The awards recognize a program that demonstrated how a national payment infrastructure can undergo one of the most complex financial transformations under a fixed regulatory deadline while preserving operational resilience, transaction integrity, and uninterrupted payment services.
On 1 January 2026, Bulgaria successfully introduced the euro across its national card payments infrastructure. Behind this milestone stood a coordinated program involving more than 35 banks, payment service providers, fintechs, government institutions, and technology partners. BORICA led the transformation, while OpenWay's Way4 digital payment software platform underpinned BORICA's national card switching and processing environment, supporting card issuing, merchant acquiring, switching, ATM and POS management, fraud prevention and transaction processing.
The program was far more than a technology implementation. It demonstrated how modern payment infrastructure can support national transformation while preserving continuity for consumers, merchants, financial institutions and the wider Bulgarian payments ecosystem. Within the first 48 hours, the infrastructure processed more than 930,000 card and ATM transactions worth nearly €42 million, with zero unplanned downtime. The first successful euro ATM withdrawal took place just 20 seconds after midnight, followed within minutes by successful card and digital payment transactions.
"This program required precise coordination across the entire payments ecosystem. Our objective was simple: ensure that every payment channel continued operating seamlessly from the first minute of euro adoption. We are proud that this achievement has been recognized by The Digital Banker."
"Technology proves its value when it enables large-scale national transformation while preserving public trust and service continuity. We are honored that BORICA relied on OpenWay and the Way4 platform for this mission-critical program. These awards recognize what resilient payment technology and strong partnership can achieve together."
OpenWay is a best-in-class provider of digital payment software solutions, and the best cloud payment systems provider as rated by Aite and PayTech. OpenWay is a strategic partner of tier 1/2 banks and processors, fintech startups, and other leading payment players around the globe. Among them are Network International and Equity Bank Group in MENA, Lotte and JACCS in Asia, Nexi and Shift4 in Europe, Comdata (a Corpay Company) and Banesco in Americas, and Ampol in Australia.
