Blink payments are growing exponentially, and Bulgaria is at the forefront of this new trend, as became evident during the seventh edition of the conference on secure and accessible payments.
By early July 2027 at the latest, Bulgarians will be able to make instant credit transfers in euros, as there is already a prepared bill on the topic related to these payments. This was announced by Yosif Yosifov, advisor to the Deputy Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, who opened the seventh edition of the DIGI PAY conference in Sofia. The financial event on instant payments brought together over 300 experts from the banking and IT sectors to discuss the future of payments, European regulations, financial fraud, and the challenges of entering the eurozone.
According to Yosifov, the deadline for transposing changes to Directive 98/26/EC (Settlement Finality Directive) and Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (Second Payment Services Directive) into national law is April 9, 2025. According to the requirements, payment service providers located in an EU member state that uses a currency other than the euro must offer instant credit transfers in euros by January 9, 2027. And the service for sending instant credit transfers in euros will operate by July 9, 2027, at the latest.
"In connection with this, a bill has been prepared that proposes changes to the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act, which is expected to introduce amendments related to the removal of the regulatory restriction on the participation of non-bank payment service providers in payment systems with settlement finality, including those operated by central banks," Yosifov explained. According to him, the development of the payment market in Bulgaria and Europe is driven by new technologies and supported by European regulations, which create a favorable environment for competition and innovation for the benefit of consumers.
"The measures related to the introduction of the euro facilitate the rapid and efficient integration of financial market infrastructures in Bulgaria with those in the eurozone. The development of competition, but also partnership, between the fintech sector and banks leads to the emergence of many new, convenient, and secure financial and payment products," he emphasized.
The Bulgarian fintech sector is one of the most dynamic, with 170 companies and 12,000 employees, noted Valeri Valchev, chairman of the Bulgarian Fintech Association, who also participated in the conference. The ecosystem’s turnover reaches 2.5 billion BGN.
According to BNB data, in the first half of this year, over 181 million payment transactions were processed through ATMs and POS terminals in BORICA's payment system, with a total value of 16.09 million BGN. This represents an increase of 19.1% in the number and 20.9% in value compared to the previous year, Yosifov reported. Payments in the BISERA payment system for the first six months of this year totaled 60.7 million, amounting to 223,981.1 million BGN, a 15% increase in number and 72.1% in value year-on-year, according to the bank’s data.
Rapid Growth of Blink Payments
Instant payments are continuously rising in Bulgaria, with nearly 26 billion BGN in blink payments made in the first nine months of the year. This was explained by Stoilka Arsova, Director of the "National Card and Payment Scheme" at BORICA, during the conference. This 43% annual growth aligns with global trends, where instant payments are growing by 42.2%. The main markets for blink payments globally are developing economies such as India, Brazil, and Indonesia, while in Europe, the market for instant payments is growing most rapidly in the Netherlands. Currently, the limit for blink transfers in Bulgaria is 30,000 BGN, and they are carried out extremely quickly—in about 10 seconds, she explained. There is a trend toward raising blink limits, and this will happen soon, Arsova predicted.
She reminded that customer expectations are increasing, with people always expecting something better, like the "wow" effect. At the DIGI PAY stage, it was demonstrated how quickly a transfer could be made with an AI voice assistant from a bank. Until the end of the year, blink p2p services are free from fees by the banks participating in the instant payments scheme, provided that the transfers are up to 100 BGN.
Realistically, the Introduction of Digital Euro Could Happen in Five Years
The new EU directive on payment services (known as PSD3) has three main objectives—innovation, competition, and security, and negotiations on the package are still ongoing. This was stated by Eric Ducolombie, Director of the Directorate-General "Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets" at the EC. Bulgaria is still one of the European countries where cash payments account for 63-65% of all transactions.

"Payments are evolving and will continue to change in the coming years, which necessitates a review of the EU Payment Services Directive," he said. The expert recalled that years ago, the EU proposed the regulation for instant payments, allowing transfers in euros within 10 seconds within an EU or EEA country, as the need for this type of payment had already been recognized. According to him, in the last five years, payment policy has evolved towards "account-to-account" payments.
One of the major changes expected by businesses is the creation of legislation for the so-called digital euro. Currently, the EC is negotiating with the EU Council and the European Parliament on an initial framework for the digital euro. According to Ducolombie, there are many unresolved questions, which are more political than technical. His expectation is that within about a year, there will be an initial legal framework for the digital euro, which will then be subject to negotiations, voting, and subsequent implementation procedures. However, the introduction of the digital euro is unlikely to happen within the next five years, the expert commented.
At the European level, several changes related to improving payment security are also being considered, which was the second major topic at this year’s conference.
Financial Fraud is Impacting More Businesses

Companies lose over 5% of their revenue to fraud each year. This became clear from a report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), presented at DIGI PAY 2024 by Chrystalla Kazara, Vice President and Director of Training at the Association. The study was presented for the first time to a Bulgarian audience, examining 1,921 real cases of fraud across more than 130 countries. Seven of these financial fraud cases are in Bulgaria.
Kazara pointed out that annual losses to fraud amount to over $3.1 billion. Cases of fraud fall into three main categories: asset misappropriation, corruption, and financial statement fraud. Money laundering and corruption in Eastern Europe are among the most serious issues facing the financial sector, Kazara stated. In our region, 71% of financial fraud cases are related to corruption, ACFE notes. More than half of fraud reports come from company employees, and if they are trained on how to respond to fraud, this could prevent a large number of losses, Kazara added.

Phishing Attacks Increasingly Target Mobile Phones

The risks in online payments are evolving very quickly and are no longer limited to email scams. More fraud is now occurring via smartphones. This was also discussed by Svetlin Lazarov, head of the "Digital Analysis and Cyber Intelligence" department at GDBOP, during the conference. He gave several examples from recent years where large sums of money were stolen from Bulgarian companies simply by changing the IBAN account number.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that it is not individual hackers but entire corporations that analyze our behavior online to construct their cyber-attacks, Lazarov explained. According to him, we now need to discuss the cybersecurity of every individual, not just companies. Everyone must be very cautious when receiving messages and invoices and when account details are changed by companies they work with.
Social networks are also full of various scams, and AI is increasingly being used. This makes it even harder for an ordinary person or company to detect fraud. Additionally, Bulgaria is preparing for the adoption of the euro, which is another reason for new fraud schemes in the online space.

According to Radostin Dimitrov, Director of the "Card Business" Directorate at BORICA, holistic solutions and a unified approach are needed for protection in card payments and blink transfers for companies. IBS also emphasized the importance of developing behavioral biometrics, the role of real-world testing, monitoring, and quick fraud prevention.
European Regulations Require New Approaches in Risk Management
With the forthcoming European regulations, banks and fintech companies must make even more efforts to ensure resilience and cybersecurity. This was the focus of a panel led by Kaloyan Ivanov from ICT Media, during which the implementation of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and EU guidelines were discussed. Implemented earlier this year, DORA sets cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions, IT companies, and their customers to increase protection against financial and cyber threats.
One of the key challenges under the new European law is that banks and financial institutions now need to improve their defenses against potential attacks that could threaten their infrastructure, Ivanov noted. The new regulations also affect third-party ICT providers, which play a key role in the financial market. DORA requires financial institutions to monitor the risk to which third-party providers expose their services, solutions, and technologies.
"Collaboration between financial institutions and third-party providers is crucial," explained Infopulse experts during the panel. They emphasized that this partnership will enhance cybersecurity resilience. DORA defines mandatory policies for incident management, recovery from attacks, and setting clear steps for communication during incidents, added the experts. The act also introduces new regulatory requirements, which oblige financial institutions to continuously monitor potential cyber threats. Financial institutions must submit reports on these activities to the European regulators annually. This new framework will allow regulators to monitor financial stability on the continent better and ensure effective protection against cyber-attacks, they added.
Market Digitalization is Driving Demand for AI Services
The rapid growth of instant payments is creating demand for the digitalization of all market areas. The value of online payments is expected to grow by over 10% annually in the coming years, while the number of online banking users will reach 3.6 billion people by 2026. AI and machine learning solutions will play an increasingly important role in combating fraud and analyzing large amounts of data.
The financial sector will continue to digitalize even further, according to McKinsey experts. Their forecast indicates that financial institutions will increasingly use automated solutions in both communication and business processes. More and more chatbots and virtual assistants are expected to replace humans in handling transactions, and these systems will allow real-time processing and monitoring of accounts, transactions, and risks.
AI is increasingly applied in market analysis, customer segmentation, and cybersecurity, ensuring smoother operations and increased resilience in financial institutions.