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Hungarian law does not demand a branch visit: section 7 of the AML Act (Act LIII of 2017) allows identification through a secure channel audited in advance under rules of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, which supervises Hungarian banks. The banks’ online routes for business accounts are far narrower, as published in October 2026:
| Bank | Online business account opening is open to | Everyone else |
|---|---|---|
| Raiffeisen Bank | A company whose representative with sole signing rights is a Hungarian citizen taxed in Hungary and which has no corporate member; identity checked with a Hungarian identity card and a selfie | Branch |
| CIB Bank | A Hungarian tax resident business with at most four private owners, its beneficial owners Hungarian citizens taxed in Hungary, represented by a Hungarian citizen with a Hungarian address card who corresponds in Hungarian | Branch application |
| Erste Bank Hungary | No one fully: an online request is finalised in person at a branch | Branch |
A Kft. with a foreign managing director or a foreign parent should therefore plan on the managing director attending a branch, with the file ready and, at Erste, the electronically filed registration papers uploaded beforehand.
A Kft. needs registered capital of at least HUF 3,000,000, each member contributing at least HUF 100,000 (Civil Code, Act V of 2013, section 3:161), but no bank account to be registered. The articles may let the cash be paid after registration (section 3:162), and payment can be shown by a bank certificate or by the managing director’s declaration countersigned by a lawyer (Company Registration Act, Act V of 2006, Annex 1). On that route the managing director must open the company’s payment account within eight days of registration and pay in the unused cash (section 30). The bank reports the account to the registry court, and every payment account a Kft. holds is entered in the Cégjegyzék, the company register, with the bank’s name (section 24). Filings go through a lawyer (section 32).
The National Deposit Insurance Fund (Országos Betétbiztosítási Alap, OBA) pays up to EUR 100,000 per depositor per bank, interest included. Its guide names enterprises, associations, foundations and foreigners among the protected depositors, while investment funds, insurers and investment firms are excluded. Cover applies at banks licensed in Hungary, includes deposits in other currencies, and is paid in forint within seven working days.
Hungary is outside the euro area but inside the Single Euro Payments Area, so a Kft. can hold forint and foreign currency accounts and send euro transfers under SEPA rules. Hungarian IBANs have 28 characters: HU, two check digits and the 24-digit domestic account number. Since the central bank’s instant payment service started on 2 March 2020, payments between Hungarian accounts can settle within seconds at any hour, and a business can register its tax number as a secondary account identifier.
The account is the company’s own and remains in place when the members change, a change registered through a lawyer. The bank then reviews the new members, managing director and signatories under its own rules and can carry on as before, call for additional documents or terminate the account; the outcome rests with the bank, not with the share transfer.
If buying is quicker for you, we offer a ready-made Hungarian Kft.; if not, company formation in Hungary runs through a Hungarian lawyer, and in both cases we help prepare the papers the bank will check. Where one of our working contacts is at a suitable bank, we can also arrange an introduction, but the bank alone decides. Our Hungary overview covers tax and corporate law, and the shelf company with bank account guide explains how existing accounts move with a company.
Only partly. The law allows audited video identification, but the banks’ published online routes are built for Hungarian citizens: Raiffeisen wants a Hungarian representative and no corporate members, CIB Hungarian owners and a Hungarian address, and Erste finalises every business application at a branch. Prepare the file from abroad and plan a branch visit by the managing director.
No. The articles may allow the cash capital to be paid after registration, and payment can be evidenced by the managing director’s declaration countersigned by a lawyer instead of a bank certificate. The managing director must then open the company’s payment account within eight days of registration and pay in the unused cash.
No. Neither the members nor the managing director need Hungarian residence or citizenship. A foreign member or officer without Hungarian residence must name a delivery agent in Hungary in the registration filing, and the agent cannot be a member, officer or supervisory board member. Bank policy is a separate question, since the online routes above assume a Hungarian citizen.
Yes, up to EUR 100,000 per depositor per bank under OBA, the National Deposit Insurance Fund, which lists enterprises and foreigners among the depositors it protects and excludes investment funds, insurers and investment firms. Cover applies at banks licensed in Hungary, includes deposits in other currencies and is paid in forint within seven working days.
Nothing in the law prevents it, and the account stays with the Kft. when the members change. The bank then checks the new members, managing director and signatories and decides whether to continue the relationship, ask for further evidence or end it. A ready-made Kft. without an account goes through the opening steps above instead.