BORICA and OpenWay win global awards for Bulgaria’s Euro Payments Transition
BORICA AD and OpenWay have received two Global Transaction Banking Innovation Awards 2026 from The Digital Banker for their role in enabling Bulgaria’s national euro payments transition. The Digital Banker honored BORICA AD and OpenWay in the categories Excellence in Digital Innovation – Europe and Best Digital Transformation Program by a Vendor for their joint delivery of Bulgaria’s national euro payments transition program.
The awards recognize a program that demonstrated how a national payment infrastructure can undergo one of the most complex financial transformations under a fixed regulatory deadline while preserving operational resilience, transaction integrity, and uninterrupted payment services.
On 1 January 2026, Bulgaria successfully introduced the euro across its national card payments infrastructure. Behind this milestone stood a coordinated program involving more than 35 banks, payment service providers, fintechs, government institutions, and technology partners. BORICA led the transformation, while OpenWay's Way4 digital payment software platform underpinned BORICA's national card switching and processing environment, supporting card issuing, merchant acquiring, switching, ATM and POS management, fraud prevention and transaction processing.
The program was far more than a technology implementation. It demonstrated how modern payment infrastructure can support national transformation while preserving continuity for consumers, merchants, financial institutions and the wider Bulgarian payments ecosystem. Within the first 48 hours, the infrastructure processed more than 930,000 card and ATM transactions worth nearly €42 million, with zero unplanned downtime. The first successful euro ATM withdrawal took place just 20 seconds after midnight, followed within minutes by successful card and digital payment transactions.
Miroslav Vichev, Chief Executive Officer of BORICA AD, said:
"This program required precise coordination across the entire payments ecosystem. Our objective was simple: ensure that every payment channel continued operating seamlessly from the first minute of euro adoption. We are proud that this achievement has been recognized by The Digital Banker."
Pavel Gubin, Chief Executive Officer of OpenWay Group, said:
"Technology proves its value when it enables large-scale national transformation while preserving public trust and service continuity. We are honored that BORICA relied on OpenWay and the Way4 platform for this mission-critical program. These awards recognize what resilient payment technology and strong partnership can achieve together."
For more than seven years, BORICA and OpenWay have worked together to modernize Bulgaria's payment infrastructure. Beyond recognizing innovation, these awards acknowledge the growing role of resilient payment infrastructure in enabling national economic transformation. The program establishes a repeatable model for executing complex national payment infrastructure transformation. It demonstrates how resilient payment infrastructure, disciplined governance and trusted partnership can enable systemic change while preserving continuity, confidence, and everyday economic activity.
