Comment by Emilia Milcheva:
The euro is in Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian hit song “I have no change!” keeps on going. Sellers in the markets don't have euro coins to return change, it's easier for them to return pennies – or they just round up. Cashiers get confused while returning pennies. Some even find a way to get rid of the yellow bell, paying bills in pennies to the horror of the sellers – and infuriating the others in line. And all this because small traders don't want to deal with exchange and formalities. Many of them did not keep change boxes before and are trying to avoid fees and formalities. This will be the case until the process with the new currency is regulated and more and more people start paying through POS terminals.
385 tyra with stotinki
There are still a lot of stotinki in Bulgaria, and probably levs as well. According to BNB data, the banknotes available for withdrawal are about 640 tons (about 32 tyra) and about 7,700 tons of stotinki (about 385 tyra). And in just two days - December 29 and 30, over 1 billion leva were deposited in Bulgarian banks.
In Croatia, two years after the introduction of the euro, citizens still hold 4.3 billion kuna, of which 3.1 billion in banknotes and 1.2 billion in coins. According to local media reports, only 27% of the coins, whose return deadline expired at the end of 2025, have been exchanged.
The problem with small change in Bulgaria is not the number of planned starter packs with euro coins, which quickly ran out. For citizens, the set contained 42 euro coins of all denominations with a total value of 10 euros and 23 cents and was sold for 20 leva. The starter set for merchants included 420 euro coins for 102 euros and 30 cents and cost 200 leva.
The old tradition of paying in cash
The reasons are deeper - Bulgaria is lagging behind with electronic payments, and Bulgarians adhere to the age-old tradition of paying in cash. Cash leaves no trace, a significant part of economically active citizens receive cash as part of their salaries (even whole ones), trust in electronic payments is not particularly high. There is also no good high-speed internet coverage in small settlements. That is why the sight of pensioners withdrawing money before shopping in a store continues to surprise foreigners.
In addition, not all small businesses can afford the costs of POS terminals and transaction fees, while in other countries payments up to a certain amount are exempt from such. That is why almost every taxi driver hides the device in the glove compartment of his car.
Of course, the lack of POS devices “helps” to hide turnover, and therefore taxes. (Although paying with a card in itself does not automatically mean reported turnover, since not the POS terminal, but the cash register must be connected to the National Revenue Agency (NRA). In order to be reported, the merchant must issue a cash receipt for a non-cash payment, since the receipt from the terminal is not a fiscal receipt.)
However, when introducing the euro, POS devices are a good solution because the problem with change disappears, the customer pays the exact amount, there is no confusion with the exchange rate, and the service is faster.
Lightening up the shady business
According to Statista data, by the end of 2024, nearly 173 thousand POS terminals were operating in Bulgaria, while in Greece, according to data from 2022, there were about 205 thousand. But Greece is accelerating cashless payments in order to lighten the economy by incorporating them into the tax and banking infrastructure. With the Greek IRIS system, payments go directly from account to account, without cards and without intermediaries, are reported in real time, and from December 1, 2019, businesses are required to accept payments through this system - via a POS terminal or QR code. The information goes directly to the tax authorities. In addition, the requirement that rents be paid only by bank transfer has been introduced.
Cashless payments are increasing
A breath of optimism with the new currency has also been felt in Bulgaria. Data from the first 48 hours in the eurozone shows that citizens prefer cashless payments. According to BORICA, the national card payments organization, in just two days the system has processed over 804,000 POS transactions worth over 20 million euros, with an average amount of nearly 25 euros per payment. ATM withdrawals exceeded 125,000 transactions for more than 18 million euros.
BORICA notes that the data "sends a clear signal: cashless payment is now a basic expectation, not an extra. "With over 86% of the number of payments made through POS, merchants without the option of cashless payment are effectively excluding themselves from the most active flow of customers and purchases in the new currency environment".
In an attempt to calm Bulgarian citizens who are upset about prices, the National Revenue Agency, the Consumer Protection Commission and the Competition Protection Commission are announcing “increased inspections” in stores. But they can also go to the markets to check the vendors at the stalls – are they really agricultural producers, since they are not obliged to use cash registers, or are they just another reseller in the chain.
Anti-corruption measures and cash control
To what extent will the euro “whiten” The Bulgarian economy depends primarily on anti-corruption measures, effective control over cash payments and tracing the origin of funds.
For example, no one checks the origin of the money used to pay mortgage payments in cash, as long as they are under 10,000 leva - even if they are higher than the debtor's declared income. Bulgaria is the only one in the EU that remained on the "grey list" of risky countries that have problems with money laundering.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed it there in 2023, and despite the action plan adopted at the time, some of the recommendations have not been implemented. The next regular government will have to take up this work, and it also includes limiting cash.