Banking

Steps

1. Prepare your identity and address: the anti-money-laundering Act (Pmt., art. 7) requires the bank to record your name, your birth name, your nationality, your date and place of birth, your mother's birth name, your address, and the type and number of your identity document. For a foreigner, it must require your passport or identity card (valid for staying in Hungary), your residence document and, if you live in Hungary, your address card (lakcímkártya). Each bank may ask for more (tax number, proof of income): check its list before the appointment.
2. Compare offers: before opening, each bank provides a standard fee information document, and an annual statement of fees (Your Europe).
3. If you are refused an account, ask for a basic payment account (alapszámla, Decree 262/2016): account in forints, no overdraft, with a card, withdrawals, transfers, direct debits and card payments in the EEA, with no limit on the number of transactions if the account is funded. You are entitled to it if you have no other account in forints in Hungary (you declare this in writing). The bank replies within 10 working days after receiving your complete application; a refusal is reasoned in writing, free of charge, with the complaint routes (including the Pénzügyi Békéltető Testület, the financial conciliation board).
4. Keep your home-country account if you wish: in SEPA, a supplier, an online shop or an administration that accepts transfers and direct debits from a domestic account must accept an account from another EU country (no discrimination based on the IBAN: bills, online purchases, taxes, refunds, benefits). But note: everyday Hungarian payments (rent, bills) are made in forints.
5. For a mortgage, each bank sets its own conditions for a foreigner (income in forints, length of stay, deposit): compare the offers of several banks.

Documents

• Valid identity document (identity card or passport) and residence document: the anti-money-laundering law requires them from a foreigner.
• Address card (lakcímkártya) if you live in Hungary; depending on the bank, also the tax number (factsheet HU-NIF-TOUS-001) and proof of income.

Costs and timelines

• Euro transfers within the EU from a Hungarian account: no more expensive than a domestic transfer in forints.
• Withdrawals in the EU: conversion fees must be shown before the withdrawal.
• Deposit protection: €100,000 per person and per bank (equivalent in forints).
• Basic account (Decree 262/2016, version of 01/04/2026): monthly fees, card included, capped at 0.5% of the gross minimum wage in force on the last day of the previous year, that is HUF 1,454 per month in 2026 (2025 minimum wage: HUF 290,800, Decree 394/2024; calculation by us). The cap applies if, in the month, you make at most two cash machine withdrawals in Hungary (HUF 300,000 in total) or one counter withdrawal (HUF 50,000), and at most four transfers (HUF 100,000 in total); beyond that, the bank applies its usual rates. Card payments in forints, deposits and direct debits are not charged on top.

Common pitfalls

• Double conversion: a salary in forints paid into a euro account, then bills paid in forints, makes you lose twice on the exchange. A forint account is often simpler.
• Accepting the terminal's conversion: when paying by foreign card, choose to pay in forints and let your bank convert, after comparing.
• Refusal of an account without a reason: ask for the reason in writing and, in case of disagreement, contact the Pénzügyi Békéltető Testület (financial conciliation board, which the bank must indicate in its reply) or, for a dispute with a financial service provider, the European FIN-NET network (Your Europe).

What changes by country of origin

• Legal EU residents: European right to a basic account.
• British citizens and other non-Europeans without residence in the EU: no right to a basic account; each bank decides.
• Eurozone countries: your euro transfers remain easy, but your daily life in Hungary is paid for in forints.