The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) argued that local banks could benefit from adopting the international best practice of package pricing for retail payment services in an annual report released. The NBH said the cost level of retail payment services in Hungary is relatively high in international comparison, accounting for 0.52pc of an average client’s income. That ratio is well over the 0.36pc average for retail bank clients across Eastern Europe, as well as the 0.16pc average for Western Europe.

Retail bank clients in Hungary typically pay transaction fees that are scaled to transaction size and frequency, unlike in many other countries where clients pay a flat price depending on the type of account package they have.

Adopting package pricing practices in Hungary would support the further expansion of electronic payments, the NBH said, adding that banks „can be reasonably expected” to waive transaction fees of instant credit transfers, considering clients’ current high costs. The resulting boost in competitiveness would benefit banks far more in the medium term than any disadvantage from declining payment revenue, it added.

The NBH said widely available package pricing combined with waived transaction fees would also improve Hungarians’ financial savvy by creating transparency and comparability across banking products.