System for Electronic Payments (SEP Bulgaria) had been licensed by Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) to operate as a payment system operator, using "mobile payment," a BNB media statement said on November 22.

The mobile payment system was a form of payment in which transactions were initiated via mobile phone. SEP guaranteed security via a multi-level identification system using PIN and CLIP codes, as well as cryptographic security of the communication channel on the GSM network, BNB said.

SEP was the first to introduce the service in Bulgaria, the company said in a media statement.

"SEP mission is to create a secure electronic medium for public electronic services and to provide free access to these services for every Bulgarian citizen from every location of the country at any time, through the development of wide spread technological infrastructure," SEP said.

"Mobile payments are a new type of non-cash transfer in the country, which complement the traditional types of payments and allow the banks to extend the range of offered payment services. The technological development and the wide spread use of mobile communications are conditions for the existence of innovative forms of non-cash payments and bring Bulgaria into the group of countries, which continuously develop and improve their services in the area of payments," the BNB media statement said.