BNB - who it supervises in fintech
25 licensed entities in the official registers and 2 source-verified catalogue providers answer to Bulgarian National Bank.
The Bulgarian National Bank is the central bank and the supervisor of Bulgaria's payment and e-money institutions - a small but real fintech cluster that includes card issuers and BIN sponsors serving programmes well beyond Bulgaria. Securities markets and, under MiCA, crypto-asset service providers sit with the separate Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). Official site: BNB. Note: MiCA crypto-asset service providers in Bulgaria are authorised by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC), not the BNB - the Bulgarian CASP rows in our register index carry the FSC as their authority.
In the official registers
Register-sourced rows for this authority (EBA PSD2 + ESMA MiCA; as-of dates on each row). Registers have no legal significance - confirm current status with the supervisor.
| Licence class | Entities | Official register rows |
|---|---|---|
| Payment institutions | 13 | browse the rows → |
| E-money institutions | 12 | browse the rows → |
Verified providers under BNB supervision (2)
Catalogue providers whose official register row names this authority - each verified at source and cross-linked to its row:
🏦 Local IBANs: BG
iCard (Bulgaria) - personal and business IBANs, cards and a wallet (Phyre); the 2nd-largest EMI in Bulgaria (37.8% share). EMI, Bulgarian National Bank.
🏦 Local IBANs: BG GB
Paynetics (Bulgaria; + UK) - card issuing, BIN sponsorship and accounts; dedicated IBANs (SEPA + SWIFT) plus UK sort-code accounts. Dual EMI: BNB (No. 44) + FCA (942777; formerly TPR 900785).
Where licences cluster - and why regulator geography is strategy - is mapped from our own register dataset in who holds Europe's fintech licences. See all verified providers headquartered there: fintech infrastructure in Bulgaria.
FAQ
Who does the Bulgarian National Bank regulate in fintech?
Bulgaria's payment institutions and e-money institutions under PSD2 - including the EMI licences behind Bulgarian card issuing and BIN sponsorship - plus the country's banks. MiCA crypto authorisations sit with the separate Financial Supervision Commission.
Can a Bulgarian EMI licence serve the whole EEA?
Yes - like any EEA authorisation it passports across all 30 states, and Bulgarian-licensed providers in this catalogue issue cards and accounts for programmes across Europe. The licence class and register row are on each profile; what differs by country is supervision style, not the passport.