News: Operator of payment services in Hungary

According to the definition provided in paragraph 22 of Article 2 "Tv." (Act LXXXV HFSA (National Agency for Financial Supervision) of 2009 on the Control on Carrying out Payment Services), a payment institution is a credit organization, a specialized credit organization that issues electronic money, ... a financial organization, the National Bank of Hungary, the State Treasury, which business includes provision of payment services.

Act CXII HFSA of 1996 "Credit Institutions and Financial Enterprises" ("Hpt.", Section Electronic Money - Section 6C) is the main normative act referred to by the registrar in Hungary. It provides for authorizing procedures, licensing, compliance regime with property requirements, control over the activities of credit and financial institutions, including payment services as a main or ancillary activity (paragraph (2) a Section 1).

This document contains all the requirements for payment organizations, which, in addition to payment transactions, are not prohibited from conducting certain types of crediting activities.

To obtain a license, it is necessary (Section 18 / A CXII HFSA of 1996) to:

1) contribute all the authorized capital into the established enterprise,

2) present the draft organizational structure, the projects of management and control mechanisms

3) for companies registered abroad, it is necessary to appoint a representative (attorney of the Hungarian law firm or authorized branch of the applicant's bank in Hungary)

4) confirmation of compliance of staff and availability of necessary funds

Payment institutions must submit such materials in addition to the application for a license:

a) a programme of operations for the provision of certain services (payment instruments)

b) a business plan for the first three years, providing for the availability of personnel, infrastructure capabilities to operate with a high degree of reliability

c) a description of means of protecting customer payments, including software that the applicant will use to record and protect customer payments and an audit certificate of the reliability of such software

d) a description of risk management and the accounting system

e) the name of the applicant's auditor

f) a description of the internal control system for protection against risks associated with money laundering, obtained by criminal means and financing of terrorism

g) the alleged intermediaries of payment services, the alleged outsourcing, if planned

h) a description of the payment system

k) identification data of the management of the enterprise and confirmation of compliance with the requirements of Hpt.

l) statutory documents of the applicant

m) the document (that is not older than 30 days) confirming the absence of the applicant's debts from tax or customs authorities, other responsible authorities of another state, if the applicant is not a resident of Hungary

n) a statement that the other activities of the applicant do not constitute a danger to the full operation of the management of the electronic money operator

o) a document (not older than 30 days) that the company does not go through bankruptcy procedure and none of its management passes the disqualification procedure

Some other requirements may be imposed set forth in Art. 18 (2) para. D) -f), h) and k) -l and Art. 17 (1) para. f) Hpt.

The administrative procedure for granting a license takes 90 days, but can be continued up to 180 days.

In the context of the organizational and legal form, an institution may be a closed joint-stock company, a limited liability company, a branch of a company which head office is in the European Union.

The authorized capital (paragraph (12) section 9 Act CXII of 1996) of the payment organization should be HUF 50 000 000 (about EUR 18 000) and more (para. 17 (1) Section С). For comparison, the authorized capital of the bank is at least 2 billion forints, that is, about 660,000 euros.

Payment of administrative services for the granting of a permission in accordance with the Decree of the Ministry of Finance No. 12/2002 of February 20, 2002 on the cost of administrative services equals to HUF 100 000 (340 euros) - Art. 12 para. (3) of the Decree.

The services of the operator of payment systems are a promising international business. If you want to quickly obtain a license to provide financial (including credit) services in Hungary, feel free to contact Law&Trust International. The experience and professionalism of the specialists of our company will guarantee your success in the market of payment services.

Our principles are legality, confidentiality and reliability.

Our main priority is your comfort. Therefore, we undertake all procedures provided for by the rules for obtaining a license. And you get a turnkey service from us.