BORICA has a new role: A payment institution

Mrs. Angelova, BORICA AD holds a payment institution licence, what does this practically mean?

In 2017, an amendment was made to the Cash Restriction Act under which card payments to the National Revenue Agency (NRA) had to be processed by a payment system operator with a finality of the settlement. This allowed BORICA to obtain a payment institution license. For the first time in its history, BORICA started to carry out typical bank activities related to servicing card payments. The subsequent changes in the same act allowed BORICA to process card payments for all primary budget handlers. This practically means that a state institution receiving card payment revenues is no longer required to work with a particular commercial bank. BORICA ensures centralization of card payment revenues through direct verification of the account of the budget enterprise with the Bulgarian National Bank.

At the beginning of 2018, we finished the project with the NRA, and currently, we are successfully receiving card payments to the Bulgarian National Bank and the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA), as well, in connection with digital vignettes and toll fees. We also negotiate with other budget institutions – Customs Agency, Ministry of the Interior and the State e-Government Agency.

What conveniences does your project with NRA provide for the citizens?

Until now, NRA did not have terminals for direct payments in their offices, as well as with virtual POS on their site. Payments were made through a commercial bank and that made them slower. The difference now is that as soon as a successful card payment is made, the obligation is considered paid. There is also a virtual POS on the site of NRA, and I can say that around 50% of the payments are made online through the virtual POS.

How is your project for electronic vignettes and toll fees developing, in which you partner with RIA and ensure payment infrastructure?

Our commitment is for the cases when RIA is a direct beneficiary of the payment. These are the border terminals, around 500 places in Bulgaria, including self-service terminals, as well as terminals in the patrol cars of RIA, which service penalty fees. I consider this to be a successful project of our payment institution.

We are moving more and more towards a digital community...

That’s a fact. This will happen with a greater force when the payment platform of the State e-Government Agency is released. A huge part of the obligations to the state will be paid through this site. We are also working on this project, and BORICA is expected to be the payment institution that will service these payments.

Another strategic project of BORICA payment institution is InfoPay? Tell us more about it...

Yes, the InfoPay project came as a response to the PSD2 Payment Directive and the new regulations that it has imposed. For more than 25 years now, BORICA has been the provider of the INFOBANK service, which is related to providing account information. In September this year, we expanded our payment institution license with two more services under PSD2: Payment Initiation and Account Information. We took on this role quite naturally, the goal being again to facilitate businesses and citizens.

Through the InfoPay web and mobile application, we will offer clients (natural and legal persons) a fast and easy access to their financial profile so that at any given moment they can have all the summarized information in one place on their balance and movements in accounts opened with all banks in Bulgaria, manage their finances effectively, minimize their expenses and achieve their goals – savings, investments, etc., access to electronic payments to counterparties, purchase of goods and payment of services through traders’ websites, without the need for a payment card.

The plan is for both services to be available in 2020, initially renewing the INFOBANK service that we are already offering to companies, according to the requirements of PSD2, and then we will focus our efforts on the users of this service – natural persons.