Bulgarian payment and card operator Borika and its technology partner Openway have won the PAY360 Awards 2026 prize for "best partnership initiative" for moving Bulgaria's payments to the euro, Borika said. The awards ceremony took place in London.

Payment systems did not stop once without warning during the switch to the euro. On 1 January 2026, 20 seconds after midnight, the first euros were withdrawn from a cash machine. In the first 48 hours, cards and cash machines handled more than 930,000 transactions worth nearly €42m.

Borika runs Bulgaria's national payment services and coordinates the firms that take part in payments. Openway provides the technology on its Way4 platform, which handles digital payments in real time. The two firms have worked together since 2018, when they began to upgrade how card payments are processed in Bulgaria. The euro was the toughest real-life test of their partnership.

The national payment system was rebuilt without any halt to card payments or cash machines, which took euros from the first minute.

Before the switch, the firms ran large-scale tests, simulations and live rehearsals, and worked closely together on card processing. More than 35 banks, payment providers, fintech firms, state bodies and technology partners took part in the preparations and in the switch itself.

For Borika, the award recognises the long partnership and its part in one of the biggest changes in Bulgaria's payment sector. The project stood out for its scale, its long span and its real impact.

In July, the two firms also won two Global Transaction Banking Innovation Awards 2026, presented by The Digital Banker, for their role in Bulgaria's move to euro payments.