About the Company

On 25 February 1992 began the development and preparations for implementation of the Banking Integrated System for Electronic Transfers (BISERA) for next day settlement of interbank payments. On 5 October 1992 was implemented the BISERA 1 system in real operation with the participation of all banks and their branches in the country.

The Bank Organization for Payments Initiated by Cards (BORICA) was founded in 1993 as a Sole Proprietorship owned by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) with decision of the BNB Governing Council. In 2004 the company was transformed into a Sole Proprietor JSC owned by the Bulgarian National Bank. In 2005 the company became a Joint Stock Company and the Bulgarian National Bank sold 63.76% of its capital to 25 local banks.

BANKNET project for the development of an integrated banking X.25 data network was initiated. Today Infobank is a web-based system providing information on the status and movements on your accounts, regardless of your location. The system maintains access to the whole information on the current balance, the received and ordered payments on your accounts held in different banks.

It was introduced service for switching of interbank payments with payment cards in the country - SWITCH. For this purpose have been built online interface connections - host-to-host type, with banks and payment institutions with separate authorization centers.

SEBRA electronic budget payments system was developed.

The settlement of transaction files, accepted by BORICA was executed by the Real Time Gross Settlement System of the BNB. The company was registered in SWIFT as a Service Bureau, majority owned by the SWIFT members, and provided its clients with indirect connection to SWIFTNet (Shared Connection), as well as access to the full range of SWIFT services in a safe and economic manner. PKI information security infrastructure was developed and the system B-Trust for the provision of certification services was implemented. Bankservice AD was registered as a Certification Services Provider under the Electronic Document and Electronic Signature Act.

The company is registered with SWIFT as a Service Bureau, majority owned by SWIFT members, and provides its customers with indirect connectivity to SWIFTNet (Shared Connection) and access to the full range of SWIFT services in a secure and economical way.

The RKI information security infrastructure has been built and a B-Trust authentication service provision system has been implemented. "Bankservice" JSC is registered as a Provider of Authentication Services according to the Law on Electronic Documents and Electronic Signatures.

Project eFaktura.bg was developed and implemented for electronic exchange of financial documents between suppliers and buyers, signed by Universal Electronic Signature, through consolidator. The first electronic invoice in Bulgaria was issued.

SEPA transformer software product was developed for transforming the MT messages used into the new SEPA messages for the execution of SEPA credit transfer.

BISERA7-EUR payment system was developed for servicing client transfers in euro, intended for execution at a definite time, providing payments finality. 

The newly established company BORICA - BANKSERVIS AD is the legal successor of BORICA AD and Bankservice AD. The objectives that the shareholders have set for themselves as a result of the merger are: a significant increase in operating efficiency; higher quality and range of products and services provided; successfully welcoming the liberalization of the European payment services market.

The Cash M service is launched, which allows sending money from a bank account, bank card or in cash at a bank office, notifying the recipient using a mobile phone and receiving it in cash via an ATM. The Mobi-B mobile application has been developed that allows cardholders to use card services via a mobile phone. The application enables the registration of multiple cards issued by different banks participating in Mobi-B.

A Mobi-B mobile application has been developed that allows cardholders to use card services via a mobile phone. The application enables the registration of multiple cards issued by different banks participating in Mobi-B.

National Card Scheme Bcard, part of BORICA AD, is established as a separate and independent structure from the Operator. All providers of payment services in Bulgaria are members of the Scheme. The main mission of the Scheme is the migration of payments in cash and with paper vouchers to electronic payments, through the development of new electronic services in the public and private sectors in Bulgaria.

The BORICA New Generation program covers the implementation of a new platform for managing cards, terminals and merchants, with a focus on multi-layered customer and product management, as well as real-time fraud prevention. It enables the company's clients to offer a wide range of new services in the field of e-commerce, tokenization, digital wallet and others.

The Board of Directors of the Bulgarian National Bank issued a license to carry out activities as a payment institution to BORICA AD on the basis of Art. 12, para. 1 of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act (PASPA). On the basis of the issued license, BORICA AD can perform payment services - accepting payments with payment instruments.

In accordance with Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament, regulating payment services, BORICA AD together with ABB and the Bulgarian banks developed the BISTRA National Technical Standard for application interfaces and technologies for communication between the banks' systems and licensed payment service providers. BISTRA covers the requirements of the PFMS and Directive (EU) 2015/2366 and reflects the specifics of the financial system in Bulgaria.

With the development of cloud technologies, BORICA implements the Cloud Qualified Electronic Signature (OKEP) service. This is a signature where the Electronic Signature Holder outsources the servicing of qualified electronic signature creation devices to a third party and the creation of remote electronic signatures. The access and management of the Cloud KEP by the Holder is realized through a secure mobile application of BORICA B-Trust Mobile.

BORICA offered a remote identification solution for a fast, secure and legal way to authenticate identity in a digital environment. The solution is increasingly being applied in various online processes for attracting new customers, offering remote services and others. In 2020, the remote identification process was implemented in the B-Trust Mobile mobile application.

The new fintech platform InfoPay is a response to the so-called Open banking. It offers a number of functionalities that make it easier for customers to manage their company finances. The platform is a single point providing 24-hour control of funds - consolidated information on stocks and movements on all company accounts in different banks, payment account details, reference to the list of payment accounts, etc.

By decision of the Board of Directors of BORICA AD from January 2020, the National Card Scheme was renamed to the National Card and Payment Scheme. With this decision, the Scheme expands its activity with the management of products and services for instant payments from account to account (Instant Payments). On 22 November at 10:14:13, the first instant payment was successfully made through the National Card and Payment Scheme's Blink programme.