Glossary

MB Way

Published 5 November 2026, 23:09
MB = Multibanco

An app for payments by phone number, running on top of the Multibanco network (operated by SIBS). You link a Portuguese bank card to your number, and then you can send money to people instantly, pay online and by QR code, withdraw cash without a card and create MB Net virtual cards — single-use or for subscriptions. It is not separate ‘e-money’: everything comes out of your ordinary account.

Where you come across it. Splitting the bill in a café, paying a private seller or a tutor, paying for an order on a Portuguese website, topping up a child's school card.
Up to ten cards can be linked to one phone number, including cards from different banks, so there is no ‘one number, one bank’ rule. If the recipient is not on MB Way, they get a text and have 48 hours to sign up; if they do not, the money simply never leaves the sender's account. MB Way and Multibanco payment details (entidade + referência + valor) are different things; the latter can be paid from any banking app. A common scam is a payment request disguised as a request to ‘confirm that you have received the money’.