BORICA AD and OpenWay have received the Best Partnership Initiative Award at the PAY360 Awards 2026 for their work modernizing Bulgaria’s card-payment infrastructure and supporting the country’s transition to the euro. The multi-year program connected BORICA’s national payments expertise with OpenWay’s Way4 payment-processing platform, enabling banks, fintechs and payment providers to maintain card and ATM services when Bulgaria adopted the euro on January 1, 2026.

Bulgaria’s transition to the euro put its payment infrastructure through a test that left little room for disruption. On January 1, 2026, the country needed banks, payment providers, ATMs and card-processing systems to recognize and process the new currency while consumers continued making everyday payments.

Behind that transition was a modernization program developed by BORICA AD and payment technology provider OpenWay. The companies have worked together since 2018 to modernize Bulgaria’s card-processing infrastructure, combining BORICA’s role in the national payments ecosystem with OpenWay’s Way4 digital payment-processing platform.

The partnership was recognized at the PAY360 Awards 2026 with the Best Partnership Initiative Award. While the award provides the immediate news hook, the larger technology story is the infrastructure required to migrate a national payments ecosystem without interrupting transaction processing.

Preparing a National Payment Network for Euro Adoption

Currency migration is not simply a matter of changing the symbol displayed on a transaction. Payment infrastructure must accommodate changes across card processing, ATM withdrawals, settlement, transaction data, banking systems and integrations with financial institutions.

BORICA and OpenWay spent several years preparing their infrastructure before the euro transition. The program involved more than 35 banks, payment service providers, fintech companies, government institutions and technology partners.

Extensive testing, rehearsals and operational coordination were conducted before the currency switch. The objective was to ensure that the transition could take place while card payments and ATM services continued operating.

That preparation became particularly important once the euro officially entered circulation. According to the companies, the first successful euro ATM withdrawal occurred just 20 seconds after the currency change took effect.

During the first 48 hours, more than 930,000 card and ATM transactions worth almost €42 million were processed without unplanned downtime.

The results demonstrate why payment infrastructure modernization increasingly depends on both technology and operational coordination. A national payment system can contain multiple interconnected institutions, making the reliability of the underlying processing layer as important as the individual banking applications consumers see.

Way4 Provides the Processing Layer

OpenWay’s Way4 platform forms part of the technology foundation supporting the partnership. The platform is designed to handle digital payment processing and related card-management operations.

For BORICA, the modernization program provided an infrastructure base that could support the country’s evolving payments ecosystem while maintaining continuity across participating institutions.

The model also illustrates how national payment infrastructure increasingly combines domestic payments expertise with specialized technology platforms. Rather than replacing an entire ecosystem with a new system at once, modernization can involve gradually upgrading the infrastructure beneath existing financial institutions and payment services.

That approach becomes particularly valuable during large-scale financial transitions. Banks and fintechs still need to serve customers while underlying processing systems change.

Euro Transition Highlights Infrastructure Resilience

Bulgaria’s euro adoption provides a useful example of the operational demands involved in transforming a country’s payment infrastructure.

The transition required coordination among financial institutions, payment providers, technology companies and public-sector organizations. It also required transaction systems to be ready at a precise point in time rather than being migrated gradually according to individual institutions’ schedules.

The reported transaction volumes during the first two days illustrate the scale involved. More than 930,000 card and ATM transactions worth nearly €42 million were processed without unplanned downtime, according to BORICA and OpenWay.

The broader trend is relevant beyond Bulgaria. As financial institutions modernize payment infrastructure, they increasingly need platforms capable of supporting multiple payment types, real-time processing, interoperability and regulatory or currency changes without significant service interruptions.

Payment infrastructure is also becoming more strategic as digital payments replace cash across consumer and commercial transactions. For banks and payment providers, processing resilience is directly connected to customer trust and financial continuity.

From Modernization to Next-Generation Payments

The BORICA-OpenWay partnership shows how long-term infrastructure programs can become critical during national-scale financial changes.

The significance of the project extends beyond the euro conversion itself. The underlying objective has been to establish payment infrastructure capable of evolving without repeatedly requiring disruptive migrations.

For banks, fintech companies and payment service providers, that flexibility can become increasingly important as new payment methods, digital financial services and regulatory requirements enter the market.

The Bulgarian case also reinforces a broader GlobalFinTechEdge trend: payment innovation is increasingly dependent on infrastructure modernization behind the scenes. Consumers may experience a seamless card payment or ATM withdrawal, but delivering that experience requires coordinated processing, connectivity, liquidity and operational systems.

As countries and financial institutions modernize payment networks, the ability to introduce major changes while keeping transactions running may become one of the most important measures of payment technology infrastructure.

Market Landscape

Payment infrastructure is shifting from traditional card-processing environments toward interconnected platforms supporting real-time payments, digital wallets, cross-border transactions and increasingly complex financial services.

National payment migrations are particularly demanding because banks, fintechs, payment service providers and government systems must coordinate around a common technical and operational framework. Bulgaria’s euro transition demonstrates the importance of testing, interoperability and processing resilience when financial infrastructure undergoes a large-scale transformation.

The project also highlights the role of payment orchestration and processing platforms in maintaining continuity while underlying systems evolve.

Top Insights

• BORICA and OpenWay supported Bulgaria’s transition to euro-based card and ATM processing without reported unplanned downtime.
• More than 35 banks, fintechs, payment providers, government institutions and technology partners participated in the transition program.
• The first successful euro ATM withdrawal reportedly occurred just 20 seconds after Bulgaria introduced the currency.
• More than 930,000 card and ATM transactions worth nearly €42 million were processed during the first 48 hours.
• The project demonstrates how payment infrastructure modernization can support major financial changes without disrupting everyday transactions.

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