HUNGARY
Hungary has a population of 9.6 million people and a GDP of €196bn in 2023. The country belongs to the group of high-income countries. It has been a NATO member since 1999 and became a member of the European Union in May 2004, but remains outside the Eurozone.
Hungary’s GDP contracted in 2023 due to high inflation and interest rates and weaker external demand. A gradual recovery is expected as economic activity began to recover in 2024-Q1, with inflation at 3.7% mid 2024. In 2023, public debt was down to 73.5% of GDP from 80% in 2020, but it is expected to slightly rise to 74.3% in 2024. Nevertheless, GDP is expected to grow by 2.4% in 2024 and 3.5% in 2025.
Investment is being held back in 2024 by fiscal consolidation efforts and an overcapacity of commercial real estate, but it is projected to rebound in 2025, driven by rising capacity utilisation, large FDI-financed projects, and government support schemes for the purchase and renovation of dwellings.
Relations with the EU must continue to be monitored, since the government continues to carry a tough nationalist stance, an anti-immigration policy and a crackdown on civil society. However, Hungary’s attractiveness for foreign direct investment has remained strong, based on cheap labour costs and economies of scale related to the size of its manufacturing sector.
Summary
BNP Paribas has been established in Hungary since 1978, with a business centre in Budapest. Customers benefit from a dedicated corporate customer service team including Hungarian, French and English language support, and flexible, tailored solutions.
Currency
- Hungary uses the Hungarian forint (HUF).
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Exchange rate HUF per USD | 281.52 | 274.43 | 270.21 | 290.66 | 308.00 |
Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.
- The Hungarian central bank is the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB – www.mnb.hu).
- The MNB is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).
Bank Supervision
- Hungarian banks are supervised by the MNB’s Directorate for Credit Institutions and Financial Enterprises Supervision.
Bank accounts
- A company is considered resident in Hungary if it is incorporated under Hungarian law and has a resident registered office.
| Within HUNGARY | Outside HUNGARY | |
| Local Currency | Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
| Foreign Currency | Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
| Within HUNGARY | Outside HUNGARY | |
| Local Currency | Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
| Foreign Currency | Permitted without restriction, fully convertible. |
Not applicable. |
- Lifting fees vary from bank to bank.
Factoring
Hungary is serviced from Poland.
Please consult the Polish pages.
BNP Paribas Cash Management Capabilities
| Cash collections | |
| Cheque collections | |
| Direct debit collections | |
| Domestic incoming transfers | |
| Virtual IBAN | |
| Virtual accounts | |
| International incoming transfers | |
| Card acquiring |
| Cash withdrawals | |
| Cheque payments | |
| Direct debit payments | |
| Domestic outgoing transfers | |
| Commercial cards | |
| Virtual cards | |
| International outgoing transfers | |
| SWIFT gpi | |
| Real-time international payments through BNP Paribas’ network | |
| Card issuing |
| Local e-Banking | |
| Global e-Banking - Connexis | |
| SWIFT/ host to host |
Payments & collections
There has been a shift towards greater use of electronic payment instruments in Hungary, with a rapid growth in the use of both electronic credit transfers and payment cards, particularly debit cards. Ninety-two percent of all cards issued are contactless.
In March 2020, the MNB launched an instant payments service (AFR) to enable consumers to initiate payments with a value up to HUF 10 million (approximately EUR 28,000) using only the mobile phone number of the recipient. In 2020, 94 million transactions were processed with a value of HUF 14,414 billion.
There is no national electronic banking standard in Hungary; most banks offer MultiCash, as well as proprietary services. Spectra, a domestic e-banking system, is also available. Transaction and balance reporting, automated end-of-day sweeping, and some transaction initiation services are available on a domestic and cross-border basis.
Online and mobile banking services are provided by most Hungarian banks. An estimated 8.4 million accounts were accessed online in 2019. Online electronic invoice and bill presentment is increasing used by Hungarian companies.
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| System holidays |
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| Interbank CLEARING SYSTEM (ICS) | Type |
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- Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and to make tax and treasury payments.
- High-value and urgent domestic credit transfers are settled in real time via VIBER.
- High-value and urgent EUR-denominated cross-border credit transfers can be settled with end-of-day value by the Euro Banking Association’s EURO1 system. OTP Bank is Hungary’s only participant bank in EURO1.
- High-value, cross-border credit transfers in domestic and other currencies can be processed via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
- Low-value and non-urgent credit transfers, known as giro credit transfers, are settled on a same-day or next-day basis via the ICS.
- There are two types of low-value and non-urgent credit transfer in Hungary, the ordinary transfer instruction and the multiple transfer instruction (direct credit). Multiple transfer instructions are typically used to manage bulk payments.
- SEPA credit transfers can be settled via STEP2 (accessed indirectly via international networks). Twenty-five banks in Hungary participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
- The European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) enables the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value is EUR 100,000) to another account in less than ten seconds.
- EBA Clearing and Italy’s SIA Group have developed and implemented a pan-European platform for instant EUR payments called RT1. It is fully compliant with the SCT Insts scheme and is in line with the ISO 20022 global messaging standards for instant payments.
- EBA Clearing has launched a pan-European request to pay (R2P) infrastructure solution with the support of 27 payment service providers from 11 countries. The new 24/7 service is compatible with the SCT and SCT Inst schemes and allows payees to take the initiative to request a specific payment from the payer.
- TIPS is a pan-European service for the settlement of instant payments in central bank money. The service enables payment service providers and ACHs with access to TARGET2 to offer fund transfers 24/7, 365 days a year. TIPS is aligned with SCT Insts. It is primarily focused on EUR payments but is technically capable of settling payments denominated in other currencies.
- The AFR instant payment system is compatible with the SCT Inst scheme and supports domestic credit transfers up to a maximum of HUF 10 million (EUR 32,000). The system operates 24/7/365. Customers are able to initiate transfers applying secondary account IDs (mobile phone numbers, e-mail addresses, tax ID/tax number) without using the account numbers. In 2020, 94 million transactions were processed with a value of HUF 14,414 billion.
- Direct debits are used for regular payments, such as utility bills.
- Direct debits can be cleared on an overnight basis via InterGIRO, or bilaterally between banks.
- SEPA direct debit CORE and B2B SEPA direct debit schemes are available in Hungary and can be settled via STEP2. Two banks in Hungary participate in the SEPA direct debit scheme.
- Cheques are rarely used in Hungary.
- Cheques are cleared bilaterally between banks.
- Card payments are increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions.
- There were 9.8 million payment cards in circulations in Q1 2021: 8.6 million were debit cards and 1.2 million credit cards. Of the total, approximately 9.1 million were contactless. The ratio of contactless payments as a percentage of all in-store transactions reached 97% in Q1 2021.
- Visa and MasterCard-branded payment cards are the most widely issued.
- Visa and MasterCard credit card payments can be cleared by the card provider. Net settlement is via MKB Bank.
- Card payments can also be settled via SIA Central Europe.
- All cards issued are SEPA-compliant with EMV chips.
- There were 4,974 ATMs in Hungary at the end of Q1 2021.
- There were 212,173 POS terminals in Hungary at the end of Q1 2021.
- All ATMs and POS terminals are EMV-compliant.
- Reloadable pre-paid cards are available.
- Mobile wallet schemes such as Apple Pay and Google Pay are available although usage is low.
- There were 3.5 million mobile payment accounts registered at the end of Q1 2021.
- Cards registered in mobile wallet apps totalled 814,024 in Q1 2021.
Short term investments
Interest payable on credit balances
- Interest-bearing current accounts are permitted for residents and non-residents.
Demand deposits
- Demand deposits are available for residents and non-residents.
Time deposits
- Time deposits are available in HUF or major foreign currencies with terms ranging from one week to one year.
Certificates of deposit
- Domestic commercial banks issue certificates of deposit for terms ranging from one month to three years.
Treasury (government) bills
- The Government Debt Management Agency issues Treasury bills (T-bills).
- Short-term T-bills are issued with terms of three and 12 months.
- The MNB issues its own MNB deposits with fixed rates and terms of three months via weekly auctions.
- Commercial paper is available but not widely used.
Money market funds
- Money market funds are available.
Repurchase agreements
- Repurchase agreements are available in Hungary.
Banker's acceptances
- Banker's acceptances are rarely used in Hungary.
BNP Paribas Trade Finance Capabilities
| Documentary credits | |
| Documentary collections |
| Bank guarantees | |
| Standby letters of credit |
| Receivables | |
| Payables | |
| Inventory |
| Connexis Trade | |
| Connexis Supply Chain | |
| SWIFTNet Trade for Corporates | |
| Connexis Connect | |
| Connexis Guarantee | |
| SWIFTnet Supply Chain |
- BNP Paribas Global Trade Solutions (GTS) in Hungary is recognised as one of the leading trade finance solution providers to large corporations headquartered in, or operating in Hungary. The local team comprises a trade manager and 2 trade officers.
International trade
- As a member of the EU, Hungary follows the EU customs code and applies all associated regulations and commercial policies.
- Trade with other countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland is exempt from tariffs and other controls.
- The EU has trade agreements in place with over 30 countries.
- The EU is currently in free trade negotiations with a number of countries, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Indonesia, Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), Uruguay, and the USA. The EU and the UK are currently negotiating their future trading relationship, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.
- The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force on 1 May 2021.
| Imports | Cars and vehicle parts
| Packaged medicines | Broadcasting equipment | Integrated circuits | Crude petroleum | |
| Primary Import sources | Germany (25.0%) | China (6.0%) | Poland
(6.0%) | Austria (6.0%) | Czechia (5.0%) | Slovakia (5.0%) |
| Exports | Cars and vehicle parts
| Packaged medicines | Spark-ignition engines | Video displays | Broadcasting equipment | |
| Export markets | Germany (27.0%) | Romania (5.0%) | Italy (5.0%) | Slovakia (5.0%) |
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | ||
| Exports | - goods USD m | 88,625 | 96,583 | 104,740 | 104,211 | 101,467 |
| - services USD m | 24,476 | 27,017 | 29,913 | 30,336 | 22,364 | |
| Imports | - goods USD m | 83,531 | 94,465 | 104,740 | 107,590 | 102,397 |
| - services USD m | 16,967 | 18,812 | 20,847 | 22,313 | 17,855 | |
| Current account as % GDP | 6.2 | 2.8 | 0.4 | - 0.9 | 0.2 | |
Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.