Hungary is in the EU and in Schengen, yet it did not adopt the euro. Your pay will arrive in forints, your rent will be due in forints, and everyday prices are set in forints, even where a shop accepts euros. A Hungarian bank account is therefore one of the first practical things to arrange, and also one where your rights as an EU resident are strong.
This article explains how to open a bank account in Hungary, what the law caps and what to prepare.
Do you really need a bank account in Hungary?
Salaries can be paid in cash or by transfer, according to EURES, but a transfer is the norm. A Hungarian IBAN also saves you from paying twice for currency conversion: if your salary in forints lands on a euro account, then every bill in forints has you converting again. A forint account is usually simpler. Deposits are protected up to 100,000 euros per person and per bank, in forint equivalent.
You can keep your account from home. Within the SEPA zone, an employer or a supplier who accepts transfers and direct debits from a domestic account has to accept an account from another EU country, without discriminating by IBAN.
What do banks ask for when you open a bank account in Hungary?
Under the anti-money-laundering law, the bank must record your name, your name at birth, your nationality, your date and place of birth, your mother's maiden name, your address and your ID number. A foreigner typically presents a passport or identity card, a residence document and, if living in Hungary, the address card (lakcímkártya). Each bank may ask for more, such as a tax number or proof of income, so ask for the list before your appointment.
Get your paperwork in order first. See residence in Hungary for EU citizens and the Hungarian tax number guide.
Before opening, every bank must give you a standard fee information document, and an annual statement of fees afterwards. Compare two or three offers.
What is the basic payment account?
If a bank refuses you a normal account, ask for the alapszámla. It is a forint account without overdraft, with a card, cash withdrawals, transfers, direct debits and card payments in the EEA, with no limit on the number of operations if the account is funded. You have the right to it if you hold no other forint account in Hungary, which you declare in writing.
The bank has 10 working days to answer. A refusal must be explained in writing, free of charge, with the complaint routes, such as the Financial Conciliation Board (Pénzügyi Békéltető Testület).
If a bank turns you down, the wording of your request matters. Moovy can draft the written request for a basic account, or the complaint, in Hungarian with an English translation, so that you can read, adjust and send it yourself.
How much does a basic account cost?
Under Government Decree 262/2016 (version of 1 April 2026), monthly fees, card included, are capped at 0.5% of the gross minimum wage in force on the last day of the previous year. The bank can tell you the amount that applies this year, and the decree text is on the legal database. The cap holds if, in the month, you make at most two ATM withdrawals in Hungary (300,000 HUF in total) or one counter withdrawal (50,000 HUF), and at most four transfers (100,000 HUF in total). Above that the bank applies its usual tariff. Card payments in forints, deposits and direct debits are not billed on top.
For euro payments, your Hungarian bank cannot charge a euro transfer to another EU country more than a domestic forint transfer. Cash withdrawal conversion fees in the EU must be displayed before you withdraw.
When can a bank refuse you?
A legal resident of the EU cannot be refused the basic account only because they are not Hungarian or not resident. The bank can still refuse on anti-money-laundering grounds, or if you already hold a forint account in Hungary. If you are refused with no reason, ask for the reason in writing, and if you disagree, you can turn to SOLVIT, the European assistance service, or to the banking supervisor.
What are the common mistakes?
- Double conversion. Salary in forints into a euro account, then forint bills, means losing twice at the exchange.
- Accepting the terminal's conversion. When a foreign card is asked to pay in euros or forints, choose forints and let your bank convert, after comparing.
- Turning up without the address card. Many banks want proof of a Hungarian address.
- Assuming your mortgage will follow. See the mortgage section below.
What changes for British or non-EU customers?
There is no right to a basic account without EU residence, so each bank decides. A residence document and an address help. See moving to Hungary from the UK. If you come from a eurozone country, euro transfers remain easy, but daily life is paid in forints. For the full list of first steps, read moving to Hungary.
Bank policies differ, so make the appointment part of your first month.
How do you open a bank account in Hungary step by step?
- Prepare your identity and address. Passport or identity card, your residence document and, if you already live here, your address card. Some banks also ask for the tax number or proof of income, so look at the list before the appointment.
- Compare two or three banks. Ask each for its standard fee information document. It lists the same services in the same order, so you can compare them line by line.
- Ask whether you can open online. Some banks allow it with a foreign document, others want you at a branch. Phone first and save yourself a trip.
- Open a forint account. For daily life, a forint account is the one you need. Your salary, rent and bills will pass through it.
- If the answer is no, ask for the basic account in writing and note the date, because the 10-working-day clock starts from your request.
- Keep the old account. Banking in Hungary for expats usually means two accounts for a while: one at home for old commitments, one here for the new life.
The order matters. Your address card arrives only after your registration, which is why residence in Hungary for EU citizens comes before a bank visit in the sequence of moving to Hungary.
How safe is your money in a Hungarian bank?
Deposits are protected up to 100,000 euros per person and per bank, in forint equivalent. If you hold more, spread it between institutions, because the protection applies per depositor and per bank. That protection applies in the same way to a basic account as to any other.
What should you know about paying by card and sending money abroad?
Your Hungarian bank cannot charge a euro transfer to another EU country more than a domestic transfer in forints. When you withdraw cash in another EU country, conversion fees must be shown before you confirm. When a terminal asks whether to charge in forints or in your home currency, choose forints and let your own bank convert; compare the rate with your bank's before accepting the terminal's.
Within SEPA, you can ask your employer to pay into your old account, because an employer who accepts domestic accounts cannot refuse an IBAN from another EU country. But your pay will still be in forints, so the conversion happens somewhere, and it may cost you.
Which account do you need if you start a business?
A basic account is for consumers. If you start a business, it is better to open a separate business account to keep the tax records clean. The tax return and quarterly advances are easier to follow when personal and business money are apart.
What about a mortgage?
Each bank sets its own conditions for a foreigner: income in forints, length of stay and down payment. Collect offers from several banks before you sign a purchase contract. Read buying property in Hungary for the other costs, such as the 4% transfer duty.