Important! Bulgaria’s ATMs to Pause for Hours on New Year’s Eve During Euro Switch

On the night of December 31 to January 1, ATMs across Bulgaria will experience a brief technological pause lasting approximately 2–3 hours, Assoc. Prof. Dr. James Yolovski, Secretary General of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria, told Nova TV. This short outage is part of the country’s transition to the euro, and authorities stress that citizens do not need to take any special preparatory measures.

ATMs will be equipped with both leva and euro banknotes in separate cassettes, a system designed to improve on experiences seen in other countries like Croatia. During the outage, card payments and ATM withdrawals will be temporarily unavailable, but operations will gradually resume in the early hours of January 1, dispensing only euro notes.

Citizens holding cash are advised to remain calm, as there is no rush to exchange or spend leva. Throughout January 2026, commercial establishments will continue accepting leva banknotes and coins. Additionally, banks will exchange all leva cash free of charge until the end of June 2026, applying the official fixed conversion rate.

Regarding bank accounts and cards, no action is needed from account holders. All leva accounts will be automatically converted to euros at no cost. If a person holds both leva and euro accounts, they will temporarily have two euro accounts, which can later be merged without fees. Existing bank cards will remain valid, with all fees recalculated according to the fixed rate, and rounding will always favor the client.

On the matter of system stability, Assoc. Prof. Yolovski emphasized that there is no risk. Banks have been preparing for the transition since 2020–2021, conducting extensive tests to ensure a smooth process. While some temporary load or interruptions may occur during the initial hours of the transition, the financial system is fully capable of handling the change without threatening stability.