Bcard
National Card and Payment Scheme and Discover® Expand Strategic Partnership in Card Payments
22 July 2024
July 23, 2024
The National Card and Payment Scheme (NCPS) announced the expansion of its partnership with Discover Financial Services LLC in the acceptance of Discover, Diners, and Pulse branded cards.
As part of this collaboration, the acceptance of Discover Global Network Cards will be supported by BORICA AD for technical security and through the acceptance network of NCPS participants—banks and payment institutions, owners of ATMs, and POS terminal devices.
The strategic partnership is based on a centralized operating model following NCPS rules, providing cardholders with greater convenience and access to a wide range of merchants and services throughout Bulgaria.
This model also offers advantages for participants—owners of ATMs and POS terminals, their partners, and merchants in Bulgaria—by reducing operational complexity, mitigating compliance risks, and saving costs. The new model of relationships is expected to be implemented by the end of the year.
“The model we developed, where a company like BORICA represents the terminal owners in international relations with the partner and transactions are processed according to the acceptance model of the Bulgarian bcard, is innovative in nature and an example of how business relationships with partner financial institutions can quickly enter and establish themselves,” said Stoilka Arsova, Director of the National Card and Payment Scheme.
“We have been working with the National Card and Payment Scheme for years in the region and see the benefits it brings to the industry,” said Rajiv Gupta, Vice President of International Markets at Discover. “It is a natural progression to continue developing this partnership to increase value for our cardholders and partners worldwide.”
About NCPS: The National Card and Payment Scheme (NCPS) is a system of rules, procedures, policies, and standards for defining and managing payment services. NCPS develops in the following main business lines: the Bulgarian payment card bcard, bcard e-vouchers, instant payments in BGN from account to account (blink), and centralized models for accepting cards branded by international card schemes.
About DFS: Discover Financial Services LLC is a leading payment services company with one of the most recognizable brands in financial services in the USA. Since its founding in 1986, Discover has become a leading direct banking product issuer and manages the global Discover network, which includes Discover Network, PULSE, and Diners Club International.
