Bulgaria's switch to the euro will cause a temporary shutdown of online banking

Banks are already informing their customers that over the New Year holidays online and mobile banking will be unavailable for two to four days. The reason is a large-scale technological process of converting all banking systems and account balances: current, deposit, savings and loan accounts.

Why a temporary shutdown is necessary

The so-called «technological window» is required in order to correctly convert the banks’ accounting systems from levs to euros. This concerns not only individual customer accounts, but also payment systems for domestic and international transfers, as well as online and mobile banking platforms.

Added to this is the previously announced temporary suspension of POS terminals in shops, catering establishments, petrol stations and online stores. They will not work from 21:00 on 31 December 2025 until 01:00 on 1 January 2026.

Different schedules for different banks

Individual credit institutions will apply different timeframes for suspending and restoring digital services:

• UniCredit Bulbank envisages the longest downtime — from the evening of 30 December until 3 January, about four days.
• UBB will accept transfer orders through its online and mobile applications until 14:00 on 30 December. After 20:30 the applications will become unavailable, and a phased restoration will begin at 05:00 on 1 January 2026.
• DSK Bank will begin reconfiguring its systems on 31 December at around 16:00; the process will last at least until the end of 1 January — approximately a day and a half.

Restrictions on transfers and payments

Banks also warn that interbank transfers in levs and payments to the state budget will only be possible until the afternoon of 30 December. Payments for utilities and local taxes will be discontinued as early as the end of the working day on 29 December and will become available in stages from 3 January, once the conversion of the utility companies’ billing systems is complete.

Recommendations for citizens

Financial institutions advise planning all important payments and transfers in advance, and making sure you have enough cash — both in levs and in euros — not only for New Year’s Eve, but also for the first days of 2026.

ATMs will be loaded with euro banknotes on 30 and 31 December, and after 01:00 on 1 January they will dispense euros exclusively. Deposit ATMs will continue to accept levs until the end of January 2026, providing an additional transition period for the public.

The switch to the euro is a historic stage for the country, but the first days of 2026 will require heightened attention, good organisation and advance planning from all users of banking services.