What does Bulgaria’s accession to EuroPA mean, and what comes next for businesses?

Bulgaria has officially joined the European Payments Alliance through the national blink infrastructure, operated by BORICA. This is an important step toward building a unified European network for instant account-to-account payments, such as IRIS Pay.

But what does this actually mean for businesses, banks, and the fintech ecosystem?

What is EuroPA?

EuroPA connects national instant payment systems across different European countries, enabling consumers to send and receive money via mobile number quickly and easily — even across borders.

For example:a user in Bulgaria will be able to send funds to a user in Italy, Greece, or Spain almost as easily as making a domestic transfer.

This is a major step toward:

• a more connected European payments ecosystem;

• faster and more accessible digital payments;

• reduced dependence on international card schemes;

• the development of pan-European account-to-account payment infrastructure.

The direction is clear:Europe is accelerating the transition toward instant account-to-account payments and interoperability between different payment systems.

What is BORICA’s role?

BORICA’s role is infrastructural.

Through blink, Bulgaria is connecting to the European network for instant account-to-account payments. This means:

• connectivity between different countries;

• interoperability between various payment schemes;

• a technological foundation for a new generation of payment services.

Banks will gradually integrate these new payment capabilities into their mobile banking applications and digital channels.

This creates an essential foundation for the development of modern digital payments in Bulgaria and across the region.

Where does IRIS Solutions fit in?

If the infrastructure is the “rail,” IRIS is the access layer that makes this infrastructure usable for businesses. For companies and online merchants, the challenge is not just access to payment rails. The real challenge is:

• how to make payments simple for customers;

• how to integrate payments into online stores, ERP systems, or mobile applications;

• how to confirm payments in real time;

• how to automate reconciliation;

• how one business can work with multiple banks and markets through a single integration;

• how to deliver a seamless pay-by-bank experience across different countries.

This is exactly where IRIS Solutions plays its role.

Over the past several years, IRIS Solutions has been building a unified API platform for account-to-account payments across Southeast Europe, integrated with more than 70 banks in the region.

Through a single integration, businesses can reach banks and consumers in:

• Bulgaria;

• Greece;

• Romania;

• Croatia;

• Cyprus;

• Italy;

• and other regional markets.

Our goal is to make the new generation of European account-to-account payments:

• easy to integrate;

• scalable across multiple markets;

• business-friendly;

• practical for real-world commerce.

What comes next?

The next phase in the evolution of European payments will not be infrastructure alone.

The focus will increasingly shift toward:

• merchant experience;

• pay-by-bank checkout;

• Request to Pay;

• interoperability between different payment networks;

• seamless cross-border payments;

• embedded payment solutions.

The market is already beginning to evolve.

More and more banks, payment service providers, fintech companies, and online merchants will seek:

• direct bank payments;

• instant payment capabilities;

• multi-market payment acceptance;

• real-time payment confirmation;

• next-generation merchant payment processes.

How can businesses get started?

IRIS Solutions already provides this connectivity through a single API integration with more than 70 banks across Southeast Europe.

Through IRIS Pay, businesses can accelerate the implementation of:

• pay-by-bank checkout;

• instant account-to-account payments;

• cross-border payment capabilities;

• merchant payment integration;

• Request to Pay workflows;

• next-generation digital payment solutions.

While Europe is building the new payment rails, IRIS Solutions is building the access layer that makes them truly usable for businesses.

The market is moving.

We are already ready.

Take advantage of the new European payments infrastructure today.

Discover how IRIS Pay gives businesses direct access to modern account-to-account payments, lower costs, and a better customer experience.