Hungarian banks should offer free transfers -cbank officials (updated)

MBH Jelzalogbank Nyrt

09/01/2020 10:58

(Adds detail)
    BUDAPEST, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Hungary's central bank expects
local banks to provide retail clients with free transfers, two
central bank officials wrote in an article published on business
news website portfolio.hu on Thursday.
    The National Bank of Hungary (NBH), which also oversees
financial sector regulation, has long argued that banking in
Hungary was too expensive and there were too many big lenders in
the country of less than 10 million people.
    Banks have argued that they face rising costs due to taxes,
wages, compliance and information technology investment.
    "The (NBH) handles this as a special priority and will use
all tools at its disposal to achieve this objective," central
bank officials Lajos Bartha and Lorant Varga wrote in the
article.
    A government tax on financial transactions is expected to
raise 226 billion forints ($757 million) this year.
    A spokeswoman for the Hungarian Banking Association could
not comment immediately on the possible financial impact of the
changes if banks were forced to offer free transfers.
    Hungary is preparing to launch an instant-payment system in
March which will enable prompt domestic bank transfers for
retail and corporate clients.
    "From a technological aspect, instant payments can provide
an alternative to cash payments in any scenario," the central
bank officials said.
    "However, its widespread use can only be implemented if
similar to cash and card purchases bank transfers are also free
of charge," the central bankers said.
    ($1 = 298.63 forints)

 (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Krisztina Than; editing by
Jason Neely)
 ((gergely.szakacs@reuters.com ; https://twitter.com/szakacsg ;
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https://www.reuters.com/journalists/gergely-szakacs))