The Bulgarian National Bank has stolen a march of many of its more developed rivals by agreeing to adopt the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) standard no later than 1 June 2006.
The standard will facilitate the automated processing of cross-border payments, without the need for re-keying or translation of instructions to enter the Bulgarian payments system. IBAN works by adding a country code and control number to a bank account number.
“The new standard supports the financial integration of Bulgaria into the Eurozone,” says Misoslav Velikov, head of custody at HVB Bank Biochim AD in Sofia. “The legal framework for money transfers and payment systems is already harmonized with EU legislation, so this new measure will further facilitate the integration of the Bulgarian payments system into wider European payments systems.”