Bulbank's prototype, the Bulgarian Foreign Trade Bank, started in 1964 as a fully state-owned bank, with a paid-up capital of BGL 40 million and statutory specialisation in foreign trade payments and finance.

Representative offices of the Bank in London, Frankfurt, and Vienna were opened during the next two decades.

BFTB took part of the establishment of two joint stock companies in 1987 and 1998 — Bayerisch-Bulgarische Handelsbank GmbH (after 1998, HypoVereinsbank Bulgaria) with Bayerische Vereinsbank (HVB) and Bulgarsovinvest (after 1994, Corporate Commercial Bank) with Vnesheconombank, respectively.

Bulbank was the first Bulgarian bank to adopt SWIFT codes, whereby it significantly strengthened its operational performance and enhanced the reliability of its transactions.

In 2001 Bulbank's major shareholder, UniCredito, sold minor stakes to the Italian SIMEST S.p.A., Rome, and the International Finance Corporation — 2,5% and 5,3% of the share capital respectively.