The following list of banks in Bulgaria is to be understood within the framework of the European single market and European banking union, which means that Bulgaria's banking system is more open to cross-border banking operations than peers outside of the EU.
Policy framework
European banking supervision, which Bulgaria joined in 2020 in anticipation of its euro adoption in early 2026, distinguishes between significant institutions (SIs) and less significant institutions (LSIs), with SI/LSI designations updated regularly by the European Central Bank (ECB). Significant institutions are directly supervised by the ECB using joint supervisory teams that involve the national competent authorities (NCAs) of individual participating countries. Less significant institutions are supervised by the relevant NCA on a day-to-day basis, under the supervisory oversight of the ECB.[1] In Bulgaria's case, the NCA is the Bulgarian National Bank.[2]
Significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, the ECB had one Bulgarian bank in its list of significant institutions:[3]
Of the four largest banks in Bulgaria, the other three are subsidiaries of euro-area banking groups (see detailed list below):
- DSK Bank AD, subsidiary of OTP Group
- United Bulgarian Bank, subsidiary of KBC Group
- UniCredit Bulbank, subsidiary of UniCredit
- Postbank, subsidiary of Eurobank Ergasias
Less significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, the ECB's list of supervised institutions included 17 Bulgarian LSIs.[3]
High-impact LSIs
Of these, three were designated by the ECB as "high-impact" on the basis of several criteria including size:
- Bulgarian Development Bank, a public bank
- First Investment Bank AD
- Invest Capital AD, holding entity of Central Cooperative Bank (see below)
Other LSIs
The 14 other Bulgarian LSIs were as follows:
Third-country branches
As of 2025-10-13, one banking group established outside the European Economic Area had a branch in Bulgaria:[6]
Detailed information
Аll amounts are in EUR thousand.
Defunct banks
The first modern credit institution in what is now Bulgaria was the Plovdiv branch of the Imperial Ottoman Bank of the Imperial Ottoman Bank, in activity from 1878 to 1899. A number of former Bulgarian banks, defined as having been headquartered in present-day Bulgarian territory, are documented on Wikipedia. They are listed below in chronological order of establishment.
- Girdap (1881-1925)
- Bulgarian Commercial Bank (1895-1947)
- Bulgarian Postal Savings Bank (1895-1951)
- Bulgarian Popular Banks (1903-1952)
- Bulgarian Agricultural Bank (1904-1934)
- Bulgarian Central Cooperative Bank (1910-1934)
- Macedonian Cooperative Bank (1925-1947)
- Commercial Credit Bank (1929-1947)
- Macedonian National Bank (1929-1947)
- Bulgarian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank (1934-1947)
- Bulgarian Credit Bank (1934-1948)
- Bulgarian Investment Bank (1947-1967)
See also
- List of banks in the euro area
- List of banks in Europe
References
- What are less significant institutions? European Central Bank, 2024-8-2^
- Members and Observers European Banking Authority, retrieved 2025-11-19^
- List of supervised entities - Cut-off date for changes in group structures: 1 September 2025