RATE | New "banks" are making inroads into Bulgarians' wallets

Until a few years ago, paying with Revolut at a Berlin bakery counter was a niche sign of belonging to a specific subculture – that of tech-savvy nomads and digital enthusiasts. Today, 1.3 million people in Bulgaria use Revolut. That represents nearly one in four members of the country's workforce.

This figure is particularly striking when put into context: a traditional bank with such a customer base would rank among the top three players in the Bulgarian market. Revolut achieved this without a single physical branch, without a teller, and without a queue at a counter.

The model through which neobanks have conquered the market is straightforward: zero currency conversion fees, instant transactions, intuitive design, and a relentless focus on user experience. Where traditional banks settled for a service that was "good enough" and saw no reason for significant improvement, Revolut identified a massive market opportunity that had remained untapped.

However, the British fintech is no longer a lone disruptor. Just a few weeks ago, a very different competitor entered the field: Viber Pay. The payment service of the popular messaging platform launched in Bulgaria this February – not with a banking license in hand or a traditional fintech profile, but with something far harder to achieve: habit.

The Super-App with a Ready-Made Audience

While traditional banking and fintech apps still frame payments as separate, often isolated "tasks," new market players are aggressively transforming them into an integral part of the social flow. In this clash of strategies, Viber Pay is banking on the concept of "social finance." Leveraging its deep penetration in Bulgaria, the company brings transactions directly to where the conversation is already happening – eliminating the friction of switching screens or sharing bank details.

Viber Pay, which has prioritized Bulgaria as a key market, is targeting the most valuable resource: time. With 94% market penetration, their strategy is radically simple – why leave a chat to log into a bank? When two friends are discussing a dinner bill, the payment becomes simply the next message they exchange.

No switching between apps, no bank details to share, and no interruption to the flow. This is a fundamentally different behavioral trigger. The financial action becomes contextual, immediate, and intuitive," Rakuten Viber explained to Economic.bg, outlining the philosophy behind its service.

The results are telling: Bulgaria is the fastest-growing market for Viber Pay among the nine countries where the product has launched. The company notes that initial activation rates exceeded internal benchmarks compared to earlier markets. Notably, the typical Viber Pay user is not necessarily Gen Z. One surprising finding is the strong adoption among users aged 40 and older – those traditionally considered conservative in their payment behavior. The interface, designed with chat logic in mind, breaks down the barriers often associated with complex fintech apps.

Viber Pay is a payment service built atop a communication platform: its strength lies in habit – the fact that payments occur where communication is already taking place. Revolut approaches from the opposite end – through direct competition with banks, a regulated environment, and products traditionally associated with financial institutions.

We’re talking about two different products – an instant messaging platform and a digital wallet versus a digital bank," Viktor Stopa, Head of Growth for Western Europe and CEE at Revolut, told Economic.bg.

This difference is most apparent in the depth of the portfolio. While Viber Pay offers money transfers and a virtual card, Revolut has built a comprehensive ecosystem where users can hold multi-currency accounts, invest in over 9,000 assets, open accounts for children, and purchase travel insurance. Low-risk money market funds (Flexible Cash Funds) are perhaps the most telling example: this is a tool that Viber Pay, by definition, cannot offer because it requires the regulatory framework of a financial platform rather than a communications one.

The competition ultimately boils down to one thing: who will establish the habit of daily micropayments. The data outlines two distinct user profiles. The average Bulgarian Revolut customer moves around €460 per month through the platform, and not just online – 40% of purchases are made in physical stores, signaling mature, everyday use far beyond occasional transfers. Viber Pay currently operates in a different range – the typical P2P payment in mature markets like Greece is between €15 and €45, situational and social in nature: splitting a bill, a group gift, or a family transfer. What is significant, however, is the trajectory – as trust grows, consumers are beginning to use Viber IBANs for regular incoming payments, and average transaction amounts are rising.

Our goal is to become the go-to digital wallet for everyday life. We do not position ourselves as a substitute for long-term banking products. Instead, we aim to be the preferred solution for everyday transactions – from peer-to-peer transfers to online shopping and bill payments," says Rakuten Viber.

The Incumbents Fight Back

Traditional banks, however, are not passive observers. Beneath the surface of their apps operates the national "orchestrator" BORICA, which built the digital highway known as blink. While fintech companies win on design, banks have struck back with scale and speed that now dictate the "new normal."

The numbers are not just statistics; they are proof of a tectonic shift. In the last year alone, the number of instant transfers in Bulgaria has jumped by an impressive 69%, with volume increasing by 87%. This indicates that Bulgarians are not just testing the waters – they are migrating en masse to instant payments. Furthermore, the average value of transfers specifically via mobile number through blink suggests a move beyond simple micropayments.

The average value of a blink transfer via mobile number has reached €154, representing a 14% annual increase – a key indicator that this is no longer just about restaurant bills, but about more substantial P2P transactions, such as rent payments or larger shared expenses. "Our data shows that users are not just experimenting with the blink service via mobile number (blink P2P), but are using it with growing frequency and confidence," commented BORICA.

The statistics speak for themselves: 2025 was the year instant transfers ceased to be an innovation and became the expected standard. Through the blink P2P service alone, 2.7 million transfers were made in 2025 – a 98% increase over the previous year. Volume reached €424 million, a 125% increase.

These figures signal a profound shift in behavior. Active blink P2P users have doubled over the past 18 months and now exceed 1.3 million people, according to BORICA. By comparison, Revolut has exactly that many customers in Bulgaria. The battle is now even, at least in terms of user numbers.

Blink’s brand recognition has reached 45% (up from 9% just three years ago), according to a nationally representative survey by Alpha Research for BORICA in January 2026. This represents a fourfold increase in less than three years – a result rarely achieved by national payment schemes in Central and Eastern Europe.

Battlegrounds: Who Wins What?

P2P transfers are the hottest battleground. Revolut and blink P2P compete directly for the same users with very similar fee structures. Viber Pay enters this arena with a different approach: rather than "go to the money app," the "money comes to you" within the chat. All three models are attacking the same market from different angles.

Deposits and loans remain a stronghold for traditional banks. The regulatory framework, trust in deposit insurance systems, and long-standing customer relationships form a protective wall. Yet, even this is not impenetrable – neobanks are already offering interest-bearing accounts, and Revolut has declared ambitions to expand into mortgage lending (currently available in Lithuania). In Bulgaria, this frontier is yet to be fully tested.

Infrastructure (ATMs, POS terminals, NFC payments) provides traditional banks with a physical advantage that digital players cannot easily replicate. However, virtual Visa cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay are gradually making physical cards optional. Viber Pay follows a "mobile-first" strategy: its virtual Visa card will soon integrate with Google Pay and Apple Pay, and the company is monitoring the market for any potential need for physical cards.

The Behavioral Shift: From "Primary Bank" to "Service Portfolio"

This is perhaps the most profound transformation – not technological, but behavioral. The typical active user has diversified their finances. They maintain an account at a traditional bank (for salary, mortgages, and direct debits), use Revolut for travel and foreign currency, blink P2P within their bank’s app for friends, and now Viber Pay for situational micropayments in chat.

The concept of a "primary bank" is gradually dissolving into a "portfolio of services." Consumers no longer choose between Revolut and Bank X; they use both for different purposes. This competition benefits consumers, as the drive to attract customers forces institutions to be more flexible with fees and terms.

The Eurozone: A Catalyst for Acceleration

For Revolut, the Eurozone transition raises a specific issue: the local IBAN. Currently, Bulgarian users have Lithuanian IBANs, which often prevents employers and government institutions from transferring salaries or pensions directly to Revolut.

While the transition to the euro facilitates adding a local IBAN to the standard portfolio, a local branch is still required to fully support all related payment functions. "While other markets will eventually follow this example, we cannot provide details on the roadmap at this time," explains Edward McKee, Head of Operations and Products at Revolut Bank UAB.

The impact of Bulgaria’s entry into the Eurozone is still unfolding, but the direction is clear. Membership triggers the full application of Regulation (EU) 2024/886, including the mandatory offering of instant transfers by all banks.

The transition to the euro encourages people to rethink their payment habits. blink is a clear beneficiary of this new behavior, and we expect our 2026 data to show a further acceleration in instant transfers," say representatives from BORICA.

BORICA forecasts that blink transfers will exceed 4 million in 2026, with a total value of over €600 million – nearly doubling in volume in just one year. Joining the Eurozone also opens horizons for blink through EuroPA – an alliance of national payment systems including Spain (Bizum), Portugal (MB WAY), Poland (BLIK), and Scandinavia (Vipps). This would allow users to send money to a friend in Greece using only their mobile number, transforming blink into a gateway for a pan-European instant payment network.

The accession of blink/NKPS to EuroPA is the strategically logical next step."

Where is the Market Headed?

Sometimes the most significant market changes come from lawmakers rather than startups. The next wave of European financial transformation is regulatory.

Two directives are on the horizon: PSD3/PSR, which further opens the door to non-bank players, and FIDA (Financial Data Access), which is potentially revolutionary. FIDA will require institutions to provide access not only to banking data but also to information from pension funds, insurance policies, and investment portfolios.

Simply put: for the first time, consumers can grant a single app permission to view their full financial picture. The company that manages to aggregate and interpret this data will possess an extremely powerful tool for personalized advice and automated wealth management.

The future of the Bulgarian financial market is not a binary choice between banks and fintech. "The future definitely belongs to the ecosystem connections between market participants," according to BORICA.

Traditional banks control regulated credit and infrastructure. Neobanks control the customer experience and the pace of innovation. Platforms like Viber control habit – the daily context of people's time. None can win alone, but the coalitions between them will define the "new normal" of banking five years from now.

For the consumer, the outlook is positive: competition is forcing all players to become better, cheaper, and faster. The real revolution, however, is not in the hardware – it is in expectations. Once you have sent money for free in seconds, any waiting period becomes unbearable. This shift in expectations is irreversible – and it is more powerful than any regulation or technology.

Translated with DeepL.