Revolut, Wise may leave Hungary after the Hungarian government’s decision

The Hungarian government said that each Hungarian village should have an ATM to increase the population retention capacity of rural areas in Hungary. Furthermore, they would secure the citizens’ constitutional right to use cash.

According to Economx, the previous weeks were not the heydays of the banking sector in Hungary. Banks in Hungary will have to set up 2,000 ATMs in rural settlements to secure the constitutional right of the citizens to use cash and must freeze account fees or reduce them to last year’s level. As a result, they will “lose” billions of forints in profit.

Hungarian Banking Association wants fintech sector to share ATM costs

Levente Kovács, the Secretary General of the Hungarian Banking Association, said even fintech companies should participate in the ATM campaign. Balázs Horváth, the chairman of the RowanHill Digital, said that neobanks like Revolut and Wise provide service in Hungary according to EU license. As a result, taking part in such actions cannot be made compulsory for them. Since they provide digital services, establishing ATMs is not part of their normal business procedures. However, if the business requires it, they do so like they did in multiple EU member states.