About the Hungarian Forint
The Hungarian forint is the currency of Hungary, issued by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, the central bank of Hungary. Hungary is in the EU but has not adopted the euro. The forint has floated freely since February 2008, when the central bank gave up the band it had kept against the euro.
The forint is one of the more volatile currencies in central Europe. It reacts to Hungarian inflation, which has often run above the rest of the region, to the central bank's interest rate decisions, and to Hungary's relations with the EU, which affect the flow of EU funds.
The central bank targets 3% inflation, with a tolerance band of one percentage point either side, and sets interest rates at monthly meetings. 1 and 2 forint coins were withdrawn in 2008, so cash totals are rounded to the nearest 5 forint.
Paying in HUF
- Account number and IBAN
- Hungarian account numbers have 16 or 24 digits, written in groups of eight. For payments from abroad, use the IBAN, which starts HU and is 28 characters long, together with the bank's SWIFT/BIC code.
- Instant by default
- Since March 2020, everyday forint transfers between Hungarian accounts go through the national instant payment system and arrive within seconds, 24 hours a day.
- Transaction tax
- Hungary levies a financial transaction tax on most payments made from Hungarian accounts. It is charged to the bank, but banks usually pass it on in their fees, so the cost of paying out in Hungary can differ from what you expect.
- Forint is not SEPA
- Hungary is in SEPA, but SEPA covers euro payments only. A payment in forint is a domestic HUF payment, not a SEPA transfer.
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