Banking 2023

Have you tried KBC / UBB

I opened a debit card account with passport and address, maybe different if you want credit card?

We opened a FiBank account in Burgas centre pre applying for our Visa D. Simple account with a debit card.

You can open a bankaccount without  residence. Depending which country your origin is.

You need this:

- Passport or ID

- Rental Contract at least for 1 year

- Cellphone Contract

- Labour Contract or proof that you have stable amount of money

Don't go to KBC, they are terrible.

When you don't speak Bulgarian make an appointment first.

DSK, UniCredit Bulbank you can try.  Even UBB.

When you have an European passport they are not allowed to refuse you when you can provide the papers above.

Can you try icard first? They have Bgn account.

It is the easiest and effective way but I don't know they can accept or not. If accepted, please inform us.

I asked to icard whatsapp and their reply is below;

"Hello, yes iCard is acceptable for Bulgarian government offices."

@Kykers    They are a fintech company  not a bank.  They have no branches as far as I am aware which is a problem because (I have been told) that when going to the residency ID card appointment,I must take printed statement from the bank with their official stamp and signed.  So, they would not accept a print out from a fintech because it would not be endorsed (stamped).

@Kykers  They are a fintech company not a bank. They have no branches as far as I am aware which is a problem because (I have been told) that when going to the residency ID card appointment,I must take printed statement from the bank with their official stamp and signed. So, they would not accept a print out from a fintech because it would not be endorsed (stamped).
-@brandon76

Normally for residency id card, you need to give your current bank statement in your own country. If you open a new bank account, anyway it will have not any act.

Reply of the icard about bank statement;

[8/4 23:32] ICARD BANK WHATSAPP: We do provide stamped and signed statements/certificates for our debit service.

[8/4 23:34] ICARD BANK WHATSAPP: We can send a physical copy to an address of choice.

[8/4 23:35] ICARD BANK WHATSAPP: It costs 2,5 EUR as per tariff, or 5 BGN.

@Kykers

This is a really interesting option, thanks for sharing! It looks like they are much more Bulgarian (founded in Bulgaria, office in Varna) than other Fintechs (Wise, Revolut, etc.). It's licensed by the Bulgarian National Bank, and it clearly has a Bulgarian bank account (SEPA IBAN BGxxxxx). And if they'll send you a stamped statement, it's probably easier than going into a physical bank.

However... just tried it myself... and I was unsuccessful. Got the SMS, but Google Play says the iCard app is not available in my country (and I'm in Bulgaria). Maybe it works if you're outside. Or works on iPhone rather than Android.

@Kykers
This is a really interesting option, thanks for sharing! It looks like they are much more Bulgarian (founded in Bulgaria, office in Varna) than other Fintechs (Wise, Revolut, etc.). It's licensed by the Bulgarian National Bank, and it clearly has a Bulgarian bank account (SEPA IBAN BGxxxxx). And if they'll send you a stamped statement, it's probably easier than going into a physical bank.

However... just tried it myself... and I was unsuccessful. Got the SMS, but Google Play says the iCard app is not available in my country (and I'm in Bulgaria). Maybe it works if you're outside. Or works on iPhone rather than Android.
-@gwynj

Hi gwynj,

Thanks for information,

Yes I received same error and I opened a new Gmail account, used it in playstore and selected the country as Bulgaria. Then now it is working. I think your play store country is different. Don't change it otherwise turning back to your original country is takes time. Better to open a new account.

I think now only important point is you need residency. If you have, it is now easy to open and use a Bgn bank account.

You need to proof of residency with utilities invoices as electricity, gas, water, land phone. Or any bank statement from another Bg bank. I have asked from whatsapp for any other way, will share if I get a different information.

@brandon76

Are you a pensioner?

If yes, this option for residence permit requires a BG bank account.

Icard unfortunately requires residence papers to open an account. So though it looks good, no use for those of us who need a Bg account to get our residency!

This is the email from icard, totally disappointment.

Thank you for completing the identification process.

There are few more things that you need to do to verify your identity. You should provide us:

1.    A copy of both sides of your Residence Permit.

2.    Two proofs of your address. The documents should be issued on your name, within the last three (3) months and could be:

· A recent Utility Bill - electricity bill, water bill, home internet bill, landline phone bill etc. Please note that mobile phone bills / mobile internet bills cannot be accepted;

· A bank statement / bank confirmation letter containing your registered address;

· An Identification Document, if your registered address is specified on it - ID card, passport, driver’s license;

· Other Government Issued document (ex: Residency Certificate or similar).

Please be informed that both documents need to contain the same residential address.

3.    In addition, we would like to kindly ask you to advise what is the reason of opening of the account. Please specify what is the expected annual total turnover in the account and the provenance of funds which will be transferred into the account.

Please note that screenshots cannot be accepted for verification purposes. Please note that the requested document can either be an electronic extract/a paper scan/a photo of an original.

Please note that if the requested information / documents are not provided within 7 (seven) days of this notification, we will not be able to offer you our service and your account will be closed accordingly.

@Vasilev no I am not a pensioner. 

What about just using Revolute ?

@brandon76

So, so you don't need a Bulgarian bank account. You have to show funding with a certificate from another bank, and probably if it os not in Bulgarian, it must be translated.

**********

@Mel1702 cheers! I’ll add that to my list..

Provided you are bearing EU passport you can open a bank account BGN or Euro as well to DSK Bank largest network in Bulgaria, without BG home address. I did it upon my arrival in the country.. Not all banks are offering this facility, Unicredit  Bulbank didn’t accept without property or rent contract.

That is interesting that even with an EU passport it was an issue for some banks. I assumed it was only a problem is those of us who don"t have an EU passport anymore (like Brits since Brexit) and need a bank account to get a D visa.

I don't think this has to do with the passport but with EC, OECD and FATF anti money laundering directives to make it impossible for clients to hide money from their governments. The banks need to report their clients balances to their countries of tax residence (as part of CRS - common reporting standards). That's why they want to see your residence permit and utility bills.

It's not a problem specific to BG but implemented everywhere around the globe. Countries that don't comply with these rules will be put on black lists (such as UAE recently) and banks will be more or less cut off from global financial systems or facing difficulties transferring money to other countries.

However, I don't think it's necessary to have a Bulgarian account to apply for residence permit. It can be any account. In my case they only made a copy of my foreign credit card.

Passport is not important. These are laws in every country.

However, I don't think it's necessary to have a Bulgarian account to apply for residence permit. It can be any account. In my case they only made a copy of my foreign credit card.
-@euronomad

You are an EU citizen, which makes it a very different situation.

I understand the money laundering regulations and am happy to comply. But non-EU citizens can find themselves in a Catch-22 where it's impossible to open a Bulgarian bank account without residency, but without a Bulgarian bank account, it's impossible to get the D visa required for residency.

You might try epay.bg microaccount level III with IBAN. From their description it seems they don't require a residence permit but there are transaction limits.