Bulgarian customers of payments firm IBANFirst pay in US dollars more often than its European clients on average, according to the company's "International Payment Speed Barometer 2026". Most of the money goes to China, and it arrives there much more slowly than in the US.

The study covers more than 252,000 SWIFT payments made in 2025 by the firm's clients in Europe. Dollars made up 67% of international payments by Bulgarian businesses, against an average of 56% for European clients. The main currencies Bulgarians use are the dollar, the euro, the lev and the Chinese yuan.

The share of Bulgarian clients' payments in euros rose from 14% to 22%, while payments in leva fell from 12% to 4%. The company sees this as preparation for the euro, which began before Bulgaria officially adopted it in January 2026.

The biggest route is dollars to China, at 29% of all international payments by Bulgarian clients in 2025. Dollars to Hong Kong account for 8%, euros to Turkey 5%, and dollars to Turkey, euros to Serbia and euros to India 3% each. Dollars to the US make up 2%.

The second-largest route leads to Hong Kong, although official goods trade statistics do not list it among Bulgaria's biggest trading partners. The company says financial routes do not always match the physical flow of goods. As a financial, trade and payments hub in Asia, Hong Kong can be part of the payment route even when the trade is bound for other markets in the region.

The routes follow the main directions of Bulgaria's foreign trade. Final data from the National Statistical Institute show that imports of goods from non-EU countries rose 8.1% in 2025 from 2024. Turkey, China, Serbia and the US had the highest value.

Payments by Bulgarian clients in UAE dirhams made up 1% in 2025, against 0.03% a year earlier. Bulgarian exports to the UAE rose 31.4% over the same period, to €200m. IBANFirst links this to the UAE's growing role in 2025 as a trade and financial hub between Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Some 9% of dollar payments from Bulgaria to China arrive in under 2 hours, against 12% on average for Europe. For payments to the US, the figure is 65%. Bulgarian payments pass through 1.5 intermediary banks on average, and European ones through 1.8. The speed gap between the two routes is large, even though the average number of intermediary banks for China and for the US is very close.

The company says the main delay comes at the last stage, not from the number of intermediaries. SWIFT data show 80% of processing time goes on waiting for the recipient's bank to confirm the funds, so sending a payment more efficiently does not guarantee it arrives sooner. IBANFirst says slower payments to China come down to time zones, processing times at local banks, banking infrastructure and regulatory requirements.

A dollar payment from Europe to China goes through US correspondent banks on the same working day and reaches the recipient's bank before China's local working day starts. A payment is most likely to be processed the same day if it is sent before 11:00 (10:00 Central European Time) from Monday to Wednesday. The best time is between 9:00 and 10:00 (8:00 and 9:00 Central European Time).

In Europe, 73% of completed payments were settled in under 24 hours, against 72% in 2024. Worldwide, about half of SWIFT payments are in dollars. IBANFirst says the dependence on the dollar comes from a network of interbank links in dollars, built up over decades around financial centres in the US and Europe. It says this network has no real rival, including the euro.