Before you start

Passport and residence permit
Address card (lakcímkártya)
Hungarian tax identification number
A Hungarian phone number for authentication

Step-by-step

1
Get the address card first, then the bank
Most Hungarian banks require the lakcímkártya from a foreign customer. A few will open a limited account on a passport and residence permit alone, but the mainstream products are gated on the address card. This is the reason the landlord conversation matters so much.
In personWho: You
2
Choose a branch by language, not by rate
OTP, MBH, K&H, Erste, Raiffeisen and UniCredit offer broadly comparable retail products. What varies is whether the specific branch will conduct an appointment in English. Central and District XIII branches are markedly better for this than outer-district ones.
In personWho: You
3
Expect instant domestic transfers and use them
Hungary's instant payment system clears transfers between Hungarian accounts within seconds, at any hour. Rent, bills and splitting a dinner all run on it. Set up the mobile app in branch while you have help.
Mobile appWho: You
4
Open a euro sub-account from the start
The forint is volatile and a share of Budapest's rental and international market prices in euro. A euro balance alongside the forint one is usually free and removes a conversion at each step.
Mobile appWho: You
5
Understand the financial transaction duty
Hungary levies a duty on financial transactions that banks pass through to customers on transfers and cash withdrawals, subject to a monthly free allowance on cash withdrawal. It is small per transaction but it is a real difference from most of the EU and it explains fees that otherwise look arbitrary.
Mobile appWho: You
6
Use a specialist for non-euro international transfers
SEPA euro transfers are cheap. Anything involving forint conversion at a Hungarian bank carries a spread worth avoiding for larger amounts.
Mobile appWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence permit
Address card
Tax identification number
Hungarian mobile number

Things most newcomers don’t know

The bank sits downstream of the landlord, which is not obvious until you are stuck.

Hungarian banks want the address card. The address card wants the property owner's declaration of accommodation. The owner's declaration depends on a landlord willing to have the tenancy on record. So a landlord's reluctance, which looks like a private matter between you and them, propagates all the way through to whether you can be paid a salary. Sequence the flat hunt around this rather than treating it as paperwork to sort out later.

Source: community-reported

Instant transfers changed how everything is paid here, and it is genuinely better than most of Europe.

Since 2020 any transfer between Hungarian accounts settles within seconds, including at weekends and at night. Rent, deposits, utilities and informal payments all run on bank transfer rather than on cards or cash, and a payment request by phone number or email is standard. Newcomers from countries where a domestic transfer takes a working day underuse this for months.

Source: Magyar Nemzeti Bank

The forint's volatility is a salary risk, not just a holiday inconvenience.

Hungary retains the forint with no euro target date, and the currency has had several sharp moves against the euro in recent years. If your rent, school fees or savings goals are in euro and your salary is in forint, a currency move is a real cut in what you can buy — and it lands without warning. Anyone in that position should be holding euro balances deliberately rather than converting on payday.

Source: Magyar Nemzeti Bank

Hungary charges a transaction duty that most of the EU does not, and it shows up as unexplained fees.

A financial transaction levy applies to transfers and cash withdrawals, with a monthly free allowance for cash withdrawal at ATMs. Banks pass it through. It is small on any single payment but it is the reason a Hungarian account's fee schedule looks different from a German or Spanish one, and it is worth structuring larger transfers around rather than making many small ones.

Source: NAV

Common mistakes to avoid

Trying to open an account before the address card and tax number exist.
Choosing a bank branch that will not conduct the appointment in English.
Holding only forint while carrying euro-denominated obligations.
Making many small transfers rather than fewer larger ones under the transaction duty.
Letting the bank's copy of your residence permit expire and having the account restricted.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.