With another innovation UBB makes the investment process easy and accessible for every Bulgarian citizen who has a phone and a debit card. This became clear during the official presentation of the investment service InResto. It took place on 22.10.2024 in One Gallery, Sofia.

InResto will be available in the new version of UBB Mobile. As the name chosen by the bank suggests, it will turn into an investment the change from each purchase the customer makes with the card of his choice.

"In recent years, we have been working to make the process of investing more accessible to ever more people Bulgaria. We want to help our customers to build some reserves for the future. Already back in 2021, UBB offered a regular investment savings via UBB Mobile : with only a few clicks anyone can become a regular investor, for as low an amount of 10 BGN. With InResto, we go a step further : everyone will be able to turn their spare change into an investment which works for them. " said Peter Roebben, Country Manager of KBC Group in Bulgaria and CEO of UBB.

InResto allows anyone to log in to UBB Mobile and select one or more of their cards. The product rounds up each payment to one lev and sets it aside in a "virtual cashier". After accumulating a sum of BGN 10, it will be transferred to an investment fund managed by KBC Asset Management. All round-ups can be monitored in a special menu in the app. InResto also has a “Turbo” function with which customers can multiply the value of their change by two, three or even five times.  

"Our mission is to make investing accessible and easy for everyone. Our experience shows that many clients are afraid to invest because they lack knowledge and are risk-averse. We thought about how to connect spending money with investing and so we created, first in Belgium, then in the Czech Republic and now in Bulgaria, a product that allows you to invest when you shop. By opening your mobile phone, without using advisors, you start investing with small but regular contributions, which is the best solution for those who are entering the world of investments for the first time," said Johan Lema, CEO of KBC Asset Management.

The data show that in Bulgaria the number of issued cards is higher than the population and the share of contactless card payments at POS terminals in the country reaches 80% of all card transactions. InResto is a product that can make an important link between people's natural consumer behavior and the creation of investment habits.

"Every habit is created on the basis of another. Bulgarians have a strong tendency to consume, but they have not yet developed habits in the field of investing. We see huge potential in our market to increase the share of investment products as part of the financial assets of Bulgarian households. We believe that InResto, which has no analogue on the Bulgarian market, will make investing accessible to all and will contribute to promoting investment culture and behavior. InResto is not just another innovation, but also part of the responsible behavior we have as a bank in the market", added Tatyana Ivanova, Executive Director Digital Channels, Data and Operations of UBB, Innovation Leader of KBC Group in Bulgaria.

Peter Roebben, Johan Lema and Tatiana Ivanova gave a symbolic "launch" of InResto, after which Elena Nasalewska, General Manager of UBB Digital Channels and Kate, gave a demonstration of the product to the journalists, guests of the event.