4 companies making waves in the FinTech industry in Bulgaria

By Gloria Methri

Bulgaria is rapidly becoming a leading hub for financial technology start-ups in southeast Europe. There are 223 FinTech start-ups in the country, of which 173 are headquartered in capital Sofia alone. The city is famous for having the second-fastest broadband service in the world.

The lower cost of living compared with the rest of the EU also contributes to the growth of start-ups in Bulgaria. In 2023, the market’s largest segment is predicted to be Digital Payments with a total transaction value of $3,520 million.

Let’s look at four start-ups revolutionising the FinTech space in Bulgaria.

• Cash Credit

Cash Credit is an innovative FinTech company offering micro-finance services in cooperation with mobile telecom operators and other partners. The company uses a proprietary credit scoring approach to offer quick credit decisions to consumers, with billing through their partner operators. Headquartered in Sofia, Cash Credit partners with the country’s two largest mobile network operators, MTEL and GLOBUL.

• phyre

phyre is a mobile payment application. Users need to register themselves and load the account using payment cards. Phyre offers loyalty cards that can be scanned using the app to complete payments. It also offers splitting bills. The app, available on Android and iOS platforms, can be used to send money and save loyalty and reward cards. It charges a monthly fee of € 1.

• Klear

Founded in 2015, Klear is a peer-to-peer lending platform that connects borrowers with lenders. It also offers financial education tools and debt advice.

• iCard

iCard is a FinTech company delivering innovative end-to-end payment solutions in over 30 countries in Europe. The company’s FinTech portfolio spans not only the iCard digital wallet, but also iCard for Business, card issuing and transaction processing with iCard Direct, cash machines from iCard ATM, prepaid cards from GiftCard, and many more.