In connection with the introduction of the euro in the Republic of Bulgaria, as of 01.01.2026, the BISERA6 payment system for servicing customer transfers in BGN and the Real-time Gross Settlement System RINGS will cease to operate. First Investment Bank AD will provide EUR payments for its customers in Bulgaria and the European Economic Area (EEA) as a direct participant in the BISERA payment system for servicing credit transfers in euro operated by BORICA AD, the STEP2 pan-European automated clearing house for retail payments in euro operated by EBA CLEARING, and the Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer (TARGET) system.

 

It is important to know:

• Customers will be able to choose one of the following methods for execution of EUR transfers in Bulgaria and the EEA: SEPA Standard; SEPA Instant; and TARGET (express).
• When selecting the TARGET execution method, data must be filled in Latin characters. For the other execution methods, i.e. SEPA Standard and SEPA Instant, Cyrillic characters are permissible.
• There will be no change when executing EUR payments to third countries.
• The SEPA Standard method will be used for executing credit transfers from/to the budget.
• Credit transfers with future value dates (regardless of the currency) will not be executed if ordered before 01.01.2026, but with value date after that date.
• The initiation and execution of payment transactions in BGN, including direct debits, will be discontinued.
• Customers using the "standing orders" service in BGN may continue to do so for payments in the country, as Fibank will automatically convert the BGN amounts into EUR at exchange rate of 1.95583 specified in the Law on the Introduction of the Euro in the Republic of Bulgaria and in accordance with the rounding rules.
• Customers of My Fibank electronic banking may continue to use their saved templates for BGN payments. The currency will be changed to EUR, and the amount field will need to be filled again.