What is MB Way and how do I set it up as a foreigner?

Once you live here you will be asked for MB Way constantly: splitting a dinner, paying a handyman, buying at a market stall, confirming an online card payment. It is the layer that makes the rest of Portuguese payments feel modern.

What you need first

You need three things before you start: a card from one of the 28 participating Portuguese banks, a phone number registered with that bank, and Android 9 or later or iOS 15.6 or later on the phone itself.

The phone number does not have to be Portuguese. MB Way explicitly supports international numbers linked to a Portuguese bank card, with no extra fee. That matters in your first weeks, when you have a bank account but not yet a Portuguese SIM.

Setting it up

1. Download the MB WAY app, or use the MB Way section inside your bank's own app (most banks, including Millennium BCP, Novobanco, CGD and ActivoBank, enable it there).
2. Register your card and enter the phone number your bank has on file. If the number on file is wrong, fix it at the branch or in your bank's app first, because this is the single most common reason activation fails.
3. Confirm the code the bank sends, then set a PIN.

If your bank holds an old foreign number from account opening, nothing will arrive and the app gives you no useful error. Check that field before you blame the app.

The limits worth knowing

You can send up to 2,000 euros per transfer, and receive up to 5,000 euros and 50 transactions per month. Your bank may add its own transfer fee, which is shown before you confirm. Sending money to someone who is not on MB Way still works: they get an SMS and have 48 hours to join and collect the funds.

What else it does

MB Way generates virtual MB NET card numbers for online purchases, lets you make contactless payments from the phone, and produces one off references for splitting a bill. Many Portuguese sites offer MB Way as a checkout option instead of a card, and a push notification confirms the payment.

Revolut and Wise are not part of the MB Way network, which is one of the clearest arguments for keeping one cheap Portuguese account alongside a fintech app.