from your salary. That is precisely the question that labor lawyer Andrés Millán posed since your profile on LinkedIn“if I could earn 15,000 euros in January, with knowledge of capital management, it would be ideal.” More salary or more pay As confirmed to us Marta Rayaces, tax expert TaxDownthe annual salary is the same, whether it is paid in 12 or 14 monthly installments. However, the amount that employees receive every month and the way in which each extra payment is received can change some financial habits. The workers’ salary is not calculated monthly, but annually from of your gross salary. Then, depending on the choice of each employee (or by company imposition), that amount is prorated into 12 or 14 payments. That is, if a person has an annual salary of 16,000 gross euros per yearthat amount will be the same in either of the two options, it is just distributed differently over the months. In the 12-month prorated option, the worker earns more each month (1,333.33 euros gross), but does not receive extraordinary payments. With the 14-pay option, the monthly salary is lower (1,142.85 euros gross), but two extra income is generated, usually in June (summer pay), and December (Christmas pay), key months for the highest expenses. This difference is reflected in the availability of cash by the worker, so that he can manage your money. Rayaces points out that the higher salary provided by the 12 monthly payments leaves more cash in the employee’s pocket, which allows him to establish a savings planinvest or meet regular expenses with greater liquidity. On the other hand, with 14 payments you obtain less cash each month, but the two additional payments are useful to cover seasonal expenses, such as vacations, going back to school or the increase in expenses incurred during the Christmas holidays. Personal income tax withholding and tax effects According to the Taxdown expert, the choice between 12 or 14 payments also modifies how the tax is applied. monthly income tax withholding, although it does not affect the final amount paid to the State. “The annual gross salary is the same, the only thing that varies is the frequency of payment. It is just a question of how the withholding is distributed throughout the year,” Rayaces pointed out. The personal income tax withholding It is calculated based on a percentage of the total salary. Therefore, as was the case with the annual gross salary, the lower the monthly amount, a proportional withholding is applied, so the amount that is withheld as personal income tax is also lower in the same proportion. That is, taxation will not be a differential factor between the two options since it is exactly the same annual percentage in both regardless of whether it is done in 12 or 14 payments. Manage or let others manage Rayaces points out that the main condition that must prevail in this decision is the ability to manage the personal finance. “If you have financial and investment knowledge, it is better to pay 12 to earn more month after month,” says the Taxdown expert. In that way, you can invest part of that salary and obtain profitability from it. On the other hand, if you do not organize well and then you have problems making ends meet when seasonal expenses arise (planning vacations, gifts and meals at Christmas, going back to school, etc.), then it is better to receive your salary in 14 payments and thus you will receive more money when those expenses occur. In Xataka | Good news, salaries in Spain are rising: the problem is that if you are young you probably don’t know it Image | Unsplash (Andres Simon)

He has already announced that he will split the payments

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Several Supreme Court rulings forced the Treasury to modify a law to prevent the thousands of pensioners who made contributions to the old labor mutual societies between 1968 and 1978 from being subjected to double taxation, paying more in your personal income tax. With the new Law 5/2025 approved, those affected can claim the refund of the personal income tax associated with the fiscal years from 2019 to 2022as well as non-prescribed exercises. The estimated number of affected pensioners exceeds 600,000 and with amounts of up to 4,000 euros in some cases, which is causing delays on the part of the Treasury in their refund and the splitting of the payment. Why is the Treasury returning personal income tax to mutual members? The return to the mutualists is not a voluntary gesture by the Government, but is due to Supreme Court rulings in which it is recognized that pensioners contributed to the Labor Mutual Insurance Funds more than they should have, and the right to enjoy a tax reduction of 25%, for their contributions between 1967 and December 31, 1978. The Supreme Court sentenced that contributions to mutual societies (such as MUFACE, MUGEJU or ISFAS, usually linked to police, military, judicial or banking bodies) were intended for benefits that were subsequently fully taxed, which generated double taxation for those taxpayers. That is, they paid more taxes than a worker who had contributed to INSS in the General Regime, for example, given that a deduction could be applied to them for their contributions. The new Law 5/2025of July 24, prepared to accommodate the rulings of the Supreme Court, included a provision for better channel complaints and accelerate the recognition of the return for the affected years. Treasury sets deadline to return personal income tax Last September, the Treasury began to settle the imbalance with thousands of affected pensioners, and to do so, it enabled a form on their website. Through it, those affected could claim their refund. These are: Pensioners from Social Security and the Social Institute of the Navy who contributed to labor mutual societies between 1967 and 1978 and suffered double taxation. Holders of complementary pensions paid by special funds of the INSS, MUFACE, MUGEJU or ISFAS, when the contributions are prior to 1979. Heirs of those affected mutual members, if the beneficiary died between 2019 and 2024 The Tax Agency has a deadline on December 31, 2025 to complete the refunds, since it must be done six months after the end of the general declaration period that ended on June 30. If the Treasury does not comply with that deadline, those affected may claim late payment interest of 4.0625%, as as they remember from the consumer organization OCU. However, according to what was published by The Newspaperthe Treasury would have confirmed that in some cases, this payment will not be made in a single payment, but in a fragmented manner. This fragmentation is due to the complexity of the process since, in some cases, the lack of documentation or calculation discrepancies have generated different special circumstances that require individualized reviews, so in these cases payments will be settled as they are resolved. Those affected who have not yet claimed their refunds can do so from the corresponding Tax Agency form until February 2, 2026, for the fiscal years 2020, 2021 and 2022; until February 2, 2027, for the fiscal years 2020, 2021; and until February 2, 2028 to claim the amounts for the 2022 financial year. In Xataka | The Treasury has increased the collection of the Wealth Tax: it is not that there are more millionaires in Spain, it is that they now pay it Image | Unsplash (Musemind UX Agency)

Europe fails to find the perfect solution for cross -border payments. Bizum and Banco Santander have just put it on a tray

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Santander has become the first Spanish bank that allows its customers Send Bizum to other European countries. It is something that is achieved thanks to the interoperability between Bizum, Bancomat and MB Waya connection that according to the bank will connect 50 million users and 186 financial entities. It is a first step waiting for a unique pawous solution for which no agreement is reached. The first in Spain. Banco Santander has formalized the possibility of sending money through Bizum in a cross -border way. The agreement has been necessary between different payment solutions such as Bizum (Spain), Bancomat (Italy) and Mbway (Portugal), being limited instant payments to these two countries, for the moment. After performing the corresponding successful pilot tests, the clients of this bank will be the first to be able to pay outside Spain. The method will be the usual: we will only have to write the mobile number of the user to which we want to send the payment, and this will be carried out immediately and without commissions. It will not be alone. Santander has been the first to move token, but the possibility of sending Bizum out of Spain will be a standard before summer. Abanca, OpenBank, Caixabank, BBVA and Banco Sabadell are advancing in the implementation of this service, planned for the second quarter of 2025. It has not been thanks to Europe. While Europe Follow in search of a unique solutionthe private company moves record. Cross -border payments are possible thanks to the European Initiative (European Payments Alliance), a joint project initiated by Bizum and followed by both Bancomat and MB Way, with the aim of adopting instant transfers paneuropeas using existing infrastructure. In other words, it has been necessary for those responsible for the platforms to agree, in the absence of a European alternative that encompasses. The European Bizum. The European Central Bank has been trying to advance in a system of instant payments to interconnect the different member countries. But he doesn’t get it. During the last two years we have seen progress as Free transfers in Europe, Tests with digital purseand brushstrokes on a “European Payment Initiative” which has barely advanced since 2022. Countries like Spain They make 95% of immediate payments with Bizumbut this is not the only name that sounds as a candidate for possible means for European payments. There are those who try strongly. Solutions such as Bizum, Bancomat, BM Way or Swish were born as responses to the national need to be able to pay freely and free. The problem for the EU? None have been thought from scratch as a single payment solution. This is where solutions such as Weroa proposal towards “a unique payment solution, all in one, instantaneous and paneuropea, capable of covering over time all cases of payment that consumers and professionals require.” Banks such as German and French They are already promoting this servicenot yet compatible with solutions like Bizum. Nothing clear. The ECB points out that “instead of combining strength and sharing resources to develop paneuropeas solutions, national communities have often preferred to preserve the legacy of the investments made in the past”, an attack on models such as Bizum and a clear look at proposals such as Wero. With many delays and few proposals on the table, the road to a “European bizum” continues to draw distant. But, meanwhile, in Spain we will not take to pay with virtually any bank outside our borders. In Xataka | Bizum and Finance: What changes in transfers control after eliminating the threshold of 3,000 euros

I have tried Silbo Money, mobile payments without leaving WhatsApp. It’s like bringing cash to the mobile, for good and for the bad

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A few weeks ago we talked about Money whistlethe Sevillian startup that integrates mobile payments in WhatsApp. Its approach is brilliant in its simplicity: instead of competing as another app, it is integrated into “the application we already use” par excellence to become our digital portfolio. The system operates inside WhatsAppwith minimal derivations to the browser. We add to our contacts and chat with a purely functional Bot. No canned responses or frustrating loops, only direct and functional interactions. The record is automatic and direct: we validate identity, we create a four -digit pin, and voila. This pin is requested when initiating a conversation or after a while of inactivity, balancing security and convenience. The registration process. The creation of the PIN is one of the processes for which Silbo sends us to the browser. Its main difference with Bizum It is structural: It works as an independent digital purse. While Bizum operates directly with our bank account, Silbo requires loading previous balance. It is moving the cash to the mobile. The loading process. This separation has two readings: An inconvenience: Add friction against Bizum. An advantage: Provides extra security when isolation from our account. The interface is pure pragmatism. It allows navigation for text commands and contextual buttons. The buttons guide the rookie, the commands speed up the expert. For example, if we write “balance” you will ask us if you show it in the chat or if you download it. If we write “Chat balance” you will show us directly. The Silbo Shares menu. A shipment of money … … and a money application (happily corresponded). By the way, the fluorine yellow that uses whistle as a brand image seemed to me somewhat strident at the beginning. After trying it, it is clear to me: it makes it easier to quickly locate the conversation with a Scroll visual. It stands out, and a lot. The most remarkable is how to take advantage of WhatsApp omnipresence. You don’t have to download another app or learn to use another interface, everything happens in a family environment. It even has a collection of Stickers Own that include messages such as “who pays rest”, perfect for using passive-agreesive tone. The withdrawal of the balance to our bank account. His challenge will be to achieve critical mass. Like whatsapp or bizum, You need adoption to be useful. Its advantage is to operate on WhatsApp, canonical in Spain. His challenge, convince users to take the step, especially considering Bizum’s current domain. In my tests I have done several operations: load balance, send money, claim it, receive it, withdraw it, consultations, etc. Everything works fluently, without complications or delays (the withdrawals take one or two days). The only real friction is the need to load previously balance. Overcome that step, the system is as natural as sending a message. Silbo optimizes more than revolutionary: take the mobile payment and simplify it by integrating it where we already live. It is pure pragmatism. Time will say if it manages to challenge Bizum. In Xataka | The unstoppable rise of Travelperk: the Spanish travel startup already is worth 2.7 billion dollars and strengthens its expansion Outstanding image | Xataka with Mockuuuups Studio

launches pay payments for credit customers in Spain

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In its mission of consolidating itself as an increasingly solid alternative to traditional banking, Revolution Continue to incorporate new features. Began ensuring deposit protection, He continued to eliminate the Lithuanian And he took another step by integrating Bizum. Now, the British Neobanco has decided to offer the Payment to your clients in Spain. It is an initiative that will allow to acquire products and pay them in installments. The service will be available for purchases of 50 euros or more for customer credit card customers. Payments can be divided into 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, with a nominal interest rate (TIN) of 14.93%, lower than the ‘revolving’ model of the revolution itself, which is 21.94%. How does Revolution’s installments work? To understand how Revolution’s payment operates, we must first clarify what it is not. It is not ‘revolving’Nor ‘Buy now, pay later.’ In the first case, the user decides at the end of the month if he wants to fraction the purchases made with his credit card in small periodic installments, which makes it a practical option for some scenarios. In the second case, with ‘Buy now, pay later’, the decision is made at the time of purchase: a first disbursement is made and the rest is paid in several equal installments during the following weeks or months. For example, if we make a 100 purchase and decided to segment it in four payments, at the time of the operation we will pay the first 25 euros. And Revolution’s payment payment? Here is different: it can be decided Before closing the monthly cycle of the card if the payment of one or more products that we have acquired is divided. This means that Revolution’s customers now have three card payment options: pay all expenses at the end of the month, use ‘revolving’ or the new payment payment. Neobancos are a reality in Spain. They have been trying to conquer traditional banking customers with a modern design, variety of cards, interesting proposals and greater agility. Revolution is one of the best known neobans, but it is not the only one. We also find options such as N26, Nickel or Trade Republic. Images | Revolution In Xataka | Revolution does not have enough to become a bank. It also wants to be a social network to sell advertising

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