🇧🇬 Monzo in Bulgaria

[basenji_b (Diana Danova)]

Yeah, no issues at all

[Katpenb (Katie Penberthy)]

I agree and had the same experience. I now always have to carry a back up card as monzo can’t always be relied upon like mainstream banks

[vebaev]

Apple Pay showing the same error invalid card, is there a chance Apple Pay is generating different version of this BIN which is rejected by BORICA again on the contactless POS?

[GalaxyMergirl (eden)]

NO card can be relied upon. I’ve had far fewer issues with Monzo (not in Bulgaria but overall) than most cards. I always say at least three different issuers and networks should be carried at all times.

[vebaev]

Most probably this is the issue as I found in Apple Pay dev pages that “This BIN will differ from the BIN of the underlying card“

[davebeez (David)]

Diana, where in Bulgaria did you go?

I’m going to Bansko next week so trying to find out if I can rely on Monzo for ATM / restaurant payments.

[basenji_b (Diana Danova)]

Hi, I was only in Sofia and Plovdiv and had no problems with the card. Not sure about Bansko, but it’s a touristy place so imagine businesses would be taking cards. Maybe ask the place where you’re staying?

Diana Danova

mod note: edited to remove personal info

[davebeez (David)]

Thanks for responding Diana…
I’ve ended up getting cash to cover all bases.

I’ll give the card a go to check.

[JFarrell (Jon)]

Hi David, I too am going to Bansko this week. Hopefully it works out, I’ve put all my eggs in one basket! Fingers crossed. Will let you know how I get on.

[melvsz (Melvin C)]

Just came back from Bulgaria (Sofia and Plovdiv specifically)

No issues using Monzo card. Ranging from restaurants to supermarkets to local corner shops + Vitosha mountain cable car.

[Hay1970 (Hayley)]

Can I use my card while on holiday in Bulgaria?

[Ordog]

There’s a whole topic discussing peoples experience with using Monzo in Bulgaria below…

Hope this helps

Monzo in Bulgaria [Wiki]

This is a wiki crowdsourced by the Monzo Community to help you travel with Monzo. Just like Wikipedia, anyone can edit it to help out others. If you have any tips or feedback for visiting Bulgaria with Monzo, please feel free to edit this guide. You can also add a comment or question below — someone will then incorporate your comment into the main text below and then delete your comment. To create your own “Monzo in …” guide if one doesn’t already exist, just copy this template into a new post …

and here:

Monzo in Bulgaria

I just spent two weeks in Bulgaria. Unfortunately could not use the card anywhere where they use Bulbank (Bulgarian United Bank) or Raiffeisen Bank terminals. It turn out most shops had their tills connected to either of those two banks. I tried numerous times at numerous supermarkets, shops, restaurants and coffee shops - got the same error - Card number invalid. The same goes for ATMs. I used the card a few times on different ATMs - works perfectly fine with the notification popping up on my …

[Hay1970 (Hayley)]

Thank you. That’s all I needed to know. Will make sure I take enough cash or just transfer it to my friend

[welshguy99]

If you read to the end of that thread you’ll see that most recent visits to Bulgaria have had no issues using Monzo. That was certainly my experience when I was there.

I used 2 different ATMs to withdraw cash, and my card about 20 times in various locations. Worked fine every time