Temporary Outages of Banking Services on the Night of Bulgaria’s Transition to the Euro - Use of Bank Cards at ATMs and POS Will Likely Be Interrupted - see when

A planned technical reset of systems with temporary system outages affecting all bank customers is scheduled from 9:00 pm on 31 December to 1:00 am on 1 January.

During this period, it will not be possible to pay with physical cards at POS terminals, online, or withdraw cash from ATMs.

Technical switchover periods are similar across most banks in Bulgaria, with minor differences in timing required for system adjustments.

Most banks advise customers to have cash available in the hours around New Year's Eve in view of the short technical outages.

Additionally, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) reminds that throughout January, there will be a dual circulation period for both leva and euro in Bulgaria -Leva banknotes and coins will remain legal tender and can be used for payments throughout January 2026, operating alongside the euro.