Payments/HU
Hungary
ISO HU · 2 schemes
Summary
- AFR (Azonnali Fizetési Rendszer) is Hungary's mandatory instant payment system (since March 2020)
- Qvik launched September 2024 - national QR payment service mandated for all banks
- MNB QR Standard - central bank-defined QR code specification for interoperability
- Fizetési kérelem (Request to Pay) integrated into instant payment infrastructure
- OTP Bank dominates market with 24.30% share
Banking landscape
Central Bank
- Name: Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB)
- Website: https://www.mnb.hu/
- Role: Catalyst for AFR, QR standard owner, payment system oversight
Major Banks (2024)
| Rank | Bank Name | Total Assets (HUF) | Market Share | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OTP Bank | 18,391,050 M | 24.30% | Domestic (publicly listed) |
| 2 | MBH Bank | 11,951,670 M | 15.79% | Domestic |
| 3 | K&H Bank | 6,104,230 M | 8.06% | KBC Group (Belgium) |
| 4 | UniCredit Hungary | 5,263,570 M | 6.95% | UniCredit (Italy) |
| 5 | Erste Bank Hungary | 5,010,980 M | 6.62% | Erste Group (Austria) |
Market Structure
- OTP Dominance: Europe's top-performing bank in 2023 (S&P ranking)
- 2024 OTP Net Income: HUF 745 billion
- Foreign Ownership: K&H (Belgium), UniCredit (Italy), Erste (Austria)
- Credit Ratings: OTP Baa1 (Moody's), K&H BBB+ (Fitch)
Payment infrastructure
National Payment Systems
| System | Operator | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFR | GIRO Zrt. | Instant payments | Active (March 2020) |
| GIRO | GIRO Zrt. | Clearing | Active |
| Qvik | MNB/GIRO/Banks | Merchant QR | Active (Sept 2024) |
AFR (Azonnali Fizetési Rendszer)
- Launch: March 2, 2020
- Operator: GIRO Zrt.
- Unique Feature: Mandatory for ALL Hungarian banks
- Availability: 24/7/365
- Speed: Under 5 seconds
- Limit: Up to HUF 10 million per transaction
- Basis: SEPA Instant Credit Transfer Scheme (SCT Inst)
2024 Regulatory Mandates
- February 1, 2024: Mandatory Request to Pay (RTP) capability
- February 1, 2024: Mandatory QR code, NFC, and Deeplink implementation
- September 2024: Qvik merchant payment system launched
QR code standards
MNB QR Code Standard (Primary)
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Standard Name | MNB QR Code Guidelines |
| Owner | Magyar Nemzeti Bank + GIRO Zrt. |
| Type | Payment initiation QR |
| Encoding | UTF-8 |
| Fields | 17 data fields + 17 LF characters |
QR Code Types
1. Credit Transfer QR (HCT):
- Pre-fills payment details
- Amount, beneficiary account, reference
- Used for bills and invoices
2. Request to Pay QR (RTP):
- Payer generates QR with their data
- Payee scans and sends payment request
- Enables reverse payment flow
Technical Specifications
- Character encoding: UTF-8
- 17 mandatory data fields (may be blank)
- Field separator: LF (line feed) characters
- Compliant with HCT Inst standard
GitHub Library Available
- PHP library for generating Hungarian QR payment codes
- Based on MNB standard
Mobile payment apps
| App Name | Bank | Qvik | AFR | QR Scan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OTP Bank HU | OTP | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| George | Erste Bank | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| K&H mobilbank | K&H | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CIB Bank | CIB | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MBH Bank | MBH | Yes | Yes | Yes |
OTP Bank Mobile
- QR code bill payment
- Instant payments via AFR
- Qvik integration via SimplePay
- Most downloaded banking app in Hungary
George (Erste Bank)
- QR code photography for referrals
- SEPA transfers
- Payment request management
- Cronto color QR for secure authentication
Schemes
| Scheme | Type | Symbology | Adoption | Technical standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MNB QR | Payment QR | QR Code | Mandatory | mnb-qr |
| Qvik | Merchant QR | QR/NFC/Link | 20,000+ merchants | — |
Sources
- EPC - AFR Hungarian Retail Instant Payment System
- MNB - QR Code Guidelines
- MNB - Instant Payments Guidelines
- Daily News Hungary - Qvik Launch
- Trade Magazin - Qvik September 2024
- TheBanks.eu - Hungary Major Banks
- GitHub - QR Payment HU Library
- Payments Cards Mobile - Qvik Innovation
- Helpers Finance - Qvik Payment
- Lightspark - Instant Payments Hungary
Full country report
Schemes
Standards
Primary · 1