As we reflect on the past twelve months, the Bulgarian Fintech Association (BFA) is thrilled to share the numerous achievements and milestones that have shaped our journey in 2023. Despite the challenges faced globally, our commitment to fostering innovation, education, and collaboration within the fintech landscape has remained unwavering.
Events
The biggest Bulgarian delegation at Seamless Europe 2023
This year BFA is proud that it gathered an “army” with one of the most successful fintech companies and showcased the Buglarian Fintech landscape before investors and representatives of the fintech sector globally. The Bulgarian delegation consituted of 30+ people from Easy Payment Services, Evrotrust, Mastercard Bulgaria, Notolytix, Payware LLC, Qaiware, Taulia Bulgaria and 7Security.
The Blockchain and Crypto Conf’ 2023
The first edition of Blockchain and Crypto Conf’23, held on April 24 at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” Aula “Magna,” marked a significant milestone in the collaboration between the Bulgarian Fintech Association (BFA) and Sofia University. The conference, a key component of the joint Master’s program “Finance, Investments and Fintech” at FEBA, Sofia University, brought together renowned professors from the university and experts from the blockchain and crypto sectors.
Money 20/20 Amsterdam 2023
Georgi Penev, Director of BFA, showcased his expertise as a speaker at Money 20/20 in Amsterdam, one of the premier finance and fintech events globally. He actively participated in a panel discussion, together with Maria Staszkiewicz and Niklas Sandqvist from the European Digital Finance Association focusing on the intricacies of building a robust fintech ecosystem.
FinTech Explained Series
Our ongoing FinTech Explained Series continued to bring together enthusiasts and experts to discuss leading topics in fintech, regulations and finance. These events fostered knowledge exchange and networking opportunities.
Read more here
FinTech Education
BFA and its academic partners
BFA has continued to work with its academic partners from Sofia University by launching the Master’s programme in Finance, Investments and FinTech for a fourth consecutive year. BFA has also built a strong partnership with VUZF, where the association will be working on three Master’s programmes. The association also reached the Black Sea coast by visiting the University of Economics – Varna and establishing new valuable connections with the community there.
From Zero To Fintech
As part of the Master’s Programme at Sofia University, BFA organized the consecutive Fintech Hackathon in which 45 people in six teams took part in it. The hackathon kicked-off with a nearly 5-hour workshop session on 18th March, continued with mentor sessions with each team, and finished with an awarding ceremony on 26 March.
Read the full article here
Fintech Career Day ‘23
The Fintech Career Day offered a unique platform for students to engage with some of Bulgaria’s fastest-growing fintech companies. Distinguished organizations including Paysafe, MyCFO, Credissimo, Paynetics, Cashwave, and IRIS Solutions took center stage, presenting insightful pitch sessions. Students gained firsthand knowledge about each company’s business operations, organizational culture, and future prospects.
Read the full article here
BFA and VUZF partnership
In October 2023, VUZF, in partnership with BFA, started three distinct Master’s programs in fintech. These curricula are Fintech, Finance, and Digital Innovation Insurance Business and Financial Technologies and Finance and Ecological Accountancy and are all taught in Bulgarian.
Regulatory
The Fintech Meet-Up 2023
On December 5th the BFA community had the pleasure to participate in an open discussion with the EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, which took place at FEBA, Sofia University. Throughout the event, Zornitsa Nikolova, founder of Digamont, shared perspectives on financial literacy and introduced their platform for financial planning. Merdihan Ismailov of IRIS Solutions provided insights into the company’s contributions to the realm of Open Banking.
The dialogue underscored the significance of open communication between the public and private sectors and academia. Commissioner McGuinness’s engagement reflected a commitment to understanding Bulgaria’s role in the burgeoning fintech hubs of Southeast Europe.
Community and Partnerships: Growing Together
In 2023 our community expanded with 13 new members, representing a total of 72 companies and two universities. Our relationships with the public and private sector improved and straightened resulting in various partnerships with the Financial Supervision Commission of Bulgaria, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Bulgaria, the European Commission, OECD, European Digital Finance Association, etc.
