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Hungary Cards & Payments Market Report

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  • Published Date: July 2022

HUNGARY CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORT

A comprehensive overview of the cards, payments and consumer banking market in Hungary. This report explores the Hungarian card payments market covering infrastructure payment preferences, consumer payment trends and the growth of online payment systems.
It details values and volumes for key performance indicators in the payments market including debit and credit cards transactions and mobile payments.
Researchers and analysts help identify market opportunities In Hungary an enable clients to understand and evaluate key market trends. The report helps clients make better financial decisions based on detailed historic and forecast data.
Cash use has traditionally been popular in Hungary, but that has begun to change in recent years.
Card payments have grown dynamically and the introduction of instant-payments infrastructure, has made digital wallets increasingly prevalent.
Using SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) infrastructure, Hungarian banks launched the instant-payments system AFR in 2020. New payment alternatives now include the use of Secondary Account Identifiers and Request-to-Pay services for credit transfers.

Lessons from this Hungary cards market report

How the Hungarian payments environment has evolved
The rise of contactless, cashless modes and mobile payments.
E-commerce payment trends in the light of BNPL and card innovations.
Mobile proximity payments data and commentary on app-based solutions.
The Hungary credit card profitability mechanism.
Network market shares and interchange tracking.
How credit and debit cards market shares have been changing.

HUNGARY COUNTRY REPORT | KEY FACTS

  • The pandemic has considerably impacted the use of cashless payments in the country with more Hungarians adopting digital payment solutions as a preference to cash.
  • Credit cards are typically not popular among Hungarian consumers as they prefer to use debit cards to pay online or at the POS.
  • Contactless payments have grown dramatically, with almost all cards now having the functionality.
  • Mobile payments have also soared in recent years, as more people choose virtual wallets over physical ones. Over a million Hungarian card users have digitised their cards to use in e-wallets.
  • In a bid to encourage consumers to increase card usage, the central bank introduced a regulation in 2014 on interchange fees, which significantly reduced the fees on card payments.

Hungary Payments Research | Report Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics and the economy
Payments environment
Cards market
Mobile payments
Profit pool
The networks
Key retail banks and issuers
Acquiring and processing

Hungary Country Report Data Tables
(All 2016-25F unless otherwise stated)

1: Demographic and economic indicators.
2: Ownership of key consumer devices.
3: Internet usage by population.
4: Access points: 2016-23F.
5: Account penetration: 2016-23F.
6: Total cards payment metrics.
7: Contactless cards metrics.
8: Credit card numbers.
9: Total credit cards metrics.
10: Credit cards profitability indicators.
11: Debit cards numbers.
12: Debit cards metrics.
13: Mobile proximity payment metrics.
14: Profit pool: credit card numbers, billed volumes, oustandings, interest incomes, net interest revenues, merchant revenues, card fee revenues, other non-interest incomes, total revenues, net credit losses, operating expenses, total expenses, pre-tax profits, merchant service charges, rollover rates, APR, net credit losses to outstandings, operating cost to revenues, ROA (pre-tax profits to outstandings).

(All 2016-23F below unless otherwise stated)

15: Networks' credit card market shares.
16: Credit card interchange fees by network.
17: Networks' debit card market shares.
18: Networks' debit card numbers.
19: Debit card interchange fees by network.
20: Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers: 2018-23F.
21: Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings: 2018-23F.
22: Key debit card issuers market shares by debit card numbers: 2018-23F.
23: Merchant acquirer credit card market share: 2022E.
24: Credit card merchant service charges: 2016-25F.
25: Merchant acquirer debit card market share: 2022E.
26: Debit card merchant service charges: 2016-25F.
27: Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships: -
28: Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships: -
29: Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers: 2022E.
30: Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions: 2022E.

Hungary Country Report | Selected Extracts

Demographics and Economy
Hungary faces major challenges in relation to its ageing population. It is estimated that the population over the age of 65 will have increased by 12.6% in 2060, compared with 2015

The Economy
Hungary's major trading partners include Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Slovakia. Germany is the country's largest trading partner, accounting for 26% and 28% respectively in terms of imports and exports.

Retail Banking
The top five retail banks in Hungary in terms of asset value are OTP Bank, Erste Bank, K&H Bank, UniCredit Bank and MKB Bank. These five banks accounted for an estimated 63% of the country's total bank assets in 2015.

Consumer Finance
Compared with households in other EU states, those in Hungary are less indebted. On average, total debt per household in Hungary was $4,993 in 2015.

Cards Market
Hungary's payment cards market is developed, with a penetration rate of 107 cards per 100 adults at the end of 2015 – of which the vast majority were debit cards. Though payment cards are primarily used for cash withdrawals, the share of electronic payment volume has been on the rise.

E-money
Prepaid cards represent a very small segment of the Hungarian payment cards market, with only a limited number of gift cards issued by banks and retailers.

Profit pool
However, the market turned profitable in 2015 with a pre-tax profit of $16 million, indicating that the Hungarian credit cards market, following years of contraction in the wake of the global financial crisis, is about to turn a corner.

Pricing and Enhancements
The credit card product life cycle in Hungary is at a relatively early stage of development, which is evident from the basic packaging of card products available in the market. Credit cards are typically not popular among Hungarian consumers.

Card Networks
The three principal networks operating in Hungary are MasterCard , Visa and American Express. MasterCard is the dominant player with 77% of credit cards in issue at the end of 2015. Visa is the second-largest player with a 13% share, followed by American Express with a 10% market share.

Key Retail Banks and Issuers
Hungary's credit cards market is highly concentrated among the top four issuers: OTP Bank , Citibank, Cetelem and Budapest Bank. At the end of 2015, these four banks collectively accounted for a market share of 71% in terms of credit cards in issue.

Merchant Acquiring and Processing
The Hungarian merchant acquiring market is concentrated among two major players, OTP Bank and K&H Bank. Together they represent 80% market share of total credit card acquired billed volume.

Online Acquiring
The most popular product categories in the Hungarian e-commerce market are computers and electronics, entertainment devices, home equipment, toys and gifts, and clothing.

Regulatory and Markets Information
The MNB is the central bank of Hungary and is a member of the European System of Central Banks. The primary objective of the MNB is to achieve and maintain price stability.

EUROPE CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS

Reports include detailed market and competitor intelligence on payments cards, e-money, acquiring, retail banking, and consumer credit in Europe. Analysts use primary and secondary source data and conduct in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and European finance experts.

See more European country reports or explore cards & payments research reports for markets worldwide or view our latest reports.

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