There are two basic reasons for being able or obliged to open a current account in Bulgaria : you can do it out of obligation or for convenience. Let's analyze the two situations in greater detail and also see what types of customers may need a certain type of account rather than another.
Residents
Let's start with the first case: obligation. When are you obligated? Well, you may be forced to open a current account in Bulgaria if you decide to move your business here. The obligation would simply derive from the fact that, operating in Bulgaria, it would be much more convenient, also to avoid tax problems with the country of origin, to also center your banking drawer here in Bulgaria. In this situation, i.e. that of someone who has completely moved their business and residence to Bulgaria, you would find yourself opening a "resident" current account; the procedures are very similar to the Italian ones. In fact, during the opening phase, you will be asked to produce very basic documentation: usually a tax document and an identity document. If, however, you intend to open an account for a legal person (company, personal business, VAT number, etc.) then the procedure could be slightly more complicated: it is no coincidence that specialized consultancy companies like us at VR and Partnes offer integrated opening services current account (with possible credit card request) both for companies relocated here in Bulgaria and for private individuals, we will take care of all the bureaucratic aspects necessary for completing the procedures for opening these types of accounts .
Not residents
But, as anticipated, you could decide to open a current account in Bulgaria simply for personal convenience, and not for a real work need: perhaps you could decide to open such an account when you still maintain your residence (personal and corporate) in Italy. It's possible? Absolutely yes. If from Italy you want to open a personal current account in Bulgaria you will not have to do anything different from what you would do in Italy: choose the bank, send your identity and tax documents via email and finally sign the contract, even digitally. If, however, you have a business in Italy and decide to open a company current account in Bulgaria you will have to produce some more documents and, specifically: the deed of incorporation of your business, its registration in the tax registration system, and the powers of attorney for the various people who will be authorized to work on the account. Even in these two cases, i.e. in the situation of Italian individuals or companies resident in Italy, we at VR and Partners we are ready to provide all the support you need through our specialized consultancy.
Costs and risks
We conclude our analysis of current accounts in Bulgaria by talking about costs and risks. Let's start with the costs: they are exactly the same as the Italian ones, between 50 and 100 euros per year on average, a little lower for completely online products. Nothing special to report from this point of view.
Are there any risks in opening a bank account in Bulgaria? Absolutely not. First of all because Bulgaria joins SEPA and therefore you have freedom of movement of money (transfers, payments and more) within this circuit. For those who don't know, Sepa is the acronym for "single euro payments area", and indicates the area of payments in euros between entities in the countries belonging to the SEPA area, i.e. the 28 countries of the European Union. Furthermore, as in Italy, in Bulgaria there is protection for current accounts up to 100 thousand euros in the event of default or bankruptcy of the bank. Finally, the LEV (Bulgarian currency)-Euro exchange rate is blocked: therefore, even if you were to open an account in LEV, you would not risk seeing your deposit lose value as this currency does not devalue compared to the Euro, keeping the exchange rate fixed.
