Here you’ll find answers to the most common questions about Bulgarian lev (BGN) transfers.
From 15 December 2025, you’ll only be able to send and receive EUR from Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is scheduled to officially adopt the EUR as its national currency on 1 January 2026, replacing the BGN, in accordance with the Law for the Euro Implementation (LEI). So, from 15 December 2025, you’ll no longer be able to send, spend, receive or convert BGN using Wise.
It's important to be aware that while most banks will deposit EUR directly into your accounts, some may convert it to BGN before doing so until 1 January 2026. We will stop processing card payouts to BGN after 15 December 2025. All BGN card recipients will be closed.
How this will impact your Wise account:
Creating new BGN recipients and adding money
From 8 December 2025, you won’t be able to add new BGN recipients, open any new BGN jars, or add BGN to your main account. This won’t affect your current BGN recipients you already have in your account — you’ll be able to continue using these as normal until 15 December 2025.
Updating your BGN recipients
From 15 December to 17 December, we'll update your BGN recipients so you can keep using them to send EUR to Bulgaria. BGN card payouts to EUR are no longer available after 15 December 2025, so BGN card recipients will be closed.
Holding BGN in your account
If you have BGN in your main account or in a jar, you can convert it to another currency with Wise — using the mid-market rate — until 15 December. After that, we’ll automatically convert any BGN you may have in your account to EUR using the official fixed rate of 1.95583 BGN = 1 EUR.
For full transparency, account statements will continue to show historical BGN balances and your EUR equivalents, especially for transactions completed before the conversion date.
Sending and receiving BGN
If you have any pending transfers after 15 December 2025, we’ll convert your payments to EUR before completing them. We’ll use the official fixed official rate of 1.95583 BGN = 1 EUR.
Sending to BGN until 15 December 2025
Who can I send BGN to?
You can send BGN to any bank account and card in Bulgaria.
What information do I need about my recipient?
You’ll need to know their full name, bank account number, or card number.
Sending to IBAN recipients
In Bulgaria, this is a code called an IBAN which is usually 22 characters long, and contains a mix of letters and numbers.
Sending to Card recipients:
You’ll need to know the full cardholder name and the card number, which is usually 13-21 number digits.
We can’t send BGN to a card number associated with a business account.
How much can I send?
IBAN recipients
You can send up to 2 million BGN per transfer.
Card recipients
You can send a minimum of 5 BGN and up to 3,900 BGN per transfer.
How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?
IBAN recipients
Once Wise receives and converts your money, it usually takes 0–1 working days to arrive in your recipient’s bank account. Conversion can take up to 2 working days.
We’ll always give you an estimate for how long your transfer will take when you set it up.
Learn more about how long transfers take
Card recipients
Once Wise receives and converts your money, it arrives instantly to your recipient’s bank account
Are there any restrictions on sending to BGN?
You can’t use Wise to pay tax, insurance, or other fees to Bulgarian government accounts. This is because these payments are not standard domestic payments.
You also can't use Wise to send money to universities.
Sending from BGN
What types of transfers can I use to send BGN?
There are 3 different transfer types: Fast and Easy transfers, Low Cost transfers, and transfers from your Wise balances.
Learn more about these types of transfers
How much can I send?
You can send up to 2 million BGN per transfer, depending on how you pay. If you pay by card, for example, the limit is lower — but you’ll only see the option to pay by card if you’re sending less than the limit.
Where can I send from?
You can only send BGN to Wise from banks within Bulgaria. We do not accept BGN via Swift.
How long does it usually take for the money to arrive?
It usually takes 0–2 working days for your money to get to Wise, depending on how you pay for your transfer. Then, we convert it and send it out. Conversion can take up to 2 working days.
Check the guide for the currency you’re sending to for an estimate on how long it will take to arrive in your recipient’s account after we send it out.
Are there any restrictions on sending BGN?
Because of how we are regulated, we can’t accept cash deposits.
I’ve cancelled my payment, how long will my refund take?
We’ll let you know when we’ve refunded your money. The time it takes for you to get your refund depends on how you paid,
Bank transfer refunds deliver the same or next working day
Card payments take 2-10 working days
Make sure to wait until the above time frame has passed before getting in touch about a refund — we’re not able to speed up the process.