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Pursuant to Act CXXXIX of 2013 on the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, the primary objective of Hungary’s central bank is to achieve and maintain price stability. As set forth in the Act on the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, one of the main responsibilities of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) is to promote the smooth execution of payments and to facilitate the reliable, efficient functioning of the financial market infrastructures that support this. All of this is indispensable for the performance of real economy and financial transactions.

The purpose of this Report is to present a comprehensive review of trends in the field of payments and the operation of the overseen financial market infrastructures, the main risks and the measures taken by the MNB to fulfil the responsibilities above. In publishing this report, the MNB wishes to contribute to enhancing the transparency of its activities in relation to financial market infrastructures and the execution of payments, while also endeavouring to enhance financial literacy and thus raise awareness about payment-related issues.

Based on the results of the previous payments strategy, a new vision is required regarding electronic payments, summarised by the MNB’s document called Payments 2030, which also provides a basis for specific measures to be defined in the future. In the following period, the MNB’s main payments strategy objective is to significantly increase the ratio of electronic transactions by 2030, and in case of an extensive and general usage stimulation, the MNB aims to make 60 per cent of transactions electronic, and in case of further specific measures, two-thirds of them electronic by 2030. The payments strategy outlines the main areas and possible directions identified during the analysis and research activity carried out so far, where targeted economic policy intervention may take place in the future in order to achieve the main strategic objective. In order to evaluate the current situation of Hungarian payments, identify potential areas of intervention and possibilities for specific measures, define strategic objectives, evaluate the implementation of the necessary measures to reach the objectives, the MNB has established the Payments Development Indicator Set (PDIS).