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Bulgaria 2025

Market Overview
Payment Organisation BORICA is the Bulgarian interbank organisation and card authorisation centre.
Domestic Card Brands BORICA was the domestic debit card; many cards are co-badged Maestro. BORICA cards have been replaced by Bcard cards.

Bcard is the new domestic card brand launched in 2017. Bcard cards are typically debit cards, credit cards or prepaid cards co-badged with one of the Mastercard or VISA card brands.

Blink is the domestic digital A2A payment brand in Bulgaria.

TransCard are private label cards, also co-badged Mastercard.
Market Structure Most payments are made with cash, and most card-less payments are credit transfers. Debit cards dominate, mostly used for cash withdrawals.

Rapid growth of card usage. Payments on cards have grown 19% since 2019, while the value has increased by 23%. However, there were just 74.1 card payments per capita in 2023, one of the lowest in the European countries.

The number of cards issued rose from 106,000 in 1998 to 8.1 million in 2008, when penetration per capita exceeded 1.0 for the first time. In 2023, payment cards issued amounted to 9.23 million.

The banking sector has been privatised and is 74.5% foreign controlled.

Emerging Open Banking payment ecosystem.
Notable Market Trends Contactless rollout, Borica cards renewed as Bcard cards, HCE NFC pilots, biometric card pilot, instant A2A payment service Blink.

Due to the lingering effect of the pandemic, remote payments rose by 92% in volume and 153% in value.
Major Card Issuers dskbank, UBB, UniCredit Bulbank, Fibank, CCB, Postbank.
Major Card Acquirers UniCredit Bulbank, UBB, Fibank, dskbank, Raiffeisen RBBG.
Major Card Processors BORICA; in-house bank IT systems.

Key Statistics 2023
Population 6.44 million, with 1.43 cards per capita.
Cards Debit: 6.99 million

Credit: 1.35 million

E-money cards: 875,924

Total: 9.23 million
Card Payments  Debit 412.07 million; value BGN 28.65 billion (€14.6 billion)

Credit 65.66 million; value BGN 5.25 billion (€2.7 billion)

Total 478.86 million; value BGN 34.00 billion (€17.4 billion)
POS Terminals 144,295
POS Payments  All cards 389.79 million; value BGN 21.56 billion (€11.02 billion)
ATMs 5,128
ATM Withdrawals  All cards 133.47 million; value BGN 48.07 billion (€24.58 billion)
Digital A2A Payments Credit Transfers: 186.38 million, value: BGN 866.7 billion
Note: Italic forecast figures for 2024F are estimated in the payment market context based on 2023 figures.

Note: Payment totals include those made abroad with Bulgarian cards.

Source: ECB, Bulgarska Narodna Bank (BNB).

General Note – ECB changed its statistical reporting

In the 22nd Edition of the Digital & Payment Card Yearbooks there were some statistical reporting changes to address. The statistical data for 2022 was based on the new ECB regulation ECB/2020/59, which replaced the ECB reporting statistics regulation from 2013 up to 2021 (ECB/2013/43), the well-proven ECB bluebook reporting was discontinued.

For 2022, the ECB declared all data as provisional, because the first-time reporting under the new standard may include errata and double counting.

The researchers and editors worked hard in the 22nd edition to balance out any obvious errata, but it remains that in some instances the data from 2022 cannot be compared to 2021 and previous years.

Where this has occurred, we have clearly stated it and have added explanation to the table and text.

In this, the 23rd Edition we have clarified any errata and filled in all missing data from the previous year.

Introduction – Payments in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a parliamentary democracy and member of the European Union since 2007, and was set to join the Eurozone in 2024, during which it will switch from its currency, the BNL, to the euro. Ahead of 2024 to ensure market readiness for the switchover, the Bulgarian government took more proactive steps to bolster its financial ecosystem. In February 2023, Bulgaria announced that it was scrapping its target to adopt the euro in January 2024 as it failed to meet some criteria but will seek to join the common currency by January 1, 2025. Most analysts view euro accession as unlikely before 2026 due to political fragmentation.

Bulgaria, ranked as a developing country, is one of the least-developed payments markets in Europe, with negative population growth, very low banking penetration, and the relative lack of internet usage compared to neighbouring countries impeding the consumer uptake of digital banking and payments. However, this low level of penetration leaves ample room for growth, particularly for FinTech players which can roll out innovative mobile-based services. Usage of Apple Pay, and other payment apps are gaining traction as more banks enhance their card and mobile offerings.

The adoption of the revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, and disruptive technologies have set the stage for digital payments for the digital economy in Bulgaria. They have accelerated digital payment transformation and mobile payment services, as well as cardless IBAN-based payments directly from bank accounts.

In the last decade, Bulgarian consumers have embraced mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT). This change significantly impacts their shopping experience. Consumers have become increasingly connected and they have started to purchase anywhere, at any time, from any device.

In addition, new consumer demands are a game changer. Bulgarian consumers like digital banking apps with access to all their accounts at different banks in one single app, with the option to make payments directly from their bank account of choice. Additionally, they appreciate more banking services and payment services added to their mobile banking app. Consumer adoption of digital payments in Bulgaria is driven by minimal cost, secure payments and a high level of user convenience.

Driven by the development of social media and mobile devices, the emergence of permanently connected consumers has impacted their interactions with brands but also their expectations of how to shop using the increasing number of touch points between consumers and merchants, e.g.:

The ongoing rollout of a mature online and mobile communication infrastructure is an enabler for digital card payment transformation and for Open Banking payments in Bulgaria.

In a few years from now, mobile banking apps and mobile payment apps are expected to combine account management, digital payment services, personal finance management and value-added digital services from location finders to digital vouchers.

Cash payments, card payments and cardless payments directly from bank accounts (A2A payments) remain all relevant for Bulgarian merchants and are heavily used by Bulgarian consumers.

This country profile provides an introduction into two competing payment ecosystems in Bulgaria:

Legal Framework for Payment Services

The legal framework for European payment services is a joint project undertaken by the European Commission as the regulator, the European Central Bank (ECB) as the Euro System, and the European Payments Council (EPC) with the objective of standardising payments in Europe and to remove existing barriers, promote cross-border competition between payment services, strengthen the European internal market and drive the digital payment transformation.

Based on its vision, the EU Commission has therefore created a unique legal framework for cashless B2C and B2B payments that supersedes pre-existing national legislation and is binding for financial service providers and payment service providers throughout the EU.

Bulgaria has largely transposed this legal framework into its national payment legislation.

Historically, there has been a de facto national regulation of all Bulgarian payment schemes with high technical barriers to ensure and defend payment security.

With the implementation of the payment services directive, all payment services in Bulgaria are based on the unique legal framework for payment services of the European Commission effective in the European Economic Area (EEA).

In addition, the respective rules and regulations of the domestic card scheme and the international card schemes continue to be applied by the card payment service providers (e.g. EMV, PCI, RTS SCA, and SEPA Cards Framework), respectively.

Legal Framework relevant for Payment Services in Bulgaria

The revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, had established a legal and regulatory framework for payment services providers, enforcing several protections for their clients such as safeguarding of funds; and required them to execute processes in accordance with banking regulations, such as KYC and AML. It has already resulted in significant progress regarding the integration of the European retail payments markets.

Following the alignment with the EEA region, the legal framework for payment services in Bulgaria includes the directives and regulations of the European Commission (EC), the ECB, and/or the national central bank (NCB) of the individual country.

All card payment service providers and all cardless payment service providers of the Open Banking payment ecosystem must apply for the European legal framework including:

Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)
PSD2 is the key directive for borderless banking and payment services in Europe.
Among others, PSD2 regulates digital payment services and payment service providers such as payment institutions, e-money institutions, payment initiation service providers and account information service providers. PSD2 formulates the Open Banking Mandate for regulated access to payment accounts.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – effective from May 2018
GDPR establishes a regulatory framework for customer control of their data through consent mechanisms, the right to be forgotten and the right to retrieve all personal data for re-use at other service providers of choice, thereby preventing a ‘lock-in’ situation.

E-Money Directive (EMD)
The EMD sets out the rules on the business and supervision of e-money institutions.

Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD)
The AMLD6 aims to improve the harmonisation of the criminal liability of money laundering and terrorist financing across the EU27.

Customer Rights Directive (CRD)
CRD gives consumers the same strong rights across the EU. It aligns and harmonises national consumer rules, for example on the information consumers need to be given before they purchase something, and their right to cancel online purchases, wherever they shop in the EU.

EU Price Regulation for cross-border payments
In 2001, Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001, followed in 2009 by Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, fixed uniform underlying conditions for processing cross-border payments in euro, and the fees for intra-EU cross-border payments in euro were aligned with those for domestic payments in euro.

SEPA End-Date Regulation
SEPA payment instruments replaced domestic A2A payment instrument formats for euro payments.

Card Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR)
The IFR caps interchange fees for payments with consumer cards, effective from 9 December 2015. It increases transparency on fees thus permitting retailers to know the level of fees paid when accepting cards.

Domestic bank service laws
Complementary to EC directives and EC regulations.

Characteristics of the PSD2 Outlook: PSD3 and PSR

The adoption of PSD2 has formalised the relationship between banks and trusted payment providers (TPPs) by establishing the Open Banking Mandate providing open access to customer account data and the payments infrastructure. This is expected to stimulate the FinTech market to develop new integrated services models for both consumer and business customers.

This regulation is a reaction to the growing demand from customers as mobile and internet applications have become widely adopted, driving expectations in how services should be delivered across all industries. Other market segments have adopted Open Banking APIs to respond to this demand and shown that innovative applications can grow business and change customer behaviour.

PSD2 has a significant impact on the European payments industry. According to the EC, the revised Payment Services Directive brings several new important elements and improvements to the EU payment market e.g.:

In 2022, the regulator started a PSD2 review process, which will end up in a revised PSD2 dubbed PSD3. While consultations are currently ongoing, the revisions are expected to address the achievements of the PSD2 and evaluate the need for a revised standard.

Proposed EC Revisions to the EU Payment Services Regulation – PSD3 and PSR 

In June 2023, the European Commission (EC) published its proposed revisions to EU payment services legislation, as well as a proposal on Open Finance/data access in the financial services sector beyond Open Banking/payment accounts in the form of a new Open Finance framework called “FIDA”.

Essentially, the EC is proposing that PSD2 would be split into two different instruments. These will ensure consumers can continue to make electronic payments and transactions safely and securely in the EU, domestically or cross-border, in euro and non-euro. Whilst safeguarding their rights, it also aims to provide greater choice of payment service providers on the market:

The objective of the regulation is to enhance harmonisation of the rules and enforcement across the various EU Member States. In addition, the EC proposed to merge the E-Money Directive (EMD2) with the proposed PSD3 and PSR texts, so as to have one coherent regime for both payment services and e-money services and thereby ensure a level-playing field between PIs and EMIs.

PSD3 also amends the Settlement Finality Directive (SFD) in order to allow non-bank PSPs (e.g. PIs and EMIs) to participate directly in SFD-designated payment systems. Fintechs will be given access to all EU payment systems, with appropriate safeguards, giving them a right to have a bank account and eliminating their reliance on banks for executing payment transactions.

A system to check IBANs and a platform to enable payment service providers to share fraud-related information are two proposals around consumer protection, including an extension to all credit transfers of IBAN/name-matching verification services. These have been proposed by the Commission for instant payments in Euro. All consumers should benefit from them, for both regular and instant credit transfers.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is given once again a number of mandates under PSD3 and the PSR to prepare draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and draft implementing technical standards (ITS), ultimately to be adopted by the EC, as well as guidelines, and to continue maintaining the register.

In 2024, significant progress has been made in updating PSD2. In April 2024, the European Parliament adopted the European Commission’s proposals for PSD3 and PSR at first reading. While the exact timelines for enforcement are not yet confirmed, it is anticipated that the finalised versions of PSD3 and PSR may become available by mid-2027.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU). Since the Regulation applies regardless of where websites are based, it must be heeded by all sites that attract European visitors, even if they don’t specifically market goods or services to EU residents.

Adopted in April 2016, the Regulation came into full effect in May 2018, after a two-year transition period. The GDPR replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and is designed to:

The GDPR mandates that EU visitors to all websites must be given a number of data disclosures. Sites must also take steps to facilitate such EU consumer rights as timely notification in the event of personal data being breached (breach notification). Among others, the GDPR mandates the user’s right to access their data and the right to be forgotten. In addition, the conditions for consent have been strengthened, and companies are no longer able to use long, illegible terms and conditions full of legalese. Also, it must be as easy to withdraw consent as it is to give it.

eIDAS Regulation and Digital ID Trends

The electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services regulation (eIDAS) is a set of EU standards and regulations for electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market. It was established in the EU Regulation as of 23 July 2014, relating to electronic identification, and repeals directive 1999/93/EC from December 1999. It entered into force on 17 September 2014 and applies from 1 July 2016 except for certain articles, listed under its article 52.

In June 2021, the European Commission proposed an update to eIDAS that will enable every European to have a set of digital identity credentials recognised anywhere in the EU. With eIDAS 2.0, by 2024, all EU member countries must make a digital identity wallet available to every citizen who wants one. Many digital ID schemes operate based on super-secure passwords and/or mobile apps confirmed by a second factor, either passwords or one-time token or biometric factors such as fingerprints.

Digital ID in Europe has been proliferating rapidly in recent years. To date, both the nature of these schemes and their application have varied widely – for example, BankIDs in the Nordics being used to support instant payments and the delivery of harmonised government services.

eID platform initiative – In May 2017, a group of European companies including banks, vehicle manufacturers and technology providers signed a “corresponding declaration of intent” to establish a joint, pan-industry platform that will let their customers use a so-called “master key” for registration and identification when accessing online services across a range of sectors including government, aviation and retail.

Biometric Authentication Services

As a form of digital identity, biometric factors have been gaining ground across Europe in recent years, especially since the EU mandated their use for national ID cards and passports from August 2021.

In the payments industry, European banks and other account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) have started to support new biometrics technology companies that will develop client identification and authentication systems. They will be dedicated to the research and development of software for the digital verification and authentication of personal identity, through facial, voice, image or document recognition, or fingerprint reading.

With the EU regulator’s decision to mandate Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) as part of the revised payment services directive, PSD2, biometric authentications look set to grow further in importance as part of the payments landscape.

Companies such as Sweden’s Fingerprints (for online payment ID) and the UK’s Fingopay (for physical payments) have pioneered their use in P2P and P2B transactions, while some national ID schemes such as BankID in the Nordics and nemID now include biometric factors alongside PIN in their log-in processes.

Among others, in 2024, payments-specific biometric initiatives and pilots in Europe include:

In 2019, UBB selected ID tech firm OneSpan’s Mobile Security Suite and Cronto technology to securely sign transactions, deploy biometric ID, and to protect the bank’s mobile banking app UBB Mobile. In the six months since its launch, more than 60,000 of the bank’s customers have begun using the app.

Mastercard Identity Check – In October 2016, Mastercard launched its biometric payment authentication service, Mastercard Identity Check in 12 European countries. European consumers can now validate online purchases using 2-factor authentication such as one-time codes sent by SMS or fingerprints in their mobile app.

Banking Sector

Established in 1879, Bulgarska Narodna Bank (BNB) is the national central bank of Bulgaria and supervises Bulgarian banking operations. The legal framework in which Bulgarian financial institutions and companies operate is based on European Union directives and Bulgarian banking laws.

On 4 November 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB), via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), assumed the responsibility of supervising the financial stability of banks operating within the euro zone. However, while the ECB has final supervisory authority over all banks operating within the euro zone, it will only directly supervise those banks classified as ‘significant’ under the terms of the SSM (by September-2024, 113 significant banking groups have been recognised). All other ‘less significant’ banks continue to be supervised by the BNB.

As part of the process of close cooperation between the BNB and the ECB, as of 2023, the banks in Bulgaria that are under the ECB’s direct supervision are UniCredit Bulbank, DSK Bank, United Bulgarian Bank, Eurobank and Raiffeisenbank.

In 2019 the Bulgarian economy continued to grow, with GDP posting a 3.4% growth year-on-year. GDP growth for 2020 was initially estimated to be around 3%, however, due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, GDP declined by 4.2% in 2020. Bulgaria’s economic activity in 2021 began to recover, with overall growth for the year amounting to 4.2%. Private consumption underpinned by the strong growth in nominal labour income, the significant increase in net fiscal transfers, and the strengthening of consumer confidence were the main contributions. By 2022, GDP growth came in at 3.9% on the back of strong export growth and sustained consumer spending. In 2023, GDP growth was 1.9%, reflecting a slowdown due to subdued external demand.

A slowdown in the growth rate of consumer prices led to annual inflation amounting to 1.67% at the end of 2020. In 2021, core inflation acceleration was driven by the growth in final consumption expenditure of households, higher unit labour costs and emerging indirect effects of higher food and fuel prices. Consumer price inflation tended to accelerate throughout 2021 to reach 6.6% at the close of 2021. In 2022, average annual inflation rate surged to 13% on the back of high energy and food prices. By 2023, the inflation rate moderated to 8.6% as energy prices stabilised.

Structure

BNB had authorised 23 banks to operate in Bulgaria as of end-2023. There are 17 commercial banks and 6 branches of foreign banks operating in Bulgaria. Commercial banks in Bulgaria are licensed as universal banks and are able to offer a full range of banking services.

At the end of December 2023, the 5 significant banks (according to the ECB criteria) comprised 76.8% of banking system assets, compared to 67.0% in 2022, and less significant banks comprised 20.7% (2022: 29.6%), while branches of foreign banks comprised 2.5% (2022: 3.4%).

In 2020, 11 new financial institutions were entered, and six financial institutions were deleted due to a decrease in the performance indicators below the statutory or due to cessation of activity. At the end of 2020, a branch of Bigbank was established in Bulgaria under the single European passport.

In July 2020, Eurobank of Greece, and Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings, applied for approval for acquisition of 99% of the share capital of Eurobank Bulgaria. Bulgarian Bank for Development applied for approval of a qualified share participation in the amount of over 20% and not more than 33% of the share capital of First Investment Bank in May 2020.

The five largest foreign banks are UniCredit Bulbank, dskbank, United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), Postbank (Eurobank EFG) and First Investment Bank (Fibank). According to the BNB’s quarterly report, their share of total banking assets was 76.8% at end-2023, up from 55.4% at end-2011.

Three of the country’s top ten banks are domestically owned, First Investment Bank (FIB), Corporate Commercial Bank and Central Cooperative Bank (CCB).

Seven of the top ten banks are foreign-controlled – Bulbank by UniCredit Group(I), dskbank by OTP Bank (H), UBB by KBC Bank (B), Raiffeisenbank by Raiffeisen Bank International (A), Postbank by Eurobank EFG (GR) and SG Expressbank by OTP Bank Group (H).

Crédit Agricole (F) and KBC (B) also feature in Bulgaria. KBC purchased 75% of CIBank for €295 million in September 2007 and, since the end of 2010, owns 100%. In 2017, KBC Bank purchased UBB from National Bank of Greece (GR). In 2019, the number of EU subsidiary banks fell due to the takeover of Piraeus Bank Bulgaria by Eurobank Bulgaria, while DSK Bank finalised the acquisition of Société Générale Expressbank and its subsidiaries in Bulgaria.

In July 2014, Corporate Commercial Bank (the country’s fourth largest lender at the time) had its banking licence revoked and was put into administration; its assets were transferred to its subsidiary, Commercial Bank Victoria, which was itself nationalised.

In July 2022, KBC Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International completed the deal announced in November 2021 concerning the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) EAD, which is responsible for the banking operations of RBI in Bulgaria. The €1 billion transaction also includes Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria’s fully owned subsidiaries Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria, Raiffeisen Asset Management (Bulgaria), Raiffeisen Insurance Broker and Raiffeisen Service. KBC, which operates in the country via United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), will merge the operations of UBB and Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) to become the biggest bank in Bulgaria, serving over 2.3 million customers.

Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) had a network of 122 bank branches across the country and served 635,000 customers as of mid-2022 before the acquisition.

1 – Main Bulgarian Banks (2023)

[ninja_tables id=”4295″]

Note: in June 2019, Eurobank acquired Piraeus Bank and it was merged into Postbank in November 2019.
Note: at end-2018 Société Générale Expressbank was acquired by DSK Bank. The two banks merged as DSK Bank in May 2020.
Source: Bulgarian National Bank.

UniCredit Bulbank (UCB) – Following the merger of UniCredit and HVB/BA-CA in 2005, the group’s banking interests in Bulgaria – Bulbank, HVB Biochim and Hebros – were amalgamated into UniCredit Bulbank in 2007, with a combined market share of 18.7% in 2023 measured by total bank assets. In 2023, Bulbank reported 130 branches plus 10 corporate branches, 189 ATMs, and over 1 million customers, along with 229 points of presence across the country. UniCredit Bulbank opened its first completely cashless branches in May 2023.

DSK Bank (DSK) reported 292 branches in 2023 which accounts for a share of 16.4% in the banking system, and 2.5 million banking clients. In terms of size, DSK Bank is currently the second-largest bank by total assets with a market share of 19.0%. Originally formed in 1951 as a State Savings Bank, it was converted into a commercial bank in April 1998 and was acquired by the Hungarian OTP Bank Group in April 2003. In 2020, it integrated the operations of SG Expressbank (see below), which it acquired from Société Générale in 2018. Post-integration, the merged entity has the largest ATM and branch networks in the country.

United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), the third-largest bank by total bank assets, had been controlled by National Bank of Greece (NBG) until its sale in December 2016. UBB was established in 1992 through the merger of 22 Bulgarian regional commercial banks. In December 2016, NBG sold UBB to Belgian KBC Group for a total consideration of €610 million. KBC-owned Cibank is now a subsidiary of UBB. In February 2018, the legal merger of UBB and Cibank was processed. In 2023, the enlarged UBB had 228 branches and offices, serving 1,355,813 retail customers and 132,756 business customers.

Postbank, controlled by Greece Eurobank Ergasias, is the fourth-largest bank by assets. The bank reported 179 branches and around 475 ATMs at end-2023, serving 1 million customers. In March 2016, Eurobank Bulgaria (Postbank) acquired Alpha Bank BG and absorbed it by end-2016. Eurobank Group is a pan-European banking group in 6 countries, with total assets of €79.8 billion as of 2023. In June 2019, Eurobank acquired Postbank from Piraeus. A post-merger integration programme involved a rebranding and a merger of the two banks’ payments operations in 2019, which was completed in 2020.

First Investment Bank (Fibank), the fifth-largest bank by total bank assets, is controlled by 2 private investors (42.5%+42.5%) and other investors (15%) for the balance. As of 2023, Fibank had about 1.3 million customers, 119 branches and offices, a network of 573 ATMs, and 9,436 POS terminals. In October 2013, FIB Group acquired 100% of the shares in MKB Unionbank from Hungarian MKB Bank, and it is a 94.79% shareholder in Diners’ Club Bulgaria.

Raiffeisenbank (RBBG), controlled by Raiffeisenbank International (RBI), is the sixth-largest bank by assets. It reported 122 branches and 635,000 retail customers in Bulgaria at mid-2022.

In July 2022, KBC Bank acquired Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria). In 2023, KBC Bank Bulgaria, formed from the merger of United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) and KBC Bank Bulgaria, became the largest bank in Bulgaria, serving over 2.3 million customers and holds a combined market share of 19.26%. The merger, completed in April 2023, integrated the operations of both banks, making KBC Bank Bulgaria the largest bank by assets and branch network in the country. As of the end-2023, the combined bank operates 228 branches across Bulgaria, serving a market share of 19% in traditional bank products, 14% in investment funds, 32% in life insurance, and 12% in non-life insurance.

SG Expressbank, the subsidiary of Société Générale, was the seventh-largest bank by total bank assets in 2019 before its merger with dskbank that year. It reported 141 branches servicing 504,000 customers at-end 2018, up from 360,000 in 2009. The bank started as result of the union of 13 commercial banks and was acquired by SocGen in 1999. In 2018, the bank was sold to OTP Group (Hungary) and was merged with the operations of dskbank under the OTP Brand in 2020.

Digital Banking 

All Bulgarian retail banks offer online banking services and mobile banking apps to their clients. Services available include balance and transaction reporting and payment initiation. Services available include balance and transaction reporting and payment initiation. At end-2023, only 23.43% of all Bulgarian people are e-banking users, according to Eurostat.

It is estimated that up to 40% of smartphone users in Bulgaria use mobile banking services.

There is no bank-independent electronic banking standard in Bulgaria; each bank offers its own proprietary system for individuals and corporate banking purposes. In 2018, Cellum launched a white-labelled e-wallet for mobile banking in Bulgaria which can be adopted by individual banks, following the adoption of its wallet technology by the City of Sofia in 2015 for parking payments.

Mobile banking apps with added mobile money transfer services include PayPal.

According to the Bulgarian Fintech Association, as of mid-2022, Bulgaria is not only at the top of the near-shoring destinations for Fintech in the EU but also the fastest-growing Fintech hub in South-eastern Europe (SEE). There were 156 companies, which in 2022 generated about BGN 1.8 billion in revenue. By the end of 2022, Bulgarian Fintech Association reported that there were 156 Fintech companies in Bulgaria.

UniCredit Bulbank – UCB has expanded digital channel coverage and digital bank services, including the launch of Apple Pay for VISA debit and credit cards. During 2020, UCB accelerated several strategic goals, especially in digitalisation and the switch to digital and remote banking and self-service zones in branches. Following the continuous trend of digitalisation and migration towards automated cash services, the self-service zones in branches were further extended and increased to 58 (42% of branches).

UCB also launched various new processes which were accessible entirely remotely, without the need for customers to visit physical location of the bank. As a result, individual customers of UCB were able to conduct 98% of operations fully remotely. In 2023, UCB continued to lead in digitalisation with over 700,000 active digital users. The Bank’s mobile banking app for Android remained the First financial app in the country with more than 1 million in Google Play. The instant Blink payments service, launched in 2022, continued to be popular, allowing clients to send and receive instant payments 24/7 and maintained a market share of nearly 30%.

More than 1 million of digitised card transactions per month were processed in 2023, increasing the digital banking solutions presence in the customers’ lives. In 2023, over 97% of payments were conducted through digital channels, with a year-over-year increase of nearly 35% in online transactions. Additionally, more than 30% of all sales were completed entirely remotely. Customers logged into the app over 21 times a month in 2023, which equals to one login every working day. The total amount of payments processed via Bulbank Mobile has increased by almost 60% vs. the previous year. One of the major developments in 2021 was the fully redesigned mobile banking app with a more intuitive design. On top of the newly redesigned app, new payment functionalities were introduced on the market, including international SEPA payments and instant payments via phone number.

United Bulgarian Bank – In May 2016, UBB launched its mobile banking app, UMobile. In 2019, UMobile was closed down, in favour of the bank’s new mobile app UBB Mobile for individual and business clients. UBB Mobile enables customers to apply for a debit card through the app, and to use fingerprint biometric ID. In 2019, the bank reported a 145% increase in the number of users for UBB Mobile.

In 2020, UBB reported that customer usage of digital channels rose by 20%, with remote services enabling customer onboarding through smartphones and devices without needing to visit a branch. Opening an account or deposit, payment for utilities went fully digital and free of charge.

UBB customers can see their accounts from other banks through the UBB Mobile app, which in 2020 was expanded with the UWIN loyalty programme, motivating customers by providing them with discounts and bonuses while in stores or online.

As of 2020, every UBB Mastercard cardholder could use Apple Pay for mobile payments. In August 2021 UBB launched Google Pay services for debit and credit Mastercard cardholders.

Raiffeisenbank – During 2019, Raiffeisen launched its digital wallet RaiPay, allowing contactless payments and online payments. In the three months after launch, more than 15,000 customers had downloaded RaiPay.

During 2020, Raiffeisen rolled out new functionalities in the mobile banking platform RaiMobile and by the end of 2020 almost 30% of customers were actively using it. More than 33,000 customers paid with their cards through the digital wallets RaiPay and Apple Pay. The number of active users of RaiPay in 2020 was more than 15,000, while registered cards numbered 23,000. In April 2020 Raiffeisenbank introduced the option for payment via Apple Wallet. The number of Apple Pay registered cards reached 18,000 with over 11,000 users.

During 2020, the opportunity for customers to open an account directly through mobile banking, as well as to buy other products, led to an increase in digital sales by about 10% in consumer lending and about 50% of the applications for opening an account. At the end of 2020, Raiffeisenbank launched a chatbot with the latest generation of artificial intelligence, which helps customers receive the necessary information about the bank’s products and services. RAIA (Raiffeisen Artificial Intelligence Assistant) is already widely used in digital channels.

Fibank – In 2016, Fibank was the first among Bulgarian banks to launch an innovative electronic payment platform allowing customers to use their smartphones and supporting HCE NFC technology for mobile payments at contactless POS terminals. Fibank developed its own digital payments service, which allowed customers to manage their digital bank card through the mobile banking app and thus make digital payments.

The functionalities of the My Fibank mobile application were further developed, including fingerprint/faceID as biometric means of access and identification. Fibank also launched Apple Pay and Garmin Pay.

In 2020 Fibank established a new subsidiary, MyFin EAD, with its scope of activity being the issuance of e-money and providing payment services licensed by the BNB.

Also, a new video consultation service was launched, available through the corporate website, the My Fibank digital banking platform, and the My Fibank mobile app, offering advice to individuals on the credit products of the bank.

During 2021, the My Fibank electronic banking platform of Fibank was overhauled as a single customer service channel with new functionalities, allowing customers to open and close current and deposit and other accounts, carry out payments in national and foreign currency (including mass payments), make utility payments, apply for, and enter into agreements for credit products (including credit cards), request the issuance of debit cards, as well as buy or sell foreign currency.

In 2023, the integrated My Fibank electronic banking platform continued to establish itself as a channel generating the predominant share (over 90%) of the total outgoing transfers of Fibank, with a growth of 18% in transactions and 8% in the number of customers using the platform. There was also an increase in the average number of transactions per customer, both in transfers and in utility payments. In 2023, Fibank continued to develop its mobile application. The immediate issuance of Debit Instant Card was offered: a new type of virtual debit card without plastic, intended for making payments online or through other remote methods, including smart mobile devices.

The Fibank mobile app allows customers with NFC-enabled mobile devices to make contactless payments. In 2021, Fibank continued to develop its mobile app by launching MyCard, a new type of virtual credit card, along with the provision of Google Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin, and Fitbit services. In 2023, Fibank further developed the services provided through its mobile application. Instant Blink P2P transfers were introduced where a mobile phone number is used as secondary account identifier instead of an IBAN.

In compliance with the regulatory requirements arising from Regulation (EU) 1230/2021, Fibank added new functionality to e-banking, allowing a preview of the fees due when ordering a transfer. With regard to strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements, Fibank provided the Fibank Token as a means of signature and identification in the electronic banking system, which includes two-factor authentication and the use of QR code scanning technology.

During 2021, Fibank was among the first banks in the country to meet the criteria and receive certification from BORICA to join the Blink scheme for instant payments in BGN, as well as for bulk payments.

In February 2022, electronic signing of documents by e-Sign pad was introduced in the Bank’s offices. This initiative is part of Fibank’s ongoing efforts to digitalise banking services and reduce CO2 emissions. The e-Sign pads allow customers to sign documents electronically, speeding up processing times and improving customer service. In 2023, as part of introducing digitalisation in its daily operations, the Bank launched the Remote Onboarding service for retail customers. It allows individuals to remotely enter into an agreement for a package including use of My Fibank with active banking rights, to open bank accounts, apply for debit cards, or switch from passive to active banking in My Fibank mobile application. The registration and verification process is performed remotely, through the use of a third-party authentication service provider.

DSK Bank – The online and mobile banking platforms DSK Direct and DSK Smart, as well as the application for official online document signatures DSK mToken, continue to be the preferred channels for online banking amongst clients. These platforms allow users to access their balances and funds, account transactions, card limits, create a virtual card, apply for personal credit or pay common bills and more.

In May 2021, DSK Mobile introduced contactless payments for public transport systems in the capital Sofia, enabling nearly 2 million citizens and guests of the Bulgarian capital to use contactless payment.

Postbank – Postbank’s EVA mobile app enables customers to receive personal consultations on bank products and application procedures. In April 2021, Postbank launched Apple Pay for its customers. In June 2021, Postbank launched ONE wallet, the latest service in the portfolio of digital solutions that Postbank is developing for its customers. ONE wallet enables contactless card payments and money transfers via a smartphone.

In 2021 Postbank became the first certified bank in Bulgaria to offer its clients the instant payments service under the Blink programme of the National Card and Payment Scheme (NCPS), part of BORIKA. The new Blink instant payments service is available as a pilot in the extensive branch network of Postbank throughout the country, and in 2022 the financial institution plans to offer the service through its digital channels. In 2023, clients of Postbank continued to benefit from the ability to order cash transfers from their current accounts in BGN and EUR 24/7, including on bank holidays, using the digital banking channels for online banking (e-Postbank) and mobile banking (m-Postbank). The bank further enhanced its digital services, ensuring seamless and secure transactions for its customers.

About Open API Standards

In June 2017, The Berlin Group, the European payments interoperability coalition of banks and payment processors with membership comprising bank backed ACHs and industry bodies, announced it would push a single standard for API access to bank accounts (XS2A) compliant with the PSD2 regulation.

The Berlin Group says its NextGenPSD2 Initiative provides a harmonised API standard for accessing bank accounts. Built as an ‘Access to Account Framework’, The Berlin Group says the standard offers operational rules and implementation guidelines with detailed data definitions, message modelling and information flows based on RESTful API methodology.

As of the beginning of 2021, the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 was implemented in all EU countries, in several non-EU countries in Europe, and in countries outside Europe who are focused on maintaining reachability and compatibility with the European market. Around 80% of European banks and hundreds of third-party providers (TPPs) have implemented the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 Framework. In 2021, the group was migrated to the Open Finance task force to explore use cases of Open Banking schemes and Open Finance schemes.

Among others, European Open API sets include Open Banking UK, Swiss Corporate API, and STET Open API (F, B).

PSD2 and the Open Banking Mandate

The adoption of the revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, has set the stage for Open Banking in Europe, a European Open Banking Mandate with significant impact on the financial services industry. PSD2 challenges for banks and FinTechs include Open Banking, Open APIs, and the rollout of digital payment services and mobile apps.

PSD2 lowers the barriers for market entry to third-party service providers, FinTechs, and it opens up doors for innovative players to offer services that currently do not exist, e. g. account information services, third-party personal finance management, digital identity and KYC.

PSD2 is going to change the European payment and banking landscape and ultimately the position and role of banks in the ecosystem. FinTechs drive the change with the banking industry seeking the right strategy.

Post-PSD2, the key question for the financial service industry will be how to grant authorised access for their FinTech partners to bank account information, for instance secure access to account balance, payment data, credit risk and others.

For banks, the impact of the PSD2 is that they are no longer the only ones that have access to the bank customer information. Bank customers will now decide who they want to grant access to their payment information. Alongside this initiative, with new services based on access to bank accounts (XS2A), banks may lose the direct connection to their customers. To maintain their position in the new PSD2 reality, banks will need to adapt their business and operational models.

By mid-2024, notable challenges for the Bulgarian banking industry include:

In November 2019, Fibank became the first bank in Bulgaria to adopt Open Banking in line with PSD2 which came into force in September 2019. Since 2019 Fibank has been developing its Open Banking related services, maintaining test and production environments, providing opportunities for testing the access to APIs, and access for third-party providers of payment initiation and account access information services. During 2021, Fibank also provided third party providers with access to customer accounts for provision of account information and payment initiation services aligned with Open Banking.

In July 2021, DSK Bank enabled customers to monitor their current accounts from other banks and order transfers from them via DSK Smart mobile banking. Accounts from seven Bulgarian financial institutions can be added, but it is envisaged that the list will be expanded in the future, including foreign banks.

At the end of 2020, the Multibanking Hub service was launched, which enables Bulgarian banks to offer their customers access to their accounts of other providers of payment services. The service is based entirely on Open Banking.

As of 2023, there were 13 Open Banking bank and account providers, 5 third-party providers, 39 bank APIs, and 19 API aggregators.

Payment Services

In Bulgaria, the law on payment services adopted the EU payment services directive (PSD) and the EU interchange fee regulation (IFR). Bulgaria is also going to adopt the new PSD2 – effective from January 2018.

In 2024, the more than 300 different payment services offered in Europe can be grouped into:

Card Brands and Card Types

All retail banks in Bulgaria issue debit cards and credit cards with one of the Mastercard or VISA brands.

BORICA is the domestic debit card scheme managed by BORICA-Bankservice (BO-BS). Many BORICA cards were previously co-badged with Maestro for international use. However, with Mastercard’s announcement to phase out the Maestro brand by mid-2023, this practice is changing.

Former mono-bank credit cards of Raiffeisen Bank Bulgaria are issued as contactless Mastercard cards co-badged RaiCard. However, there are private label TransCard credit cards and debit cards of TFS which often are co-badged Mastercard or Debit Mastercard.

In July 2017, the new domestic debit/credit card scheme branded Bcard was launched. In 2018, the rollout of contactless, chip-enabled and EMV compliant debit/credit Bcard-branded cards began.

Bulgarian card products like consumer cards, commercial cards and purchasing cards range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards. Additional card features (e.g. picture cards, bonus points, PIN selection at ATMs, cashback, card control by SMS notification and geo blocking) are used to attract cardholders. Also, individual picture cards and collector cards are issued on demand.

According to the BNB, the EMV migration of cards had achieved just 91.3% as at end-2015, including 90.4% of debit cards and 99.8% of credit cards. The EMV migration was completed at the end of 2016.

From July 2023, banks and other card issuers will no longer issue Maestro cards. Instead, they will need to issue Debit Mastercard. Maestro was launched in 1991 and was the world’s first debit card that could be used via an online network. About 400 million Maestro cards are in circulation worldwide, mainly across Europe. However, Maestro is not enabled for the demands of e-commerce and cannot be used for online or in-app payments, hence the decision to phase it out in favour of Mastercard Debit products. Visa announced that Electron cards will be phased out globally in 2024. The features of the Visa Debit card have been modified to match the features of the Visa Electron card.

Debit cards issued are branded Bcard, BORICA, Debit Mastercard, or VISA Debit.

With originally ten banks issuing V PAY debit cards, V PAY prepaid cards and V PAY co-branded cards, Bulgaria was one of the most dynamic V PAY markets. However, only Fibank continued issuing V PAY cards in mid-2023 (see Table 3). In November 2024, Fibank has also announced that it will stop issuing V PAY cards, with existing cards remaining valid until their expiry date. Other banks replaced V PAY cards by Debit Mastercard and VISA Debit cards.

Credit Cards issued are cards branded VISA, Mastercard, or Diners. There are no JCB cards in issue. In December 2020, Bulgarian payment service provider Paynetics finalised an agreement to issue UnionPay’s cards in the European Economic Area (EEA). Under this partnership, Paynetics planned to issue UnionPay cards from Q1 2021.

Prepaid Cards – are issued in Bulgaria, since 2008. In 2011, TBI Credit launched the first V PAY prepaid card.

Co-branded cards – In Bulgaria, several co-branded card products are in circulation. Co-branded cards are based on the international card brands Mastercard, VISA, or Diners.

Bulgarian banks issuing co-branded cards together with their non-bank partners include UniCredit, DSK Bank, UBB, Fibank, CIBank, CCB and Raiffeisenbank. Bulgarian banks also issue private label store cards on behalf of retailers, petrol companies and other non-banks. Piraeus offered a UNICEF co-branded card with a charity donation to UNICEF, however this card was deactivated and taken out of issuance after Piraeus was acquired by Postbank in 2019.

Co-brand partners include mostly retailers and airlines.

Raiffeisenbank (RBBG) issues a co-branded Billa VISA Classic card and AVON Mastercard. Central Cooperative Bank issues a co-branded credit card with airline Bulgaria Air, while DSK Bank issues a co-brand credit card with Wizz Air.

Contactless Cards and form-factors

All Bulgarian banks and Transact TFS issue contactless credit cards and contactless Bcard cards.

In 2011, Fibank first issued contactless Mastercard and Maestro cards with PayPass function and, from 2012, Fibank issued VISA Electron payWave cards and VISA Classic payWave credit cards.

Predefined contactless limits – Contactless payments of purchase amounts below a predefined limit are without PIN or signature and without transaction receipt. In Bulgaria, the contactless limit for payments without PIN/signature was set at BGN 25 for cards with PayPass or payWave function. The limit was subsequently raised to BGN 50 in April 2019, then raised again to BGN 100 in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage more non-cash transactions.

In August 2021, Bulgaria’s DSK Bank and city payment company O-CITY partnered to deliver digital and contactless payment solutions for public transport in the capital Sofia. O-CITY and DSK have launched an open loop contactless EMV card to pay directly in ground vehicles serving Sofia public transport, O-CITY.

Passengers can now pay using contactless VISA or Mastercard bank cards issued by any bank or fintech company across the world or respective NFC mobile wallet, in 3,900 validators installed across the capital’s public ground transportation system including buses, trams, trolleybuses. The project will see 450 stations across the Sofia metro system accept payments in a second phase.

In January 2022, the BNB stated that 99.48% of the volume and 99.68% of the value of POS payments in 2021 were made with cards, with the remainder coming from mobile phones or wearable devices. BNB did not provide an update for 2023.

Interchange Fee Arrangements

International and Intra European Non-EEA Interchange Fees are set by the members of the international card schemes to be applied in case of cross-border transactions or foreign cards used in Bulgaria, respectively. The effective rates of Mastercard and VISA can be found on the respective Mastercard and VISA websites.

In Bulgaria, domestic Merchant Interchange Fee (DMIF) rates for Bulgarian cards is defined by Mastercard and VISA, respectively. The interchange fee regulation 2015/751/EU applies for Bulgarian card business.

The interchange fees for domestic card-based payment transactions on consumer cards are capped as follows:

These rates are significantly higher than the European Union cap on interchange fees for debit card transactions, which is set at 0.2% of the transaction value.

Bulgaria’s rates are among the highest in Europe, with Poland having the highest average interchange fees at 1.53%.

The interchange fee for Bcard, the Bulgarian national payment card, is set at 0.3% of the payment amount. This rate applies to interbank transactions where the merchant’s bank pays the fee to the card-issuing bank.

For context, this rate is in line with the European Union regulations on interchange fees.

These caps apply to transactions within the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes Bulgaria as an EU member state. The Bcard rate matches the maximum allowed for credit cards under these regulations.

It’s worth noting that while Bcard has a flat 0.3% rate, other card networks like Mastercard may have more varied fee structures in Bulgaria, depending on the type of card and transaction.

American Express – As a result of the EU regulation of interchange fees (IFR), American Express elected to exit all of its bank licensing arrangements in the European Union. This means that they have terminated all licenses with its existing EU partners, stopped issuing new cards and are in the final stages of the process of closing down all operations directly related to bank licensing. Over the course of 2019, American Express credit cards issued under independent operator agreements were rendered invalid in all countries of the European Union. Various banks that have up to now had exclusive licensing contracts with American Express have already responded accordingly and provided their clients with the opportunity to switch to other card brands.

From 2020, American Express Payments Europe is now the sole issuer and acquirer of American Express cards in Europe, including Bulgaria. However, American Express Payments Europe continues its local sales partner arrangements with local acquirers enabling the use of American Express cards at ATMs and POS terminals.

E-Money 

In Bulgaria, the law on e-money services has adopted the e-money directive of the EU (EMD). In June 2019, the Bulgarian National Bank adopted amendments to its Ordinance No. 3 for the opening of e-Money accounts, requiring greater proof of identity as part of the country’s efforts to combat fraud and money laundering.

By 2023, BNB licensed 9 e-money institutions in Bulgaria. Additionally, software-based e-money e-/m-wallet services are also offered by 5 international e-money institutions from the EEA region. They provided notification of operating in Bulgaria under the EU passport system.

Prepaid Products – paysafecard (A) entered Bulgaria and has launched its prepaid product, paysafecard.

In December 2014, paysafeCard partnered with Cashwave (BG) to make it easier for Bulgarians to send funds home in the form of supermarket vouchers. Under the new agreement, Cashwave customers will be able to use paysafecard cards to buy and send vouchers to their family and friends in Bulgaria.

Other prepaid product providers include Viva Wallet and Bulgarian payment solution provider Paynetics,

Digital Account-to-Account Payment Services 

In the Yearbooks, account-based payment services are classified as IBAN-based payment services in SCT/SDD format offered by banks or by independent payment initiation service providers (PISP).

Credit transfers are used for both high-value corporate and low-value retail payment transactions. All credit transfers in Bulgaria are automated and widely used in the corporate and public sectors, as well as for payments like salaries and taxes.

Bulgaria is a part of the SEPA initiative for EUR-denominated retail payments. All banks in Bulgaria participate in the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme.

Direct debits are used for low-value recurring payments such as utility bills. There are BGN-denominated and EUR-denominated direct debits, including SDD direct debits. SEPA Direct Debit Schemes (SDD Core and B2B) were launched on 2 November 2009.

It should be noted that SEPA Direct Debit is not used in Bulgaria, so far. Being outside the euro zone, Bulgarian banks were not required to accept SDD direct debits until 31 October 2016.

Instant payments (SCTINST) Instant payments (SCTINST) is the IBAN-based immediate payment scheme in Europe, officially launched in November 2017. It makes funds immediately available to the beneficiary – compliant with existing SCT infrastructure. The regulators will require all banks to offer Instant Payments from 2018.

Among others, the characteristics of SCTINST include an initial maximum of €15,000 with the funds made available on the beneficiary’s account in less than ten seconds, 24/7/365 real-time processing, and immediate refunds in the case that the SCTINST payment was not successful. From July 2020, the maximum amount for instant payments will be €100,000.

Chaired by the ECB, in 2014, the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) identified the need for a pan-European instant euro payment solution. In April 2016, EBA Clearing started the SCTINST project with more than 40 large European banks involved. In November 2016, the European Payments Council (EPC) published the SCTINST scheme and SCTINST rule books version 1.0 while the ERPB provided the governance model. In November 2017, EBA Clearing completed the pan-European instant payments infrastructure, RT1.

SEPA credit transfers and direct debits can be settled on a same-day or next-day basis. In 2023, about 50% of all IBAN-based payments in Europe were processed intra-day, or even immediately inside of the same bank group. Potential first use cases for SCTINST in Bulgaria may include P2P, mobile banking apps, online payments, and B2B.

As of May 2024, 2,295 banks from 36 European countries had registered for the SCTINST scheme. This represents 63% of all SCT scheme participants.

As in many European countries, bank transfers have been adopted for online payments, enabling consumers to pay direct from their bank account as an alternative service to payment cards

Account-based payment service brands offered in Bulgaria include Klarna.

As of 2023, BNB reported 11 payment service providers licensed in Bulgaria. Authorised in another EEA member state, 245 cross-border payment institutions have provided notification of operating in Bulgaria under the EU passport system.

Advanced Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, advanced payment services are classified as online wallets, e-wallets, and/or mobile wallets with any type of payment service chosen by the wallet user to complete the payment.

In selected Bulgarian online shops, the wallets ePay.bg, PayPal, Skrill, Webmoney, and Paysera are offered as payment means.

ePay.bg – Created in 1999, ePay.bg JSC is the operator of the domestic ePay.bg system offered by 21 Bulgarian banks. ePay is a domestic online payment system in BGN denomination. ePay.bg reported 3.6 million transactions in 2010 with a total value BGN 180 million. Subsequent updates were not provided.

With ePay, online buyers are able to shop and pay for the goods and services with their bank card and/or their ePay micro-account. Bulgarian merchants or service organisations can accept payments over the internet, performed with domestic BORICA debit cards and/or with international credit cards, as well as with ePay micro-accounts.  Payments for utility bills – electricity, heating, telephone and GSM bills, cable TV, taxes and fees, insurance contributions are also enabled, and customers can receive money online into the micro-accounts.

PayPal – PayPal is present in Bulgaria. As of end-2023, PayPal reported more than 431 million active customer accounts globally, down 0.91% from 435 million in 2022.  During 2022, PayPal added approximately 8.6 million net new active accounts, ending the year with 435 million active consumer and merchant accounts. PayPal’s total payment volume increased to $1.52 trillion (up 11.6% from 2022) and customer engagement grew to an average of 58 transactions per active account, driving 13% growth in transactions per active account at the end of 2023.

During 2020, with consumers worldwide embraced digital wallet capabilities, the company launched several related services including QR Code Checkout, Buy Now Pay Later, Crypto purchasing and Xoom direct transfers to bank accounts and debit cards.

In June 2018, PayPal continued its shopping spree with a $400 million cash deal to acquire e-commerce platform Hyperwallet. The acquisition followed deals to buy Venmo, Xoom, Sweden’s iZettle (renamed Zettle) for $2.2 billion and AI-based merchant marketing outfit Jetlore, as Paypal bids to extend its reach to all corners of the payments market.

In May 2022, PayPal Ventures invested in Modulr, an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, as part of a $108 million Series C funding round led by General Atlantic, Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, and Highland Europe. Modulr delivers payments infrastructure for over 200 top-tier customers, including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage and BrightPay, and processes an annualised transaction value of more than £100 billion.

In 2024, PayPal is still exploring the sale of Xoom, its international money transfer subsidiary, in a bid to cut costs and focus on high-growth business areas. Also, Stax Payments – an all-in-one payment provider for businesses – announced its partnership with PayPal in July 2023. This partnership will allow PayPal’s users to easily make payments with more than 20,000 merchants of Stax through a fast checkout process as well as new payment options such as Buy-now-pay-later solutions.

In 2023, PayPal launched its own US dollar-denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), which is fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US treasuries, and similar cash equivalents and designed for digital payments and Web3. Eligible US PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to transfer the token to external wallets, send person-to-person payments, fund purchases at checkouts supported by PayPal, and convert cryptocurrency holdings to and from PayPal USD.

In January 2024, PayPal launched AI-powered features to drive personalised offerings for both merchants and customers based on the data it possesses. These features include Smart Receipts (for merchants) which predicts what shoppers may want to buy next from the merchant. The merchant can then offer personalised recommendations, and cashback offers on this receipt. A major feature for users is CashPass which will use give users personalized cashback offers based on an AI analysis of their spending activity.

In March 2024, PayPal launched a complete suite of payment processing tools for online small businesses in the UK, Canada, and across more than 20 European markets. The PayPal Complete Payments package enables small businesses to accept an expanded range of payment instruments including PayPal, buy now pay later, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit and debit cards, and alternative payment methods from around the world. By April 2024, PayPal added new features to its complete payments solution for small businesses to enable small businesses to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later products. PayPal also gave small businesses access to four new features to help them drive payment acceptance and enhance how they run their business, and this will include Apple Pay as a checkout option.

Amazon Pay – In 2016, Amazon (US) launched its checkout payment service, Amazon Pay, enabling customers to pay for goods and services in participating third-party merchant websites. All active Amazon account holders can use Amazon login and password at the checkout. More than 50 million customers have used Amazon Pay to make purchases globally, with more than half of these coming from Amazon Prime Members.

Digital Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, digital payment services are classified as card-based payment services using EMV tokenisation security on the internet combined with HCE NFC technology in the case of contactless payments at POS terminals.

As at mid-2024, the Click to Pay online payment checkout service was available, replacing the previous MasterPass and VISA Checkout services respectively. Click to Pay is a joint service between Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express, enabling consumers to make secure one-click payments without having to enter card details or passwords online.

Contactless payments on cards using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay (previously Android Pay) made by foreign users at contactless POS terminals in Bulgaria are processed as payments on contactless cards.

Global contactless transaction values will reach $15.7 trillion by 2029, up from $7.4 trillion in 2024, with contactless mobile and wearable payments expected to grow by 221% and contactless card payments by 119% over the same period.

Contactless ticketing spend will increase by more than 4600% globally between 2024 and 2029, with growing prominence and support for OEM pay solutions, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay being a key enabler for mobile NFC ticketing across many markets.

Overall growth in contactless transaction values will be catalysed by growing mobile payments adoption, with 99% of all smartphones capable of making contactless payments by 2029, up from 94% today, and average transaction values for Apple Pay reaching $28.20 and $33.40 for Google Pay.

Apple Pay has become one of the world’s most used digital payment methods. Its user base increased from 535.8 million to 550 million in 2023.

According to Apple’s Q2 last 2022, they saw a record of transactions with more than 1.8 billion processed during the quarter, up 40% year-over-year. This payment method is also available in over 90% of the US and 60% of stores globally.

Apple Pay is the #1 most popular digital wallet with a 92% market share, processing a global total of $6 trillion in payments in 2022 and produced a revenue of $1.9 billion.

As of 2023, Apple Pay processed 14.2% of all online consumer payments and 3.5% of all in-store purchases.

Around 51% of global iPhone users have enabled Apple Pay in 2022. There are 10 million Apple Pay-friendly contactless payment terminals worldwide.

The transactions made using Apple Pay are mostly in-store purchases, online transactions, and peer-to-peer payments. It is trendy for contactless payments, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2024, an estimated 60.2 million Apple Pay users in the United States; projections indicate that over 75 million consumers will use Apple Pay by 2030. Putting it all together, Apple Pay is increasingly becoming an effective customer acquisition and retention feature for Apple. In June 2022, Apple Pay added Apple Pay Later, its buy-now-pay-later service, allowing users to split purchases into four equal instalments with no interest or fees. Initially launched in the US, the service is expected to roll out to other countries during 2023. In 2023, Apple launched its Card savings account from Goldman Sachs with a 4.15% annual percentage yield. Apple Wallet users can set up and manage a savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.

As of November 2024, Apple Pay is available from 42 banks and payment providers in Bulgaria.

Google Pay has 150 million users across 42 global markets.

In January 2022, it was reported that the company was planning to transform Google Pay into a “comprehensive digital wallet”, following the app’s reported slow growth and the shutdown of Plex. In April, it was reported that Google was planning to revive the “Google Wallet” branding in a new app or interface and integrated it with Google Pay. Google officially announced Google Wallet on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. The app began rolling out on Android smartphones on July 18, replacing the 2018 app and co-existing with the 2020 Google Pay app in the US. While the app name itself was changed from Google Pay to Google Wallet, the service name of actually paying for things online or in-store remains as “Google Pay.”

In the US, Google Pay has over 25.2 million users.  Also, Google Pay is used on nearly 800,000 websites as a secure payment gateway. Roughly 20% of all mobile purchases are made using this digital payment processor.

Google Pay was launched in Bulgaria in November 2020 and is available through 41 banks and payment providers as of November 2024.

Samsung Pay is available in 31 countries worldwide and has an estimated 160 million users. Samsung Pay works with Galaxy phones, including the latest Galaxy S22. Samsung claims that its system will work with almost all point-of-sale systems: NFC, magnetic stripe, and EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) terminals for chip-based cards.

In May 2020, Samsung Pay unveiled Samsung Money by SoFi, a mobile-first money management experience that makes available a cash management account and accompanying Mastercard debit card via the Samsung Pay app, in partnership with fintech company SoFi.

In June 2022, Samsung Pay was renamed to Samsung Wallet in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Along with the renaming came new features such as the ability to store digital assets, and digital keys within the Wallet app.

Samsung Pay is not yet available in Bulgaria.

Overview of Cashless Payments

Bulgaria remains predominantly a cash-based society. In 2023, card payments accounted for 66.78% of all cashless payments compared to 62.34% total in the EU. As card payments showed growth of 24.99% since 2019, Bulgaria’s card use seems to be rising significantly.

Credit transfers (32.57%) are the dominant cashless payment instrument in Bulgaria by number and value. Direct debits (0.65%) remain minimal.

Cheques are rarely used in Bulgaria with less than 10,000 cheques issued in 2023. All cheques are exchanged and cleared bilaterally between banks.

In 2023, there was a high level of 118.5 cash-less payments per capita, a decline of 1.05% from 2022. They were composed of 79.2 card payments per capita and 38.6 credit transfers per capita.

2 – Cashless Payment Transactions in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4296″]

Note: totals include other payment services. Card payments include e-money.
Source: ECB, BNB.

Exchange Rates

The Bulgarian Lev (BGN) is pegged within slight variations to the Euro at 1.95583 per EUR.

Market Infrastructure

Together with Romania, Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. Steps taken to upgrade infrastructure before joining included the sale of banks to western counterparts to modernise the country’s payment system.

Ahead of joining the EU in 2007, Bulgaria made substantial efforts to modernise its payment system. Bulgaria’s BGN settlement systems are RINGS, an RTGS system, run by the Bulgarian National Bank and the following payment systems which are:

Under Bulgarian law, settlement of bank card payments must be conducted through BISERA, the interbank payment system. BORICA has direct access to BISERA and executes interbank payments generated by card transactions with a value date T+1. Other functions of BORICA include the supervision and maintenance of POS terminals and personalisation of bank cards. POS terminals in the network are branded ‘BORICA’ and Lev-denominated BORICA cards are issued by a number of banks.

Many salaries are paid in cash, although some card-based ‘salary projects’ have been launched in recent years, in common with most of the rest of the CEE region. Under these projects, employers pay salaries direct into the employee’s debit card account. However, almost all retail transactions are made in cash.

Bulgarian Post Office branches do not have credit institution status but participate in the payment system via Postbank and DSK Bank, which provide payment services and deposit accounts in post office branches. The postal system is also involved in the payment of pensions and cash payments.

In 2023, RINGS processed 81.2% of non-cash BGN payments in Bulgaria. RINGS payments numbered 959,393, down 17% from 2022, with value reaching BGN 1,495 billion (29% growth from 2022). In 2023, the BNB and 23 banks participated in RINGS.

The TARGET2-BNB system processed 299,764 payments (up 7.6% vs 2022) for €779.5 billion (down 7.7% vs 2022). In 2023, the BNB jointly with the Ministry of Finance, BORICA AD and Bulgarian banks launched a large-scale project to migrate budget payments in levs to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) standards.

By 31 December 2023, the TARGET2 system included the BNB, 18 direct participant banks, 7 addressable BIC holders, and 2 ancillary systems.

In 2023, BORICA processed 320.8 million ATM and POS terminal payments, totalling BGN 28,196.7 million, an increase of 19.2% in volume and 16.8% in value from 2022.

In 2023, BISERA6 processed 111 million payments totalling BGN 317.9 billion. Compared with 2022, processed payments rose 10.5% in volume and 23% in value.

To meet the requirements of Regulation (ЕU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and the Council, the BISERA7-EUR payment system for small payments in euro processes SEPA payments and offers interoperability with the SEPA Clearer, Equens and EuroELIXIR, allowing SEPA credit transfers between banks in Bulgaria and other EU member states.

In 2021 the technical preparation of the project for the introduction of instant payments in national currency was completed and the use of the new service started. The project was developed by BISERA6 BORICA, the operator of the payment system for small payments, with the assistance of the BNB as an operator of the RINGS RTGS. Changes ensuring the execution of instant payments were made to the national legal framework and the RINGS and BISERA6 payment systems. The license of BORICA as an operator of the BISERA6 payment system was upgraded, enabling the system to process instant payments in the amount of BGN 100,000.

In 2021 BORICA launched Blink instant payments. 17 institutions participate as originators and payees of Blink instant payments.

BORICA – The Domestic Debit Card Scheme

BORICA is the domestic debit card scheme managed by bank-owned processor BORICA AD. BORICA is connected to the networks of Mastercard, VISA (VISANET) and American Express.

At the end of 2017, BORICA was licensed by the BNB to operate as a payment institution providing payment services, and in September 2019 was licensed to initiate payments and account information in line with PSD2 requirements.

In 2019, BORICA began the process of implementing 3D Secure, and a centralised model for domestic and international card acceptance, providing unified authorisation, clearing and settlement environment, thus saving the costs for individual developments of each accepting institution.

In 2019, BORICA launched a study to develop a local scheme for instant payments, allowing IBAN transactions, money transfers, phone, POS and mobile services. Also, the first contactless transaction with a Bcard was made to one of the Issuers in the scheme. Three Bcard contactless card issuers have been certified for the new Bcard technology. The certification and introduction of the Bcard contactless technology of POS terminal devices was expected to be completed by 2021.

During 2020 BORICA together with the BNB developed immediate payments in BGN for amounts up to BGN 100,000. Their settlement is carried out through a pre-financed model, in which the participating banks in advance will provide funds for immediate payments to a special account in RINGS. Instant payments were officially launched in April 2021 in Bulgaria. Within two years from the start of the instant payment service, all payment service providers should have ensured the availability of the service, i.e. they should be able to receive and process instant payments. As of early 2021, four banks had started a certification process for inclusion in the instant payments system.

BORICA as a card scheme establishes a connection with bank systems and payment institutions with real-time operation, including connections with banks having their own processing centres and banks, where the authorisation is performed directly into their banking systems, connections with the card operators Euronet (H), Raiffeisen RPC (SK) and Casys International (MK), connections to online payment service processors (PSPs), connection to the bPay system for payment of bills through ATMs, connection to issuer card management systems for issuance and acceptance of card payments through the Internet using the 3-D Secure Mastercard SecureCode technology.

A growing number of BORICA cards are co-badged Maestro for international use. In 2017, there were 108,941 BORICA-only cards (+32.7%) and 587,134 BORICA cards co-badged Maestro, down by 39.8% from 2016 (see Appendix 1). An update was not provided by BNB in 2023.

In July 2018, BORICA and Chinese UnionPay International signed an agreement for the acceptance of UnionPay cards at all POS terminals and ATMs in Bulgaria.

BORICA reported that since the beginning of 2023, there has been a steady increase in card transactions through POS terminals, especially on international transactions. The number of transactions through ATM grew at a lower rate, with international ones again contributing to the growth transactions, as a result of the influx of refugees and the removal of restrictions on travel. The structure of financial transactions accepted at ATMs and POS continued to change more in favour of POS transactions. The relative share of ATMs to POS transactions in 2023 was in the ratio of 22:78 (25:75 in 2022).

In 2023, the total number of ATM financial transactions grew by 5.3%. The number of local ATM financial transactions increased by 5%, and financial transactions with cards issued abroad grew by 5.5%. Of ATM transactions, withdrawals grew by 4.8%, deposit transactions grew by 12.4%, and the number of non-financial transactions decreased by 5.7%. By the end of 2023, there were 1,840 ATMs connected to the BORICA system (1,762 at the end of 2022).

POS financial transactions grew much faster than ATM transactions, increasing by 28% from 2022. The number of non-financial and other transactions declined by 56%. POS transactions with cards issued in the country increased by 23% compared to 2022, and POS transactions with cards issued abroad grew by 48.5% compared to 2022. The removal of restrictions led to a new increase in the share of transactions of physical POS terminals compared to that of virtual POS terminals. The number of POS transactions increased by 22.8%, and that of virtual POS by 3.6%. Accordingly, in the structure of transactions, the ratio at the end of 2021 was 84:16 in favour of physical POS (81:19 in 2020). There were 60,670 supported POS terminals in the BORICA system by the end of 2023 (53,373 at the end of 2022).

During 2020, BORICA developed cloud-based digital signature services which can be realised through the secure mobile app, BORICA B-Trust Mobile. The cloud electronic signature provides access to a range of electronic services and references of the State Administration, finance institutions, insurance, and pension insurance companies, as well as telecom operators. BORICA has implemented a centralised system, which performs remote identification processes for customers. The process for remote ID in the mobile app B-Trust Mobile was provided for use by BORICA customers in 2021.

Bcard – The new National Card Scheme

The main focus in processor BORICA’s activity in 2015 was the setup of the new domestic debit/credit card scheme. The intention of launching domestic-only Bcard cards was to save scheme fee costs from avoiding to co-badge with an international card scheme brand.

In July 2017, BORICA AD launched the domestic card scheme, Bcard. At the end of 2017, 100% of the ATMs and 100% of the POS terminals in Bulgaria were ready to accept the contactless Bcard cards. The rollout of Bcard cards started in 2018.

In July 2018, BORICA and Chinese UnionPay International discussed potential cooperation in issuing payment cards co-badged by BORICA and UnionPay, enabling BORICA’s members to issue Bcard cards co-badged UnionPay for wider international acceptance. This resulted in the agreement discussed above relating to acceptance of UnionPay cards at all ATM and POS locations in Bulgaria.

The total number of cards supported in the system was 2,438,000 as of 2021, compared to 2,472,000 in 2020. There were 7 issuers of Bcard payment cards, and 24 accepting institutions in 2023.

Key Features

Benefits

International Expansion

In 2019, Bcard announced a strategic alliance with Discover Financial Services to enable acceptance of Bcard’s Global Cards outside of Bulgaria on the Discover Global Network. This partnership aims to provide Bulgarian cardholders with international transaction capabilities and access to over 44 million merchant locations and 2 million ATMs across more than 190 countries and territories.

BORICA-Bankservice rebranded BORICA

BORICA-Bankservice (BORICA) – BORICA (Bank Organisation for Payments Initiated by Cards), the debit card authorisation centre, was established in 1995. Originally wholly owned by the central bank, BORICA was privatised in April 2005, when 63.8% of the shares were sold to 25 card-issuing banks for a consideration of BGN 6.2 million (€3.1 million), with the BNB retaining the balance of 36.8%.

A condition of the sale was that no bank should hold more than 10% of BORICA; the three biggest shareholders as of end-2007 were UBB, DSK and First Investment Bank (FIB), with 6.6% each. With the amalgamation of UniCredit and HVB/BA-CA, including Hebros Bank, UniCredit in Bulgaria owns 13.9% of BORICA before any divestment; however, there has been no recent update on individual shareholding in BORICA. At end-2023, commercial banks and the BNB have interests in BORICA with BNB holding a 36.11% stake in BORICA.

BORICA manages the ATM network and one of the country’s two POS networks. It also acts as the processor for VISA member banks and as a third-party service provider for Mastercard member banks within the country. BORICA is responsible for on-line authorisation of card payments and is authorised by its members to act as a settlement agent for domestic card payments. The number of cards processed by BORICA at end-2008 was 3.8 million. BORICA has given no subsequent figures since 2008.

In 2010, the local currency payments operator Bankservice and BORICA declared their merger. The new company acted as BORICA-Bankservice (BO-BS) and was rebranded as BORICA AD in July 2017.

In September 2011, BORICA signed a bilateral agreement for the exchange of SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) payments with Equens based on the Interoperability Framework of the European Automated Clearing House Association (EACHA). The partnership with BORICA represents Equens’ tenth CSM interoperability agreement and was scheduled to go live before end-2011.

eFaktura.bg – BORICA operates eFaktura.bg, an online electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) service. The eFaktura.bg system was launched in 2007 and in 2024 it was used by over 3,000 invoice-issuing entities from different industries and more than 100,000 active customers. eFaktura.bg connects issuers of e-Invoices and their recipients in a single environment. As of 2024, there were over 8.5 million e-invoices sent and received annually.

Cash M is another BORICA service that allows the sending of money from a bank account, bank card or in cash at a bank office, notifying the recipient by the use of a mobile phone and withdrawing the cash from an ATM.

Cash M provides the possibility for fast transfer of funds to any recipient. The only requirement is that the recipient has a mobile number. The recipient can withdraw the transferred funds from any ATM, supporting the Cash M service.

The service is intended for fast money transfers between BGN 10 and BGN 400. The fee for the transfer is determined by UniCredit Bulbank, CCB, CIBank or BACB and is paid by the sender at the time of ordering the transfer.

MOBB (now Mobi-B) – From October 2013, BORICA was the processor of the mobile payment service MOBB. The MOBB payment service has seven participant banks (see Mobile Payment Initiatives below). However, in 2018, the service was replaced by Mobi-B, a mobile app for bank cards and money transfers, available on Google and Apple platforms. Mobi-B allows users to register and digitise cards from different banks. As of mid-2020, 10 banks supported Mobi-B.

Card Issuers – Overview

Bulgarian banks issue credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and prepaid cards in combination with bank accounts. Addressing the specific needs of personal banking and business banking, the card portfolio is composed of consumer cards, business cards and corporate cards.

Dedicated card products are offered for the individual client segments: families, millennials, students, affluent clients, small business clients, corporate clients and even basic account clients. The credit cards offered range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards.

According to BNB, most Bulgarian retail banks issue contactless cards. They issue debit cards (BORICA, Maestro, Electron, Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit), credit cards (Mastercard, VISA), and internationally branded prepaid cards.

From 2014, many Bulgarian banks replaced BORICA, Maestro, Electron and V PAY cards with upgraded Debit Mastercard and VISA debit cards. From July 2017, Bulgarian banks started issuing Bcard cards. Bcard has developed a roll-out strategy which aims to provide international acceptance of Bcards, mobile payments using Bcards, micropayments and eID based on Bcard data between 2019 and 2022.

Leading card issuers are dskbank, UBB, UniCredit Bulbank, Fibank, Postbank (Eurobank EFG), and Raffeisenbank.

As of November 2017, Postbank (Eurobank EFG) no longer issues American Express cards in Bulgaria. Fibank owns Diners Club Bulgaria. Fibank issues V PAY cards. UniCredit Bulbank ceased issuance and renewal of V PAY cards in March 2020. American Express Payments Europe is no longer present in Bulgaria as of 2017.

Raiffeisenbank (RBBG) replaced its mono-bank credit cards branded RaiCard by co-badged RaiCard Mastercard cards. InterCard Finance (iCard), the Bulgarian EMI is one of the few JCB card issuers in Europe. In 2019, Raiffeisenbank introduced a wearable “pay bracelet”, enabled with contactless chip, aimed at younger customers.

Transcard Financial Services (TFS) issued private label Transcard credit and debit cards which were often are co-badged Mastercard or Debit Mastercard. In mid-2021, financial technology company GreenBox POS agreed to acquire Transact Europe Holdings for €30 million. Transcard TFS continues to exist as a Bulgarian company.

Table 3 illustrates the card brands issued by the leading Bulgarian card issuers as of mid-2024.

3 – Leading Card Issuers in Bulgaria

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Note: Maestro cards issued are mostly co-badged BORICA. In June 2019, Eurobank acquired Postbank from Piraeus
Note: in 2018, UBB absorbed the acquiring business of CIBank.
Source: PCM research

Outlook – By mid-2024, Bulgarian card issuers face the following notable challenges:

Card Processors and PSPs 

In Europe, the payment processing industry is composed of card processors, ATM/POS network hub processors, e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs), and specialised processors (e.g. CSM processors, TSM services).

In Bulgaria, card issuer processing services range from technical issuer processing, including card printing, to full cardholder processing services. They include all types of cards and card technologies allowing for card use in multi-channels (i.e. at ATMs, POS terminals, on the internet and in-store mobile payments in the future).

Acquirer processing services in the country range from technical acquirer processing, including POS terminal services, to full merchant processing services. Usually, ATM/POS network processing is part of acquirer processing while payments on the internet are routed by specialised e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs) to the card acquirers and independent payment service providers (e.g. FinTechs like PayPal), respectively.

Before 2004, all banks were members of BORICA, which issued local and international cards and acquired transactions on their behalf. Thus, BORICA has been the leading card processor in Bulgaria. In 2023, BORICA served 24 institutions, including 7 Bcard issuers and 24 acquiring institutions.

In 2004, however, UBB established its own card issuing and processing centre and disconnected its EFTPOS terminals and ATMs from the BORICA network. DSK bank decoupled its card processing operation from the national processor BORICA at end-2005 while Fibank’s card transactions have been processed by CaSys, an authorisation centre in Macedonia, from 2007 to the mid of 2015. As a result of these activities, BORICA’s share of payment cards decreased.

In August 2015, Fibank said that it has moved to in-house acquirer processing and replaced its acquirer processor partner by an in-house acquirer solution from Tieto.

Online Payment Service Processors (PSPs) 

Online payment service processors (PSPs) are specialised technical processors for all kind of secure online payments and mobile payments. Some of them also offer virtual PSP platform services (VPSP) for bank acquirers who want to take advantage of a kind of ‘internet network processor’.

Online shops of merchants are directly connected by an API interface or a hosted payment page either to the internet payment gateway of a bank acquirer, or they are connected to multi-acquirers through a PSP.

PSPs usually partner with more than one card acquirer and payment initiation service providers. Core services offered by PSPs may include payment gateways to card acquirers and other online payment service providers, online payment processing, risk management services, and collection services for merchants.

Security technologies applied to ensure secure online card payments include EMV tokenisation and strong 3D-Secure (MCSC, VbV, SafeKey) combined with one-time tokens. For card-less payment services, the security technologies applied include userID/password combined with one-time tokens and online banking access with one-time TAN.

Online merchants in Bulgaria are serviced on demand by their acquirers and a few PSPs. Leading PSPs in Bulgaria include BORICA-Bankservice, ePay.bg, Transact Europe, and Trustpay (SK). In July 2021, GreenBox acquired Transact Europe for €30 million.

Like in other countries and in addition to domestic PSPs and bank acquirers, cross-border PSPs and foreign acquirers are active in Bulgaria. Players include: WorldPay (UK) and Paysafe (including Skrill and paysafecard).

Acquiring and Acceptance

In Europe, most acquirers offer multi-channel card acceptance and value-added merchant services at POS terminals, mobile MPOS terminals and online shops. The leading acquirers usually act on a European level and offer their services cross-border.

Additionally, innovative acquirers also offer the acceptance of card-less payment services based on partner agreements with the issuer of those payment services (e.g. account-based payments, wallets, prepaid products).

Most acquirers either operate their own acquirer systems and ATM/POS/MPOS network service hubs, or they use the processing services of external processors. In order to service online merchants in Europe, they may operate their own PSP processing platforms or they co-operate with one or more specialised online payment service processors (PSPs).

From 2009, European acquirers compete in their home markets, cross-border on a European level, and cross-channel at POS terminals and servicing online merchants. From 2016, innovative acquirers started to offer omni-channel and multi-payment acceptance.

By mid-2024, omni-channel acceptance includes the ability to service all channels (i.e. POS/MPOS terminals, mobile in-store, online shops, in-app), and to accept multiple payment means in all of these channels. Multi-payment services demanded by merchants include cards, IBAN-based payments (SCT, SDD), online wallets, digital wallets, prepaid products, and immediate payments.

Outlook – By mid-2024, Bulgarian acquirers face the following notable challenges:

Before 2004, all banks were members of BORICA, which acquired transactions on their behalf. Between 2005 and 2007, the Bulgarian banks began acting as acquirers on their own.

The leading acquirers are UniCredit Bulbank, UBB/CIBank, First Invest Bank (Fibank), dskbank, Raiffeisen RBBG. Other acquirers include Centrale Cooperative Bank (CCB), and Postbank (Eurobank EFG).

All these banks acquire BORICA cards and the Mastercard and VISA brands. Postbank was the American Express acquirer until 2017. iCard is the JCB acquirer while Fibank acquires Diners Club cards. TransCard cards and RaiCARD cards are accepted at POS terminals of Transcard Financial Services (TFS) and at ATM/POS terminals of RBBG respectively.

All Bulgarian acquirers have arranged partner agreements to accept all brands of cards on merchants’ demand, e. g. dskbank with Postbank. However, separate acceptance contracts are practised in some cases for obvious business reasons demanded by the merchants.

Postbank claimed the biggest network, with coverage in 107 towns reaching 75% of the population. Prior to that, at end-2008, the merchant network Postbank amounted to 9,500 locations which it claimed was 57% of all merchant locations accepting credit cards. Following the expiration of Postbank’s agreement with American Express, American Express is no longer present in Bulgaria.

In 2023, UniCredit Bulbank claimed to be the leader in card acquiring business.

From July 2017, Bulgarian acquirer banks started accepting Bcard cards. Table 4 illustrates the card brands accepted by the individual acquirer active in Bulgaria as at mid-2024.

4 – Leading Acquirers in Bulgaria

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Source: PCM research

Payment Institutions in Bulgaria

In 2023, there were 6 payment institutions resident in Bulgaria (2022:6, 2021: 6, 2020: 6, 2019: 5, 2018: 4, 2017: 7, 2016: 8, 2015: 8, 2014: 7, 2013: 7, 2012: 9, 2011: 8, 2010: 5).

Authorised in another EEA member state, additionally, a total of 257 cross-border payment institutions provided notification of operating in Bulgaria in 2023 under the EU passport system (2022: 240, 2021: 480, 2020: 487, 2019: 465, 2018: 370, 2017: 345, 2016: 341, 2015: 272, 2014: 223, 2013: 177, 2012: 120, 2011: 82). Most of the institutions report payment services taking the form of remittance businesses.

ATM Terminal Infrastructure 

BORICA manages the main ATM network in Bulgaria. UBB, DSK Bank and FIBbank operate their own ATM network hubs interoperable with BORICA. At end-2023, 5,128 ATMs and 144,295 POS terminals were connected to BORICA. The EMV migration of ATM terminals is complete since end-2010.

Bulgarian ATM terminals are open for debit cards (Bcard, BORICA, Maestro, Cirrus, Debit Mastercard, Electron, V PAY, Plus) and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, UnionPay and JCB). China UnionPay signed an agreement with BORICA in mid-2018 for the ATM and POS acceptance of its cards.

According to BNB, in 2023, there were 5,128 ATMs and 133.47 million cash withdrawals (+4.33%) with a total value of BGN 48.07 billion (+152.59% vs 2022) giving an average of 2,169.0 transactions per ATM per month. In 2023, the ATV per cash withdrawal accounted for BGN 372.32, equivalent to €190.36.

5 – ATMs and Cash Withdrawals in Bulgaria

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Source: ECB, BNB.

Among individual banks at end-2023, DSK bank reported around 1,090 ATMs. Fibank said its network comprised 585 ATMs. UniCredit Bulbank owned 151 ATMs while UBB reported around 700 ATMs, including the ATMs of CIBank. Raiffeisenbank reported around 500 ATMs.

Cash-advance Services in Bulgaria – Competition for ATMs 

In an Open Banking ecosystem, the dominant role of ATMs for cash withdrawal services may decline as more cash-advance and cash handling services are offered at retail outlets in Europe.

Cash in-Store – In parallel to ATM cash withdrawals on cards, the Bulgarian banks support cash-advance services on cards at POS terminals in retail outlets (see below).

POS Terminal Infrastructure 

BORICA manages one of the country’s two POS networks, the other being run by Postbank (Eurobank EFG). UBB, DSK Bank and FIBbank operate their own POS network hubs interoperable with BORICA.

According to BNB, the EMV migration of POS terminals is de-facto complete, since end-2014.

Accepted card brands at Bulgarian POS terminals are debit cards (Bcard, BORICA, Maestro, Debit Mastercard, Electron, and V PAY), and credit cards (TransCard, Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, UnionPay and JCB).

In 2023, BNB reported 144.295 POS terminals (+16.38% vs 2022). More than 98% of terminals were contactless enabled. There were 389.79 million payments (+24.36%) with a total value of BGN 21.56 billion (up 175.54 vs 2022) giving an average of 225.1 POS payments per POS terminal per month. In 2023, the ATV per POS payment amounted to BGN 53.26, equivalent to €27.23).

6 – POS Terminals in Bulgaria

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Note: figures from 2014 onwards are those only transacted at POS terminals located in Bulgaria.
Source: ECB, BNB.

Among individual banks, UniCredit Bulbank reported that in 2023, more than 99% of UCB’s POS terminals were contactless. Fibank reported 9,436 POS terminals in 2023.

Cash Advance Services (‘cash-back’) up to BGN 50 are offered at POS terminals in Bulgaria. In 2023, they amounted to 0.008 million cash advances with a total value of BGN 1.61 million (+255.70% from 2022).

Transcard Financial Services (TFS), established in December 2001 by Petrol Holding and the IT-company SISTEC, operates a proprietary acceptance POS terminal network hub across Bulgaria, with around 4,300 merchant outlets. As well as petrol stations, the network includes supermarkets and other retail outlets. In mid-2008, part of its network was transferred to Lukoil Bulgaria, which operates 200 petrol stations in the country.

MPOS Terminals – Mobile merchants (i.e. no fixed outlet) have started to use their smart phone and tablet PCs as a kind of mini-POS+ECR device with added chip reader dongle. In late 2012, Square clones like iZettle, SumUp, Miura, Adyen and others have launched their MPOS services in Europe. It is expected that Bulgarian merchants will also demand MPOS terminals. Further, merchants can initiate MOTO like card payments on their smart phones and tablets by downloading a payment app.

In 2016, UCB launched MPOS terminals able to couple with smart devices, as well as cash registers.

In 2017, SumUp launched its SumUp Air MPOS terminal services in Bulgaria. According to SumUp, small business owners in Bulgaria can take card payments with their smartphone and the SumUp Air card reader without any monthly fees or contractual obligations.

In 2019, Raiffeisenbank awarded its Elevator Lab prize to PHOS, an App which turns an Android-enabled device into an MPOS. Raffaisen plans to introduce PHOS on a pilot basis to its corporate clients in 2020.

SmartPOS Terminals – In 2018, POS terminal vendors launched innovative new types of POS terminals. Named SmartPOS terminals, they combine the electronic cash register functionality (ECR) used by merchants in outlets with a contactless POS payment terminal and merchant services in the cloud. For the very first time, the so far separated ECR devices and POS terminals are integrated in just one checkout solution device. From late 2018, SmartPOS terminal vendors like Castles, Clover, Ingenico, Jusp, Handpoint, PAX, Poynt, Spire Payments, Verifone, Worldline, and others have launched their SmartPOS devices and services in Europe. It is believed that Bulgarian SME merchants will embrace SmartPOS terminals.

In October 2022, after completing the sale of its POS division, Worldline announced the closing of the acquisition of 55% of the capital of SoftPos.eu, which transforms Android mobile devices into secure payment terminals. The acquisition is part of Worldline’s strategy to provide payment solutions adapted to all forms of commerce and move towards a more advanced POS terminal business. On the back of SoftPos.eu, Worldline will launch Worldline Tap on Mobile, an end-to-end solution, based on an Android app, allowing all merchants of all sizes to accept payments using a smartphone, tablet, or a professional terminal. In 2023, Worldline expanded this solution to include Tap to Pay on iPhone, enabling merchants to accept contactless payments using only an iPhone.

Remote Payments on the Internet – Card & More

In 2023, Bulgaria is a small e-commerce market in Europe with an emerging online shopping population. From 2015, due to EU VAT regulation, Bulgarian merchants will have to collect the applicable VAT rate for cross-border sales based on the consumers’ residence. In the last 4 years, the e-commerce market in Bulgaria has doubled and represents 11% of the e-commerce market in Eastern Europe in 2023.

Internet Use – In 2023, 89% of Bulgarians had internet access and 50% of internet users have purchased in online shops in the last 12 months. 60% of Bulgarian internet users shopped online in 2023, compared to 59% in 2022, 54% in 2021, 57% in 2020 and 44% in 2019. Over 40% of older Bulgarians shopped online at least once a month in 2021, while the level in Western Europe was over 60%.

According to Eurostat, Bulgaria has the lowest share of online purchasing in the EU, with Bulgarians the least likely across the bloc to shop online.

In 2023, the total B2C e-commerce purchase value was €1.95 billion, up by 18.90% from 2022. The online purchase value per capita amounted to €302.5 while it was €508.2 per online buyer. E-commerce (eGDP) had a 2.07% market share in Bulgarian GDP for 2023.

7 – Internet Use in Bulgaria

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Source: Eurostat, ITU, PCM research.

Cards on the Internet (CNP) – All cards with international brands are accepted in Bulgarian online shops once the merchant has signed an acceptance contract accordingly. Also, Bulgarian banks issue prepaid cards and virtual cards for internet use only. 3D-Secure technology is recommended when paying online with cards. Further, web-based mail order services for merchant-initiated payments and Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) are offered.

The e-payment mix in Bulgaria – Cash-on-delivery (60%) followed by credit cards (32%) and online bank payments (8%) such as ePay.bg was the online payment service preferred by Bulgarian online buyers. To a much lesser extent, prepaid products, and online wallets (e. g. PayPal) were used.

Remote Payments on the mobile internet – Since 2012, online buyers with a high affinity for smart phones have started to use their mobile phones for shopping on the mobile internet. Mobile online shops can be accessed by mobile internet, by mobile app, or by scanning a 2D QR-code displayed in a newspaper or at a bus station. Thus, remote mobile phone payments are executed either by using the e-payment page of the mobile online shop or by using payment apps of a PSP or an acquirer.

Also, Bulgarian merchants can download a payment app from their acquirer in order to initiate MOTO payments with cards and/or online direct debits. Leading Bulgarian merchants are testing their own mobile apps including loyalty functions (e. g. e-vouchers, discounts, outlet finder, QR-code scanning).

Mobile Payments – Overview

In 2023, 118% of Bulgarians have subscribed to a mobile phone. Many Bulgarian own more than one mobile phone, and smartphone penetration achieved 61%. Also, tablet penetration has improved in Bulgaria.

Since 2010, the next generation of mobile services and payments has started, pushed by online buyers’ high affinity to smart phones and tablets and, also, by new disruptive technologies (1D-barcodes, QR-code, Bluetooth BLE, and Near Field Communication NFC).

Mobile initiatives in Bulgaria are field testing and using new technologies either as initiating form factors to bridge to online shops on the internet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, NFC) or to enable contactless access to the retail POS outlet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy, NFC Stickers, Mobile NFC Phones) e.g.:

The m-Payment Mix in Bulgaria – There are no official m-payment statistics, but PSP information indicates that the domestic m-payment mix is similar to the e-payment mix on the internet (see Remote Payments on the Internet section).

Mobile Payment Initiatives

In 2024, the various European mobile payment initiatives can be grouped into

Innovative retailers that offer their own apps with loyalty and payment functions to their consumers.

Bulgaria has seen significant growth in mobile payment initiatives in recent years. As of 2025, several key developments have shaped the mobile payment landscape in the country:

As of 2025, the penetration of mobile payments in Bulgaria has reached 16.1% of users. The country continues to see positive progress in both payments and securities settlement, driven by new technologies and supported by European regulations fostering competition and innovation.

Central Bank Digital Currencies, Cryptocurrency Products 

In 2023, the Bulgarian payment ecosystem was composed of traditional cash payments, digital cryptocurrency products of independent payment service providers and research and development of central bank digital currencies, CBDC. The regulation of cryptocurrencies is becoming increasingly relevant as independent cryptocurrency products have grown more prevalent, posing challenges for regulators and national central banks.

In July 2023, the European Union introduced the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which aims to standardize cryptocurrency regulation across member states, including Luxembourg. This regulation addresses various aspects of crypto assets, such as market integrity, consumer protection, and financial stability, while also promoting innovation in the sector. Under MiCA, crypto-asset service providers will have specific obligations to protect users’ wallets and mitigate investment risks.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) – The Digital Cash Challenge 

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), also called digital fiat currency or digital base money, is a digital currency issued by a national central bank (NCB), rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the NCB and denominated in the sovereign currency, as is the case with physical banknotes and coins.

All CBDCs are under the authority of the respective national central bank, and they are part of the domestic cash payment ecosystem. Rather than a new currency, CBDC is a form of central bank electronic money that could be used by households and businesses to make payments. In addition, most CBDC implementations will likely not use or need any sort of distributed ledger such as a blockchain.

Unlike “retail CBDC,” which is generally designed as a central bank liability universally accessible to individuals and businesses within a jurisdiction’s financial system, “wholesale CBDC” refers to a digitized central bank liability designed for sizable (generally interbank) transactions, and for which access is limited to certain financial institutions.

National Central Banks (NCBs) have been providing trusted money to the public for hundreds of years as part of their public policy objectives. Trusted money is a public good. It offers a common unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange for the sale of goods and services and settlement of financial transactions. Providing cash for public use is an important tool for central banks. Yet the world is changing.

Even before COVID-19, cash use for payments was declining fast and convenient digital payments have grown enormously in volume and diversity. To evolve and pursue their public policy objectives in a digital world, central banks are actively researching the pros and cons of offering a digital currency to the public, a “general purpose” CBDC.

Central banks’ interest in CBDC has increased as a potential means of delivering their public policy objectives. Profound, ongoing changes across finance, technology and society, as well as the recent COVID-19 crisis, provided additional impetus for the research of, and experimentation related to, CBDCs.

CBDC is a national digital currency issued by the central bank that is expected to replace or coexist with fiat money and hold the same value. Mobile money, on the other hand, utilises existing commercial banking-based accounting to manage customer wallet balances based on an exchange with cash or lines of credit and loans.

CBDC is a direct liability on the central bank as it is the main issuer of the currency, whereas digital money is the liability of commercial banks and other authorised financial institutions using funds on account. Although some implementation approaches propose that CBDC can be implemented in either an indirect or hybrid form, its liability remains on the respective national central bank.

Background on CBDC Evolution

In October 2020, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report, Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features, identifying the foundational principles necessary for any publicly available CBDC to help central banks meet their public policy objectives.

The report focused on a publicly available “general purpose” CBDC (a digital payment instrument, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank).

A “wholesale” CBDC, restricted to financial institutions, is also an active area of exploration, notes the report, for central banks but one that carries different opportunities, challenges, and risks. The report explored the use cases for, and challenges and opportunities arising from, the possible issuance of a general purpose CBDC.

In September 2021, the same seven central banks and the BIS followed up with the publication of a new set of reports exploring the potential of retail CBDCs, including policy options and practical implementation issues. While none of the central banks has yet decided to proceed with a retail CBDC, they recognise such an instrument would have wide-ranging implications. Delivering on the future needs of consumers would require systems that encourage innovation, choice and competition among a diverse mix of intermediaries.

BIS reported that a 2021 survey of central banks found that “86% are actively researching the potential for CBDCs, 60% were experimenting with the technology and 14% were deploying pilot projects.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is piloting a ‘digital yuan’, known as e-CNY, in various cities, often in association with major sporting events, such as the Winter Olympics.

The ECB published a paper on the potential of a “digital euro” in October 2020, exploring the “benefits and risks” of such an initiative. It completed a public consultation in January 2021 and a series of focus groups in December 2021. Its investigation stage is expected to continue until October 2023, after which the ECB “will decide whether to start developing a digital euro.”

The US Federal Reserve reported in February 2022 that while it has made no decisions about “whether to pursue or implement” a CBDC, it was “exploring the potential benefits and risks of CBDCs from a variety of angles and was inviting public feedback on discussion papers.

The Bank of Japan said in October 2020 that it had no plans for a CBDC and was committed to maintain the cash system as long as there was public demand for it. It nevertheless intended to explore technical feasibility through a proof of concept, consider institutional arrangements and coordinate approaches with domestic and international stakeholders. In 2023, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced that it will begin a pilot for its digital yen with commercial financial institutions. In February 2023, Bank of Japan has embarked on a CBDC trial.

In June 2023, the BIS and BoE said they completed a CBDC pilot project involving CBDCs jointly run by the Bank of England (BoE) and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). Project Rosalind was designed to explore how a “universal and extensible API layer” could connect central bank and private sector infrastructures and enable retail CBDC payments. The project also sought to develop a number of retail-CBDC use cases.

According to the BIS and BoE, the project has successfully demonstrated that “a well-designed API layer could work with different private sector applications and central bank ledger designs and that a set of simple and standardised API functionalities could support a diverse range of use cases.”

In all, the project led to the development of 33 API functionalities and examined 30 retail CBDC cases including peer-to-peer transfers, retail payments for goods and services and small-value business transactions.

While CBDCs are still in experimental phases across major economies, 2024 has seen increased momentum towards real-world implementation, with several countries, notably China and the ECB, moving closer to full-scale rollouts. Public-private collaboration, technological innovation, and privacy concerns remain central to future CBDC development. Central banks worldwide continue to balance innovation with maintaining public trust and financial stability in this rapidly evolving space.

Global Status of CBDCs 

Most National Central Banks (NCBs) are involved in different stages of a CBDC project. Especially, the NCBs have different views on which kind of CBDC they would intend to launch as a digital currency:

As of 2024, the global CBDC status reveals that four central banks – Nigeria (e-Naira), Eastern Caribbean (D-Cash), Jamaica (JAM-DEX), and the Bahamas (Sand Dollar) – have introduced a domestic CBDC scheme.

Six countries have launched a CBDC pilot: France, Canada, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Ghana.

The NCBs of most other countries are involved in either a CBDC proof-of-concept phase – including Norway, Hungary, and Sweden – or they are still in a CBDC research stage.

So far, Ecuador is the only country that has cancelled its CBDC ambitions, Dinero electronico.

CBDC, the European Union and the Digital Euro

In July 2021, the Estonian Central Bank released a report about its experiment with the ECB and the central banks of Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, and the Netherlands to assess the functionality of the digital euro. The project was able to conduct 300,000 transactions per second, with an average rate of less than two seconds per transaction.

In June 2023, the European Commission (EC) has published its legislative proposal establishing the legal framework for a possible digital euro, stressing that the CBDC would be a compliment to, not replacement for, cash.

A digital euro would be available alongside existing national and international private means of payment, such as cards or applications. It would work like a digital wallet, with people and businesses able to pay with it anytime and anywhere in the euro area.

The digital euro would be available for payments both online and offline. While online transactions would offer the same level of data privacy as existing digital means of payments, offline payments would essentially be like paying with cash – with nobody able to see what people are paying for.

The digital euro would be distributed by banks and other payment service providers, with basic services provided to people free of charge. Merchants would be required to accept the digital currency unless they are cash-only firms.

The EC’s proposal still needs to be adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council before the European Central Bank decides whether to roll out a digital euro. Notably, the European Central Bank (ECB) is involved in the preparation phase, which will run until 2025. During this time, technical experimentation and legal discussions are ongoing before any formal rollout decisions can be made​.

CBDC and Bulgaria

As of mid-2024, the BNB had not made any public commitment to using a CBDC. The BNB has been monitoring developments in the area of digital currencies but has not announced any plans to issue a CBDC.

Pros and Cons of CBDCs

According to research by the Bank of England, BIS, and by several other central banks, the benefits of CBDCs include supporting increased innovation in the payment system with:

Possible challenges related to use of CBDCs could include:

The ECB commissioned multiple exploratory reports on the feasibility of a digital euro in 2020 and 2021. The ECB’s working paper suggests a two-tier system for a “general purpose” CBDC. In July 2021, the ECB announced that it would launch a 24-month investigation phase for the digital euro project, which aims to address key issues regarding the design and distribution of a digital euro. The investigation phase will include focus groups, prototyping and conceptual work. In February 2022, the European Commission announced that it will propose a bill that would serve as the legal foundation for the issuance of a digital euro by the ECB. In May 2022, Christine Lagarde stated that she would be willing to back the digital Euro. By June 2023, the ECB and European Commission had significantly advanced their legislative and technical work, moving closer to launching a pilot phase for the digital euro in 2024. The pilot phase is expected to assess the practical implementation of the digital euro, following the completion of the current investigation period​.

The working paper states that the use of CBDC for retail payments is the primary use-case for the development of a digital Euro. The paper also rejects the motivation of using CBDC as a store of value, which would involve consumers switching deposits from commercial banks into CBDC. The working paper also recommends that a CBDC should be interest-bearing, with attractive interest rates offered for smaller sums suitable for payments and lower rates available for larger amounts.

Cryptocurrencies EU

The regulation of crypto assets and related services across Europe is not standardised and is highly fragmented. While no nation has outright banned usage of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others, regulators have not formed a consensus over how to legislate such a quickly fluctuating market, where new cryptocurrencies emerge faster than regulators can catch up to.

The current approach across Europe is to adapt existing legislations to encompass cryptocurrencies, however, this is unlikely to be efficient as consumer and business usage changes.

In the European Union, the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) covers certain crypto assets under the term “virtual currencies”, but it does not provide a harmonised approach. As a result, each Member State has created its own regulatory regime for transactions related to “virtual currencies” or crypto assets.

In response, the European Commission proposed the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation in 2020 as part of the Digital Finance Strategy, with MiCA expected to come into force in 2022 and will be directly applicable in all Member States after an 18-month transition period. MiCA will result in a harmonised set of rules for products and services and legal certainty related to crypto assets throughout the European Union in 2024. This would enable a larger number of investors to be active in this area and to use distributed ledger technology (DLT).

MiCA is to apply to all persons who want to issue crypto assets or provide services related to crypto assets in the EU.

The MiCA proposal is intended to lay down uniform rules on transparency and disclosure requirements for the issuance, offer to the public and the admission to trading of crypto assets. In addition, there are rules on the authorisation and supervision of crypto asset service providers and their issuers.

The main focus lies with the issuers of asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens. The Regulation intends to regulate the operation, organisation and governance of issuers of asset referenced tokens and e-money tokens and crypto asset service providers. There will also be investor protection rules for the issuance, trading, exchange and custody of crypto assets. In addition, measures to prevent market abuse are to be included in the Regulation to ensure the integrity of the crypto assets markets.

In June 2022, the EU Council President and European Parliament reached agreement on MiCA regulation, ruling that crypto asset service providers will require authorisation to operate in the EU, not including NFTs or media-related digital assets.

Under the agreement, the regulatory framework will protect investors and consumers, while ensuring financial stability and enabling innovation and growth. The regulations will help protect consumers from fraud and scams, as crypto asset service providers will be liable if they lose assets and fail to protect investors’ wallets. The European Banking Authority (EBA) will form a public register of non-compliant crypto asset providers.

The regulation will also implement restrictions on stablecoins, with stablecoin issuers to be supervised by the EBA and their “holders will be offered a claim at any time and free of charge.”

Recent updates in 2024 have introduced detailed procedural standards for cooperation between national regulatory authorities (NCAs), enhancing their ability to oversee, investigate, and inspect crypto asset service providers. This framework ensures more consistent and transparent enforcement across EU jurisdictions, including stronger measures to prevent market manipulation and fraud.

MiCA’s comprehensive framework is expected to encourage more institutional investors to enter the crypto market, while providing a safer environment for retail investors. It also addresses environmental concerns by mandating transparency on the climate impact of certain crypto assets.

Overall, MiCA sets a global precedent by creating a unified regulatory framework for crypto assets in a major economic zone like the EU, fostering both innovation and consumer protection.

Unregulated Cryptocurrency Products – Background 

Regulators and national central banks are challenged by unregulated independent cryptocurrency products. Whereas CBDCs are under the authority of the central bank, almost all cryptocurrencies are decentralised, and not controlled or managed by any central authority.

Obviously, financial market authorities and the national central banks are not in favour of unregulated cryptocurrency products, and they see them as a systematic risk for the financial system. Their intention to regulate the respective cryptocurrency exchange platforms has gained momentum.

Cryptocurrencies, originally designed as a store of value, are digital assets, developed and maintained on decentralised blockchains, and they can be used as a medium of exchange or payment method. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies worldwide used by consumers and businesses for transactions.

As of 2023, over 600 million people worldwide used cryptocurrencies, with merchants and businesses in more sectors accepting it as a form of payment. The major payment schemes VISA and Mastercard, PayPal and along with a growing number of financial institutions, have launched services allowing consumers to purchase or use cryptocurrencies for a range of applications.

According to a 2022 Deloitte survey, around two-thirds (64%) of surveyed merchants indicated that their customers have significant interest in using digital currencies for payments, and 83% expect consumer interest in digital currencies for payments to increase or significantly increase over the next 12 months.

In addition, merchants are motivated by the prospect of enabling immediate access to funds (40% of respondents), taking advantage of blockchain-based innovations in decentralised digital finance (39%), and allowing in-house management of the revenue cycle/treasury/finance department (39%).

Over half (54%) of large retailers (with revenues of $500 million and up) have invested more than $1 million on enabling digital currency payments, while only 6% of small retailers (with revenues of under $10 million) did so.

A 2022 survey from Checkout.com found a sharp rise in people wanting to use cryptocurrencies as a means of paym3ent, with 40% of 18-35-year-old consumers citing their desire to experiment with using crypto as a payment method, up from less than 30% in 2021. Meanwhile, over 80% of businesses say offering crypto has attracted new customers, led to a decrease in chargebacks, while just over 60% have seen higher authorisation rates accepting crypto payments.

A recent report by Triple-A put cryptocurrency ownership in Europe at around 49 million people.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are a type of asset-backed cryptocurrency, whose value is typically pegged to the value of an underlying asset such as USD, GBP, or commodities like gold. Stablecoins are partially backed by real assets, and they are designed to have a value pegged to real-world assets, therefore avoiding the extreme volatility that affects cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoins offer the potential benefits of cryptocurrencies, like transparency, security, immutability, and decentralised control, while maintaining the guarantees and stability that come with using fiat currency. Stablecoins have potential to be used in cross-border payments, providing a secure, online environment for peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions to take place without needing decentralised cryptocurrencies or to pay fees to convert money into local currencies.

As of 2024, there were more than 200 stablecoins globally, comprising a market that’s worth approximately $174 billion.

A survey of central banks in January 2021 found that two-thirds of respondents are actively researching the potential impact of stablecoins on financial stability. However, some regulators in the US and China, consider stablecoins as a potential serious risk to financial systems. The risk is especially high with centralised coins, such as those backed by fiat and issued by private organisations, as economic power would be disproportionately concentrated on a single entity. In fact, the Federal Reserve’s recent reports compared stablecoins to money market funds, highlighting vulnerabilities similar to the financial runs seen in 2022 and 2023, with stablecoins presenting risks like sudden redemptions that could destabilise the financial system.

The widespread use of stablecoins in payment platforms could also pose a systemic risk, in relation to the validation and confirmation of stablecoin transactions which could interfere with payment systems. If stablecoin users couldn’t access money in their e-wallets and businesses couldn’t receive payments, economic activity would be greatly disrupted. However, these risks have not deterred major institutions like JP Morgan and VISA to explore stablecoin use cases via partnerships and internal R&D.

Tether As of 2024, Tether remains the largest stablecoin globally, holding a market share of over 50%. This dominance is driven by its widespread usage and liquidity in crypto markets. Its nearest competitors include USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and decentralized stablecoins like DAI, although Tether’s market share far exceeds them. Recent reports have shown Tether’s involvement in major financial markets and even Bitcoin mining, further reinforcing its stronghold on the crypto landscape.

Regarding Facebook’s Diem (formerly Libra) project, it was officially abandoned. Diem’s assets were sold off to Silvergate Capital in early 2022, marking the end of the initiative that once aimed to create a globally accessible digital currency. Regulatory pressures and internal challenges led to the dissolution of the project.

Market Size and Dynamics

Cards in Issue

With a population of 6.44 million, there were 1.43 bank cards per capita at end-2023, indicating considerable potential for future growth even after the rapid expansion of the past decade.

Based on BNB figures, by end-2023, there were 9.23 million debit, delayed debit, and credit cards with a payment function in Bulgaria, representing an increase of 8.85% from 2022. Debit cards dominate, accounting for 75.83% of the total card base.

From 2014, BNB reports prepaid cards and e-money cards are no longer included in the debit card numbers.

8 – Cards Issued in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4302″]

Note: credit card numbers include delayed debit cards and credit and/or delayed debit cards.
Note: up to end-2013, prepaid card numbers were included in debit cards.
Source: ECB, BNB.

In 2017, BNB gave a more detailed breakdown of Bulgarian cards by card brand. It is notable that there were just 108,941 domestic BORICA cards without any co-badged brand. However, BORICA-only cards have declined by 82.4% between 2010 and 2015. The market share of BORICA cards declined from 52.3% in 2010 to 8.9% in 2017. It is expected that the Bulgarian banks intend to replace domestic BORICA cards, Maestro cards and Electron cards mid-term by Bcard cards, Debit Mastercard cards, and VISA Debit cards.

Card Fraud

Card fraud is one of the most fascinating aspects of the payments industry, not least because it is relentless and mutating. EMV implementation and 3D-Secure, combined with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), have done much to reduce domestic losses from lost and stolen cards in Europe. However, the war against fraud losses and the changing face of fraud continues to be a threat for the payments industry, including Bulgaria.

The global card fraud challenges are Card-Not-Present fraud (CNP), cross-border fraud and counterfeiting on non-EMV cards. CNP fraud accounted for 80% of the total value of card fraud losses in 2020. From 2017, a new payment fraud category are fraud losses on contactless card payments. International card fraud continues to be smaller in scale than domestic card abuse but is proportionately far more common. And of course, fraudulent cross-border transactions on cards continue to grow on all purchase channels.

Losses from card fraud on the internet and cross-border fraud on domestic cards have grown significantly. Following EMV implementation, card fraud has moved increasing to countries where POS terminals or online shops have not yet been migrated to EMV and SCA, respectively, and to cross-border fraud with compromised cards.

The breakdown of card fraud losses by method of compromise already indicates the importance of distinguishing between domestic and cross-border fraud losses. The method of compromise covers the means by which fraudsters obtain payment cards or card details. Notable methods of compromise in a complex payment world are CNP fraud based on theft of card credentials and card lost and stolen fraud followed by growing ID fraud and by cross-counterfeit fraud.

The main method of compromise responsible for losses in many European countries is now the theft of card credentials. A high proportion of these card fraud losses are caused by the growth in e-commerce, and still the lack of use of strong customer authentication methods such as 3D-Secure.

In a post data-breach world, identity information, payment credentials, account credentials and responses to security questions are widely available for purchase in bulk. Complete fraud exploits and zero-day attacks are also easily available on the black market for outright purchase or as a hosted / fully managed service.

In the digital payments world and having the changing face of fraud in mind, there are significant challenges for card issuing banks, payment service providers and their supporting processors.

In 2019, Bulgaria had one of the lowest card fraud loss rates in Europe. The value of fraud as a share of transaction value in Bulgaria was 0.011% in 2018 and 0.010% by volume.

According to ECB figures published in August 2020, acquirer card fraud losses by value in Bulgaria were composed of ATM fraud: 1%, POS fraud: 25%, and CNP fraud: 74%.

In 2018, issuer card fraud losses by value were composed of ATM fraud: 3%, POS fraud: 7% and CNP fraud: 90%.

As most POS card transactions are authorised online-to-issuer, acquirer fraud rates in Bulgaria are under control except for offline vending machines, e-commerce and a few other hotspots. Obviously, EMV implementation has contributed significantly to declining fraud rates.

Bulgarian banks are pushing 3D-Secure, offer PIN-change services at ATMs and SMS notification to inform cardholders about the use of their credit card. The increasing numbers of chip technology cards, contactless cards and display cards have led to improved safety of payment transactions. Credit card fraud prevention measures taken have been pushing 3D-Secure, updating banks’ fraud prevention systems and real-time-scoring and implementing more rule-based fraud control mechanisms.

Card Use

According to BNB, card payments grew by 19.59% between 2019 and 2023. Cards in Bulgaria are used mainly for Payments which outnumbered payment, with the ratio of withdrawals to payments at 0:28, based on figures for 2023. Foreign card use in the country is relatively high due to the fact that tourists are attracted to the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts. However, the COVID-19 pandemic halted tourism in 2020, impacting the use of foreign cards in the country, but by 2021 tourism resumption saw foreign card usage rising again.

In 2023, payment cards accounted for 478.86 million payments (+27.53%) with a total value of BGN 34.00 billion (+36.54%) amounting to an average of 57.3 payments per card per year (+19.36% vs 2022). The ATV per payment accounted for BGN 71.00 (€36.30). Debit card payments amounted to 86.05% by number and 84.26% by value.

Included in the card payments total in 2023 were 134.12 million remote payments on the internet (+92.71%) with the total value BGN 15.56 billion (+153.17% vs 2022).

The use of Bulgarian cards abroad accounted for 164.56 million payments with a total value of €13.74 billion, amounting to 34.37% and 40.40% of the card payments total, respectively.

9 – Payments with Bulgarian Cards

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Source: ECB, BNB.

BNB gave a more detailed breakdown of POS payments on Bulgarian cards by card brand in 2017. It is notable that the market share of POS payments on BORICA cards amounted to 14.9% of the total POS payments by number and 12.8% by value, respectively.

Card Use per Capita

Obviously, card payments in Bulgaria grow from a low level with high growth potential compared to other CEE countries. This said, Bulgaria continued to have the lowest card use in the European countries.

Although card payments showed a growth of 27.53% from 2022, there were only 74.1 payments per capita, far lower than the average across the EU. According to BNB, there were 63.9 debit payments, 10.2 credit card payments per capita, and less than 0.1 delayed debit card payments per capita.

10 – Card Payments Per Capita in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4304″]

Source: calculated using ECB data.

Debit Card Use

Debit cards are the main card payment instrument, accounting for 75.83% of the card base according to BNB figures. Debit card payments continued to grow rapidly. In 2023, there were 412.07 million debit card payments (+26.57%) with a total value of BGN 28.65 billion (+38.32% vs 2022). The ATV per debit card payment accounted for BGN 69.52 (€35.55). However, there were 58.9 payments per debit card per year, which is very low compared to debit card use in other European countries.

11 – Payments with Bulgarian Debit Cards

[ninja_tables id=”4305″]

Source: ECB, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

Credit Card Use

In 2023, there were 65.66 million credit card payments (+31.48%) on 1.35 million credit cards. The total credit card payments value was BGN 5.25 billion (+26.15% from 2022). The ATV per credit card payment amounted to BGN 79.92 (€40.86), and there were 48.5 payments per credit card per year.

12 – Payments with Bulgarian Credit Cards

[ninja_tables id=”4306″]

Source: ECB, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

E-Money Use

In 2023, there were 31.48 million e-money purchases (+52.27%) on 580,918 active e-money cards with a total value of BGN 10.03 billion (+297.23% vs 2022). The ATV per e-money purchase amounted to BGN 318.66, showing that payments on prepaid cards have value for Bulgarian merchants.

Most of the transactions are believed to take place on the internet.

13 – E-Money In Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4307″]

Note: 75% of e-money purchases were made abroad.
Source: ECB, BGR.

Leading Card Issuers

UniCredit Bulbank (UCB) manages a variety of card programmes, including Electron, V PAY, VISA and Debit Mastercard branded debit cards, and credit cards branded Mastercard or VISA. From 2015, UniCredit Bulbank issues Debit Mastercard cards instead of Maestro cards. In 2023, out of more than 1.2 million retail customers, 850,000 customers had active debit cards, and 150,000 customers had active credit cards.

In 2019 net revenue from cards registered a growth of over 9.4% from 2018. Debit cards registered a 5.9% growth and credit cards increased by 7.8%. The number of transactions at the bank’s ATMs and POS terminals by holders of cards issued by other banks registered a record growth of 30.5% from 2018. During 2019, UCB enabled Mastercard cards for registration and proximity contactless payment through Apple Pay.

During 2020, UniCredit Bulbank launched new services and product updates including Apple Pay for VISA cardholders; Issuer Wallet enabling digitisation of both card brands for Android mobile devices; possibility of digitalisation of all commercial VISA cards; and the launch of the new premium VISA Debit Gold card, and the VISA Classic Shopping card.

As of 2020, V PAY cards had been discontinued by the bank.

During 2021, UCB reported that more customers were using the available network of deposit ATM devices of the bank, with the total number of deposit transactions on ATM increasing by 22%. In addition, the share of deposit transactions at ATMs of the total cash deposits on a bank level reached 68% in 2021, versus 56% in 2020.

In payment cards, UCB’s debit cards portfolio grew by 6.5% from 2020. UCB continued to roll out Apple Pay and digital wallet debit cards for business customers.

In its POS network development, UCB improved the process for virtual POS deployment including vPOS and card tokenisation services for corporate clients.

In 2022, UCB started a project with Visa for card digitisation in Google Pay which is the third wallet offered by Cards for mobile payments. By 2023, the trend of digitised cards continued to increase, with an 83% growth in Q1.

DSK Bank (DSK) – In 2022, OTP-owned DSK bank reported 2.1 million payment cards issued, comprising 1.97 million debit cards and 188,600 credit cards.

Recent strategy has been to concentrate on launching new savings products rather than cards. Cards issued include contactless Debit Mastercard cards, VISA Debit cards, and DSK ISIC, a three-in-one card consisting of an Electron card, an ISIC student ID card, and a student discount card for Bulgarian railways. Other debit offerings are Mastercard Space and VISA Space.

VISA Gold, Platinum and Infinite credit cards are also offered along with a Mastercard co-branded Wizzair credit card. A virtual Mastercard card for online shopping is also available.

In 2020, DSK Bank rolled out advanced technological bank offices, offering fully digitalised services. The bank also introduced artificial intelligence in the form of a humanoid robot called Pepper, serving as a Meeter & Greeter.

United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) claimed market shares of 20% in debit cards and 30% in credit cards. The total number of cards of both types issued at end-2010 was 1.3 million, leading UBB to claim the No. 1 spot. UBB issues credit cards branded VISA or Mastercard, including a Mastercard credit card co-branded with mobile operator GloBul, which allows cardholders to accumulate rebates on their monthly phone bill. Also, UBB issues Debit Mastercard cards and VISA Debit cards. UBB stated in January 2012, that it had consolidated its card business infrastructure.

In 2015 and 2016, its mass debit product Maestro was completely replaced by Debit Mastercard, together with the launch of a new World Debit Mastercard for the upper-mass customers.

In 2016, UBB finalised the migration of its card portfolio to contactless cards. At end-2011, UBB reported 1,130,449 cards in circulation. At end-2023, the total portfolio of UBB’s cards in circulation amounted to an estimated 1.3 million.

Raiffeisen Bank (RBBG) – RBBG issues Debit Mastercard, Electron and VISA Classic debit cards and credit cards branded Mastercard or VISA.

At the end of 2021, the total number of debit and credit cards issued by Raiffeisenbank exceeded 565,000, compared to around 550,000 in 2018.

In 2015, RBBG started a gradual migration of the whole card portfolio to contactless cards. A new credit card product was launched, the RaiCard Fix Mastercard card with specific repayment scheme. It replaced the proprietary domestic-only RaiCARD credit card.

A focus on co-branded credit cards is part of the RBBG strategy. RBBG issues co-branded Billa VISA Classic card, offers 2% discount on purchases at Billa supermarkets, with no annual fee charged if monthly purchases exceed BGN 150. Also, RBBG issues co-branded AVON Mastercard and BILLA Mastercard cards.

The migration of cards and terminals to a new card processing platform continued in order to provide to customers innovative services such as contactless payments, attractive loyalty programme, and 3D-Secure.

In October 2017, the RBBG launched wearables with a RaiCARD Fix credit card as NFC sticker, which can be put into a bracelet or key fob. The product was accepted very positively by clients and 4,500 wearables were issued in just two months.

In 2020, the volume of payments with Raiffeisenbank cards grew at a steady pace of 14% on annual basis for credit cards and 28% for debit cards. In 2020, Raiffeisenbank started offering its existing and new customers a new remote process for opening a debit card account, which was used seven times more by the customers compared to 2019.

Postbank, Eurobank Ergasias’s subsidiary, no longer issues or acquires American Express cards as of 2018.

Postbank issues credit cards branded VISA or Mastercard. In February 2021, it issued the Mastercard UNIVERSE metal credit card, aimed at premium customers.

In September 2021, Postbank was also the first bank in Bulgaria offering a contactless payments mobile app, transforming smartphones into POS terminals. In 2023, Postbank continued to enhance its digital offerings, making it easier for customers to manage their finances and perform transactions through their mobile devices

As of January 2021, more than 120 ATMs and self-service devices in the digital express banking zones of Postbank throughout the country offered contactless functionality.

In payment cards, in February 2021, Postbank was the first bank in Bulgaria to launch the metal credit card Mastercard UNIVERSE. The mobile ONE wallet service was also launched.

An analysis performed by Postbank in 2022 showed that customers increasingly prefer to use their electronic cards rather than cash when paying for goods and services, with the share of card purchases over cash withdrawals from ATMs increasing by 14%. By 2023, the share of card ourchases compared to cash increased by 31%. The trend of customers preferring online purchases and card payments represents 40% of all card transactions in Postbank made in 2023.  Purchases made in large supermarket chains and grocery stores constitute the most significant share of card transactions, accounting for 27% of the total purchase volume in 2023. Bank customers were particularly active in using their cards at places where they could enjoy and spend their spare time, such as restaurants, cafes, and bars, with the share of transactions in these establishments increasing to 18% on an annual basis compared to 16% in 2022. Fuel station transactions accounted for 8% of the total card purchase volume.

During 2023, there was an even faster growth in payments with debit and credit cards issued by the bank. The number of transactions made with debit cards increased with 8 times compared to 2022, clearly confirming that customers prefer cashless payments, even for daily needs such as coffee or breakfast. Similarly, there was nearly double growth of transactions with digitized bank cards in mobile wallets compared to 2022.

SG Expressbank (SGEB) issued Mastercard and VISA credit cards. SG Expressbank reported 513,000 individual clients at end-2018; all its 437,000 cards were internationally branded. In 2019, Expressbank was acquired by DSK Bank.

First Investment Bank (Fibank) is active in the card market and aspires to grow rapidly in credit cards, with VISA and Mastercard programmes. In 1997, Fibank started issuing Cirrus/Maestro debit cards, Eurocard/Mastercard credit cards and the American Express card. Fibank was the first Bulgarian bank to offer debit cards with co-badged international brand for card use abroad.

FIB continued its focus on developing and promoting cards with innovative functionality for contactless payments. In 2011, FIB was the first bank in Bulgaria to issue contactless Mastercard cards and Maestro cards with PayPass function, followed by a contactless VISA Electron payWave cards and VISA Classic payWave credit cards in 2012.

Fibank claimed to be the first bank in Bulgaria to issue Mastercard PayPass and Visa payWave contactless cards. In 2019, Fibank launched the Apple Pay service. The bank also developed a new service for contactless withdrawal from ATM devices. In 2019, Fibank launched contactless payment wristbands, expanded its Diners Club ProtectBuy 3D-Secure internet payment protection, and the option to place orders for cash transactions through the My Fibank mobile app was introduced.

In December 2020, Fibank enabled digitisation of VISA debit and credit cards for making payments with a smart phone using the My Fibank mobile app. In June 2021, Fibank enabled Mastercard cardholders to use Fitbit smartwatches to make payments. In July 2021, Fibank launched Google Pay for VISA credit cardholders.

In 2023, Fibank reported that utilised limits on credit cards amounted to BGN 134,753,000 at the end of the period (2022: BGN 144,823,000). In 2023, Fibank launched the fully online issuance of virtual credit cards.

FIB card insights – In 2010, FIB said that 82.2% of its card base consisted of VISA Electron, V PAY, Debit Mastercard and Maestro debit cards and 17.8% credit cards including Diners Club cards.

At end-2010, FIB reported that 51.4% of its cards were Maestro, 30.8% VISA Electron/V PAY, 11.6% VISA credit cards, 4.9% Mastercard credit cards and 1.3% Diners Club cards. In October 2010, Fibank started issuing different debit cards (VISA Electron, V PAY, Maestro) to a single account.

According to FIB, its market share was 15.09% in credit cards at end-2012 (2011: 16.49%, 2010: 14.57%) and 7.66% in debit cards (2011: 8.34%, 2010: 7.98%).

In 2017, the number of cards in circulation increased by 1.1% compared to the previous year. The biggest increase was observed in the issuance of its contactless Debit Mastercard card which features innovative functionality for internet payments and are also part of the YES loyalty program of Fibank.

FIB is one of the few banks providing insight on its card portfolio by card brands. At end-2017, FIB said that its debit cards were 34% Maestro cards, 20% Debit Mastercard cards and 44.0% Electron cards and 2% V PAY cards. Its credit cards were 46% Mastercard cards and 54% VISA cards. The bank did not provide an update on its portfolio structure for 2021, beyond noting that credit cards constituted 30% of its portfolio and debit cards accounted for 70%.

Diners Club Bulgaria – FIB owns 94.79% of Diners Club Bulgaria. In 2018, Fibank launched the Evolve credit card. This unites two global brands, Diners Club and Mastercard, into one payment instrument. Holders of Evolve credit cards can choose which of the two brands to use when making a payment, as well as benefitting from a number of additional services, including a cashback program, a Concierge program and participation in other award programs and discounts.

Transcard Financial Services (TFS), a subsidiary of Petrol Holding AD, operates a proprietary acceptance network in petrol stations and began issuing domestic-only credit cards in 2002. Since June 2010, TFS is granted a payment institution license by BNB to operate as payment institution.

Transcard has issued about 200,000 cards in total, including Transcard-Mastercard cards, Transcard-Debit Mastercard cards and about 30,000 Transcard JCB cards. However, Transcard cards co-badged JCB are currently not issued. All Transcard cards offer revolving credit, with 45 days’ interest free period and up to 10% cash-back on purchases. Also, all credit cards issued by TFS provide up to 30% cash back on purchases in Bulgaria.

iCard (previously InterCard Finance), the Bulgarian e-money institution, issues Mastercard, VISA and JCB prepaid cards. As a principal member of Mastercard Worldwide, VISA Europe and JCB, iCard has a license for issuing and acquiring of payment cards.

Set up in 2007 and registered as a financial institution with the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the company has undergone rapid growth and employs over 100 people in Bulgaria, Luxemburg, Italy, France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania – led by international management.

Appendix

Central Credit Register

The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) maintains an information system on customer debt to Bulgarian banks, other financial institutions, and payment and electronic money institutions. According to the BNB, in 2014, amendments to the Law on Credit Institutions opened the Register to participation by companies who sell sureties, buy debt, and offer factor, forfeit, and other finance.

The Central Credit Register (CCR) lists all loans disbursed by its participants, consolidating information collected for BNB purposes. CCR statements cover loan status, arrears, repaid loans (for five years back), and borrower histories.

At the end of 2023, the CCR had 249 participants: 26 banks, 223 non-bank financial institutions, 2 payment institutions and 1 e-money institution. As of 31 December 2022, the CCR listed 6,642,000 loans with a balance sheet exposure of BGN 117.416 billion.

As of 31 December 2023, 249 institutions submitted information to the CCR, of which 26 banks, 223 non-bank financial institutions, 2 payment institutions and 1 electronic money institution. Over the same period, 15 new financial institutions were included and 7 were deleted from the CCR information system.

Data Tables

1 – Main Bulgarian Banks (2023)

[ninja_tables id=”4295″]

Note: in June 2019, Eurobank acquired Piraeus Bank and it was merged into Postbank in November 2019.
Note: at end-2018 Société Générale Expressbank was acquired by DSK Bank. The two banks merged as DSK Bank in May 2020.
Source: Bulgarian National Bank.

2 – Cashless Payment Transactions in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4296″]

Note: totals include other payment services. Card payments include e-money.
Source: ECB, BNB.

3 – Leading Card Issuers in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4297″]

Note: Maestro cards issued are mostly co-badged BORICA. In June 2019, Eurobank acquired Postbank from Piraeus
Note: in 2018, UBB absorbed the acquiring business of CIBank.
Source: PCM research

4 – Leading Acquirers in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4298″]

Source: PCM research

5 – ATMs and Cash Withdrawals in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4299″]

Source: ECB, BNB.

6 – POS Terminals in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4300″]

Note: figures from 2014 onwards are those only transacted at POS terminals located in Bulgaria.
Source: ECB, BNB.

7 – Internet Use in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4301″]

Source: Eurostat, ITU, PCM research.

8 – Cards Issued in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4302″]

Note: credit card numbers include delayed debit cards and credit and/or delayed debit cards.
Note: up to end-2013, prepaid card numbers were included in debit cards.
Source: ECB, BNB.

9 – Payments with Bulgarian Cards

[ninja_tables id=”4303″]

Source: ECB, BNB.

10 – Card Payments Per Capita in Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4304″]

Source: calculated using ECB data.

11 – Payments with Bulgarian Debit Cards

[ninja_tables id=”4305″]

Source: ECB, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

12 – Payments with Bulgarian Credit Cards

[ninja_tables id=”4306″]

Source: ECB, Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

13 – E-Money In Bulgaria

[ninja_tables id=”4307″]

Note: 75% of e-money purchases were made abroad.
Source: ECB, BGR.

Digital & Card Payment Yearbooks