Standards/blink
Blink
Overview
Blink is Bulgaria's national domestic instant-payment scheme, operated by BORICA AD on top of BISERA6 (Bulgaria's BGN clearing system) [1, 2, [bg-cro]]. Blink enables real-time interbank transfers in Bulgarian leva (BGN) in under 10 seconds, 24/7/365. The scheme launched in 2021 (with Postbank as the first certified bank) and processed 22+ million payments in 2024 (+102 % YoY) — making it one of the fastest-growing national instant-payment schemes in Europe BG. Blink now accounts for 20.36 % of all BGN transfers through the BISERA payment system (up from just 3.51 % in 2022), with >90 % of Bulgarian bank accounts reachable BG.
A structurally significant addition came in early 2023 when Blink launched Mobile Lookup — a phone-number-to-IBAN proxy directory enabling P2P payments by mobile number without IBAN entry BG. This brings Blink up to parity with phone-number-addressed peers like mia-qr (MD), ropay (RO), and bizum (ES). Separately, December 2024 saw the launch of instant EUR payments via BISERA — connecting Bulgaria's domestic rail to TIPS (the Eurosystem instant-payment infrastructure), in anticipation of Bulgaria's upcoming euro adoption.
History
Background — Bulgarian payment landscape pre-2021 BG:
- BORICA AD — Bulgaria's national payment infrastructure operator, licensed by Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).
- BISERA6 — domestic BGN credit-transfer clearing system.
- BISERA — SEPA EUR clearing system.
- Pre-Blink: BGN transfers between banks took hours-to-days via batch ACH.
2021 — Blink launches [2, [bg-cro]]:
- BORICA introduces Blink as Bulgaria's first instant-payment scheme.
- Postbank becomes the first Bulgarian bank certified to conduct Blink instant payments.
- Other banks quickly follow.
End of 2022 — Mobile Lookup project upgrade [2]:
- Blink upgraded with Mobile Lookup infrastructure — phone-number-to-IBAN proxy directory.
- Foundation for P2P payments by mobile number.
Early 2023 — First Blink payments by mobile number [2, [bg-cro]]:
- Mobile Lookup goes live for end-users.
- Bulgaria joins the phone-number-addressed instant-payment club.
December 2024 — Instant EUR via BISERA, connected to TIPS BG:
- BORICA extends BISERA to instant EUR payments.
- Connected to TIPS (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement) — Eurosystem's instant rail.
- Positions Bulgaria for upcoming euro adoption.
2024 macro statistics BG:
- 22+ million Blink payments in 2024.
- +102 % YoY growth.
- 20.36 % of total BGN transfers through BISERA (up from 3.51 % in 2022).
- >90 % of Bulgarian bank accounts reachable via Blink.
National marketing campaigns BG:
- "Blink via mobile number and you can win" — recurring consumer-adoption marketing campaign by Bulgarian National Card and Payment Scheme.
Technical specification
Blink is a BORICA-operated instant-payment scheme on BISERA6 [1, 2, 3]:
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Operator | BORICA AD (Bulgarian payment infrastructure) |
| Regulator | Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) |
| Underlying rail | BISERA6 (BGN credit-transfer clearing) |
| Settlement | Under 10 seconds, 24/7/365 |
| Currency | BGN (Bulgarian lev); EUR (since Dec 2024 via BISERA + TIPS) |
| Identifier (P2P) | IBAN; mobile number (via Mobile Lookup, since early 2023) |
| Scheme model | SEPA-aligned (BISERA6 is "based on SEPA schemes") |
| Reach | >90 % of Bulgarian bank accounts |
Mobile Lookup infrastructure [2]:
- Phone-number-to-IBAN proxy directory.
- Users register their phone number → linked to a bank account.
- P2P transfers initiate via phone-number selection rather than IBAN entry.
- Same architectural pattern as mia-qr MD, ropay RO, bizum ES.
TIPS connection (Dec 2024) BG:
- Bulgaria's BISERA connected to TIPS for instant EUR settlement.
- Anticipates Bulgaria's planned euro-adoption target.
- Cross-border EUR reach via TIPS member networks.
BISERA6 limits BG:
- Amounts up to BGN 999,999,999.99 per payment.
- Bulk, instant, and budget payments supported.
Use cases
P2P transfers [2, [bg-cro]]: Send funds between banks in under 10 seconds. With Mobile Lookup (since early 2023), no IBAN entry required.
Business payments BG: Real-time B2B and B2C transfers — replaces batch ACH for time-sensitive payments.
Cross-border EUR (since Dec 2024) BG: Instant EUR via BISERA-TIPS connection — particularly valuable for Bulgarian-EU corporate flows ahead of euro adoption.
Payroll, supplier payments, refunds BG: Instant settlement replaces 1-3-day batch cycles.
Mobile-number P2P [2]: Friend-to-friend transfers without exchanging IBANs.
Implementations & ecosystem
Operator: BORICA AD (licensed by Bulgarian National Bank).
Regulator / supervisor: Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).
Participating banks (>90% of Bulgarian bank accounts reachable) BG:
- United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) — largest, KBC-owned.
- DSK Bank — OTP-owned.
- UniCredit Bulbank — UniCredit-owned.
- Eurobank Bulgaria (Postbank) — Eurobank-owned; first certified Blink bank.
- First Investment Bank — largest domestic.
- Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BACB).
- Fibank.
- Other Bulgarian banks.
Cross-rail integration:
- BISERA6 for BGN.
- BISERA for EUR (with TIPS connection Dec 2024).
- TARGET-BNB for RTGS settlement.
No public open-source SDK has been identified — Blink integration via participating banks.
Fun facts
- From 3.51 % to 20.36 % share in 2 years: Blink's share of total BGN transfers grew ~6× between 2022 and 2024 — among the steepest growth curves of any European instant-payment scheme.
- +102 % YoY in 2024: Doubling-each-year growth rate.
- First-bank-certified: Postbank: Postbank (Eurobank Bulgaria) was the first Bulgarian bank certified for Blink — a structurally notable first-mover advantage in a foreign-bank-dominated Bulgarian banking sector.
- Foreign-bank-dominated Bulgarian banking: Top 5 Bulgarian banks: UBB (KBC/Belgium), DSK (OTP/Hungary), UniCredit Bulbank (Italy), Postbank (Eurobank/Greece), First Investment Bank (domestic). Blink interoperates across this foreign-controlled banking landscape.
- Euro-adoption preparation via TIPS: Bulgaria's TIPS connection (Dec 2024) is a deliberate step toward eurozone membership — Bulgaria has targeted euro adoption.
- National marketing campaign with sweepstakes: "Blink via mobile number and you can win" — the Bulgarian National Card and Payment Scheme actively markets Blink adoption with consumer giveaways. Compare with twqr's 100 % transit-fare-rebate and raast-p2m-qr's PKR 3.5B subsidy as comparable adoption-incentive programs.
- Naming convention: Blink (Bulgaria) vs. blik (Poland) — easily confused but structurally different products. BLIK is Poland's 6-digit-code-based wallet-mediated payment scheme launched 2015; Blink is Bulgaria's BORICA-operated BGN instant-payment rail launched 2021. Distinct in operator, architecture, and history.
- Mobile Lookup phone-IBAN directory: Same architectural pattern as mia-qr MD, ropay RO, bizum ES, paynow-qr SG.
- 20.36 % share in 2 years from launch: Suggests Blink is on track to become Bulgaria's dominant payment mode within a decade — comparable to bizum's trajectory in Spain.
Comparison
| Feature | Blink (BG) | blik (PL) | mia-qr (MD) | ropay (RO) | bizum (ES) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | 2021 | Feb 2015 | Mar 2024 | Nov 2024 | Oct 2016 |
| Operator | BORICA AD | PSP (bank consortium) | National Bank of Moldova | Transfond (bank consortium) | Bizum SL (bank consortium) |
| Currency | BGN (+EUR via TIPS Dec 2024) | PLN | MDL | RON | EUR |
| Identifier | IBAN + mobile (since 2023) | 6-digit code + mobile | Mobile phone | Mobile phone | Mobile phone |
| Underlying rail | BISERA6 | Polish Express Elixir | NBM instant | Plăți Instant | Iberpay SCT Inst |
| % of national flows | 20.36 % (2024) | Dominant | n/a | New | High |
| EUR cross-border | TIPS (Dec 2024) | TIPS-integrated | SEPA (Oct 2025) | EPC-compatible | EPC SCT Inst |
Closest peer: mia-qr (MD) — similar small-economy 2020s-launch trajectory, similar mobile-lookup overlay, similar SEPA-integration drive.
Naming gotcha: Blink (Bulgaria) ≠ blik (Poland) — easily confused; structurally distinct.
Status
Active, fast-growing [2, [bg-cro]]:
- 22+ million transactions in 2024.
- +102 % YoY growth.
- 20.36 % of BGN transfers (up from 3.51 % in 2022).
- >90 % bank-account reach.
- Mobile Lookup since early 2023.
- Instant EUR via TIPS since December 2024 (euro-adoption preparation).
Outlook: Continued growth toward majority share of Bulgarian transfers; euro adoption will likely accelerate EUR/Blink integration; possible cross-border integrations with adjacent EU instant-payment rails via SEPA Instant.
Sources
- 1 BISERA6 — BORICA AD
- 2 Instant payments in Bulgaria — BORICA AD
- 3 Instant payments in Bulgaria — EPC
- [bg-cro]
reports/countries/BG-bulgaria.md
Deployments
Found in the following country reports (grep across reports/countries/):
- BG — BG-bulgaria.md