Free banking in Budapest -where?

rodger, the usual charge is 4800HUF/month maintenance fee and 1500/month monthly charge for a typical Citibank business account.

I can't comment on their online banking service, but if you don't make many transactions every month, you might find that [broken link removed] has better offers, such as the IEB Piccolo.

[broken link removed]
 
Citibank fees really do escalate though if you use your account a lot. Every transaction is quite expensive - for example, the cost of a withdrawal is a percentage of the amount, so the yearly cost can be quite significant. The online banking system is very good though.

I did a check to see exactly what the HUF non-business a/c costs, (in my case):

The monthly charge is 400huf: made up of

monthly a/c maintenance: 300
some other non-descript type of monthly maintenance: 50huf
and an 'Internal transfer' charge, 52huf, also applied monthly (this could be a charge to me for incoming rent).

I also dusted off and used my citicard ATM during the week. I withdrew a small round figure(€100) so that I could work out the percentages easier.

You lose 5% on the exchange rate to begin with, as expected (253 v 265 ), and then a 1500 (€6!) min charge for each transaction, or 1% of total, whichever is more.
So using your ATM is very expensive to withdraw outside Hungary.

My €100 cost me about €10 to withdraw, but €600 would also have cost roughly the same.

When all HUf a/c's are transferred to Euro a/c's in the years to come, it will be much cheaper to withdraw money, as the EU regualtions only cover withdrawing Euro's in any EU country, and not other currencies. Cost is €1.20 per transaction anywhere in the EU (from what I can see on my AIB a/c from numerous countries).
 
Yes, banking in Hungary is very expensive, paddyd - best to use an intermediary company such as Axia Fx to transfer money between Ireland and Hungary.

I'm in the middle of researching mortgage options at the minute and it's incredible what banks charge for. 'Handling' charges of up to 3% per year on top of the already high interest rates is the norm as well as an initial 1-3% fee for the pleasure of giving them your business! People talk about 'Rip Off Ireland' but I would rank Hungary as ten times worse in terms of what appears to be agreed overpricing of basic services, which are essential to consumers.
 
What a ripoff!

I remember checking out Citibanks accounts a couple of years ago and they seemed very expensive, I didn't realise they were that bad though.

We have a account with KDB (just up the road from Becketts) and they aren't too bad. Trouble is they don't have too many branches, but they might be worth checking - www.kdb.hu.
 
hi there,
I have been told that the bank www.raiffeisen.hu is a good bank. i have no personal experience of it but seeing that I'm looking to open a bank account in Budapest at the end of the month i surely would love to receive some advice as to which bank i should do business with love to hear all replies
 
Seanieboy, for your probably needs (low number of transactions every month, good English-language online banking facility, English-language telephone banking) Citibank is best. Location is very easy to find at [SIZE=-1] Vörösmarty [/SIZE]Tér 4, Tel 0036-1-2882352. You may need to set up an appointment to open the account so best to call them before you travel.
 
I would agree with Budapest. If all you need is an a/c for rental income, to pay the odd bill & transfer funds to Ireland now & then, I heartily recommend Citibank. Costs me very little (approx €2pm)
Be sure to make an appointment though as recommended, especially if, like me, you need an English speaker.
 
I would agree with Budapest. If all you need is an a/c for rental income, to pay the odd bill & transfer funds to Ireland now & then, I heartily recommend Citibank. Costs me very little (approx €2pm)
Be sure to make an appointment though as recommended, especially if, like me, you need an English speaker.

i just walked in there one morning a few weeks ago and they opened one for me there and then, no problem, depends on the day i suppose
 
Just a note on Raiffeisen bank. It's pretty good. No monthly fee's. I have a HUF and EUR acc and online banking in English. I've been using the HUF acc alot and only get charged about 40 cent when I make an online money transfer. No other charges. http://www.raiffeisen.hu
 
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