Bulgaria’s upcoming adoption of the euro (Update)

• Official adoption date: January 1, 2026.
• Legislative & economic preparedness: Bulgaria has successfully met EU economic criteria and received approval from EU institutions.
• Final political approval: The EU Parliament granted approval on 8 July 2025 for Bulgaria's accession to the Eurozone.
• Fixed exchange rate: The Bulgarian lev (BGN) will be exchanged at 1.95583 BGN per euro (€).
• Seamless transition: Banks, payment systems, and businesses will update their operations to ensure uninterrupted services.
• Pricing display in both currencies: For a period of 12 months following the euro’s introduction, the prices of goods and services in Bulgaria will be displayed in both BGN and EUR.
• Legal tender during transition: For one month after the euro adoption, BGN banknotes and coins will still be accepted as legal tender in Bulgaria, allowing a period of dual circulation for the lev and the euro.
• Currency cash exchange policy: Credit institutions will exchange BGN banknotes and coins for EUR free of charge for the first six months after the euro adoption. Afterwards, banks may apply a service fee for currency exchanges for another six months. Thereafter, only the Bulgarian National Bank will exchange BGN cash into EUR.

• On the day of the euro adoption, your BGN accounts with ING will be automatically converted to EUR accounts (at the official fixed exchange rate of 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN), along with the balances. This conversion will be completed overnight, and your IBAN will remain unchanged. There will be no fees or changes to your pricing conditions, and no action isrequired from you. If you wish to close the converted EUR account, you may do so free of charge within two months following the euro adoption date.
• As part of the conversion process, your existing account agreements and permissions will be seamlessly transferred to the new EUR accounts. No action is required on your part.

• After January 1st, only EUR transfers will be possible.
• Local domestic payment products will be phased out and replaced by SEPA Payment products, applicable to both domestic and cross-border transactions. Additionally, the format for tax budgetary payments will be updated. 
• Salary payments, which are currently processed in BGN, may be submitted using the SEPA Credit Transfer standard format in EUR. Starting from January 1, 2026, the Batch Salary product will also be available via the File-based channels.
• Domestic Direct Debit (as creditor and as debtor) in BGN will be phased out. These services will transition to SEPA Direct Debit (as creditor and as debtor). Clients who are already utilizing SEPA Direct Debit (as debtor) can continue to use this service without interruption.
• The periodic payments in BGN will be deactivated on 31, December 2025 and you would have to create new periodic payments in EUR as of January 1, 2026.
• BGN future dated payments will be rejected in the interactive channels and you would have to update/initiate these payments in EUR as of January 1, 2026.
• After the transition, new payment templates will need to be recorded in the interactive channels. The previous payment templates will only be used as a reference.
• Fixed interest rates, agreed upon before the date of the introduction of the euro, shall remain the same.
  Variable interest rates will follow the terms of your agreement

• After January 1, 2026, there will be a dual circulation period for one month during which both the lev and the euro will be accepted. After this period, only the euro will be legal tender.
• BGN cash can be exchanged free of charge at ING Bank branches for a period of 6 months from January 1, 2026. During the following six months until December 31, 2026, banks may apply a service fee for currency exchanges. After this period, BGN can still be exchanged at the Bulgarian National Bank.
• Clients who have a Cash Collection agreement will be able to obtain EUR cash at year-end. For other clients, this service will be available starting from 1 January 2026.

• Although initiating payments with BGN account won’t be possible anymore as of January 1, 2026, still be able to select BGN account in interactive channels from a reporting perspective to be able to see the historical statements of transactions processed in BGN.
• To ensure smooth euro-based reporting, your accounting software and ERP systems will need to be updated accordingly. If your current systems are not yet configured for this transition, development or customization may be necessary.
• Other than the currency conversion from BGN to EUR, no modifications will be made to the structure of the reporting formats.

• In accordance with the migration charges currently denominated in BGN will be discontinued and converted to EUR. 
• To support a smooth transition and ensure the accurate settlement of BGN-related amounts prior to January 1, 2026, the invoicing process for December will be conducted earlier than usual - on December 19, 2025. Charges incurred between December 20 and December 31, 2025, will be processed in January 2026 and will therefore appear on the January invoice.

• Domestic Cash Balancing contract will automatically be converted from BGN to EUR on 1 January 2026.
• Domestic Cash Balancing with Target Balancing Amount, Minimum Sweeping Amount, Maximum Sweeping Amount, Minimum Funding Amount and Maximum Funding Amount will automatically be converted from BGN to EUR at the official fixed exchange rate of 1 EUR = 1.95583 BGN. This conversion will occur on January 1, 2026.
• The change in currency will not affect the reporting codes associated with your cash balancing products.

• On the day of the euro adoption, BGN credit facilities with ING, including their outstanding amounts will be automatically converted to EUR. There will be no fees or changes to your pricing conditions, and no action is required on your part.

All Guarantees issued in BGN will remain valid until their respective expiry dates and will not be reissued. No action is required from your side. In accordance with the regulations governing the introduction of the euro, the Bank will internally convert the guarantee amounts and associated charges into EUR. We strongly recommend that, starting from October 1, 2025, any new guarantees be issued directly in EUR.

For more details, please refer to our page: Q&A: Client Q&A on Bulgaria’s euro adoption.

ING If you have any further questions, feel free to contact the customer support team at ING Bank Sofia Branch (BG.CustomerServices@ingbank.com).