How BORICA and Ingenico Are Building a Scalable, Mobile-First Acceptance Framework in Bulgaria

BORICA, Bulgaria’s national card processor and payment service provider, plays a central role in enabling secure and reliable electronic payments across the country. Serving banks and payment institutions nationwide, BORICA continuously evolves its infrastructure to meet changing merchant needs and rising consumer expectations.

As commerce becomes increasingly mobile and digital-first, BORICA saw an opportunity to complement its existing POS ecosystem with more flexible acceptance options. While traditional POS terminals remain essential for many merchants, certain segments (such as micro, seasonal, or highly mobile businesses) benefit from lighter, faster‑to‑deploy alternatives that reduce operational hurdles.

To remove these barriers and modernize the last mile of payments, BORICA turned to Ingenico SoftPOS.

Removing Friction from Merchant Acceptance

SoftPOS allows any NFC-enabled Android device to become a secure contactless acceptance terminal. By eliminating the need for dedicated hardware, BORICA enabled its client banks to onboard merchants faster, reduce upfront costs, and offer more flexible acquiring models.

For merchants, activation is quick and seamless, allowing them to start accepting payments almost immediately. This brings particular value to on‑the‑go use cases such as couriers, field services, events, pop‑up stores, and delivery operations where mobility and ease of setup are essential.

Why Ingenico SoftPOS?

Security, compliance, and scalability were non-negotiable. Ingenico SoftPOS met all scheme requirements for contactless acceptance on consumer devices, while offering proven expertise in acquiring and payment acceptance.

The solution’s flexible architecture allowed smooth integration into BORICA’s existing processing and onboarding ecosystem. Equally important, Ingenico’s operational maturity, from deployment and monitoring to updates and lifecycle management, made it possible to scale SoftPOS as part of a national infrastructure.

From Pilot to National Scale

BORICA approached the rollout as a controlled, payments-grade delivery program. After a structured design and integration phase, pilot deployments validated user experience, acceptance rates, and operational readiness.

With standardized onboarding and refined technical playbooks, integration timelines dropped from 3 to 4 months to as little as 1 to 1.5 months. Today, SoftPOS is offered either as a white-label solution for client banks or through BORICA’s own bPOS by BORICA application.

Real Results, Measurable Impact

Three years after its first SoftPOS deployment, BORICA now supports:

• 3 white-label SoftPOS applications

• 6,000+ merchants onboarded

• 8,500 users across 6,800 terminals

Beyond scale, SoftPOS delivers long-term value through faster innovation cycles, simplified operations, and expanded acceptance coverage across Bulgaria.

Strengthening a National Payments Ecosystem

For BORICA, SoftPOS is more than a new acceptance product. It reinforces its role as a national enabler of modern, scalable payment services, supporting banks in reaching underserved merchant segments while accelerating electronic payment adoption nationwide.

By adding software-driven acceptance capabilities, BORICA is better positioned for a future defined by mobile commerce, higher customer expectations, and evolving security requirements, without being constrained by hardware replacement cycles.

Looking Ahead

With Ingenico SoftPOS, BORICA is laying the groundwork for a more flexible and digitally oriented payments landscape. The initiative strengthens Bulgaria’s ability to support new business models, empower emerging merchant categories, and continuously innovate in a fast‑moving market.