Payments & Collections
Current Accounts
We offer wide range of standard and tailor-made current accounts for our clients to hold their funds safe in any currencies listed by the Bank.
Following any payments and receipts we send a statement of the available balance to the owner of the account. By using our electronic services all transactions can be managed immediately with real-time visibility.
Escrow Accounts
This service enables our clients to hold their funds with specific purposes on a separated account. Outgoing payments from an Escrow Account can be initiated only after the approvals of the Bank and the third party according to any agreement associated to the account.
Collateral Accounts
The Bank can handle a predefined amount for the agreed time period separately on a Collateral Account and verify the available balance as necessary.
Premium collection
Our unique Premium Collection service exempts your business of a significant amount of time-consuming administrative work. For many companies the manual reconciliation of the received credits to the current accounts represents a significant burden in their daily workload. During this process it might be necessary to analyse and compare customer analytics and the bank account statement on item level in order to determine for which invoice or even from which customer the credit has been received. The UniCredit Premium Collect provides an integrated solution, minimizing the time spent on analysing incoming items.
Further details
With the help of the UniCredit Premium Collection service
- Individual account numbers can be generated either on customer or even on title level.
- The generation of account numbers is performed by our Clients on their own, with the help of the application provided by the Bank.
- All incoming items of the individual account numbers (distributed to the customers) shall be credited to the current account selected by our Client,
- The Bank provides its Clients with electronic analytics on the amounts credited to the individual account numbers.
- The UniCredit Premium Collection service provides the management of assignment types listed below with the analytics necessary for processing:
- Giro, Forint transfer between Banks
- Forint transfer within the Bank
- Crediting direct Forint debit
- Cash deposit at the Hungarian UniCredit branches
Hungarian Forint Payments
We provide a wide range of services to manage your receivables, payments and fulfill orders on your current account. Outgoing transactions can be initiated personally in any UniCredit Bank branches or using our electronic banking solutions.
Batch Transfers
A batch transfer order is a grouped or bundled order for small amount payments with the same title. With the help of batch transfer it is possible to carry out regular operations like paying salaries to employees and settling the invoices of vendors or business partners in one batch in each account period.
Direct Debit
Products are offered primarily to public utility and financial service providers who may use this batch collection option instead of postal- or bank transfer orders. This way, it is possible to reduce their administrative obligations as well as to make the settlements of their invoices easier to forecast, if they choose to charge the accounts of their clients with the due amounts via direct debits.
Standing Orders
This service provides our clients the opportunity to have the bank carry out the following transfers:
- Fixed-amount orders to be paid regularly at a predefined time
- Orders concerning the minimum or maximum amount remaining above the limit
Custom payments
In order to accelerate the transfer of goods, UniCredit Bank offers a customs payment service, through which customs offi ces get almost immediately informed of payments related to customs processes (such as registration tax, excise tax, environmental surcharge etc.). This information is forwarded to the Hungarian Customs and Finance Guard via a so-called electronic banking message sending system (EBÜK).
Based on an agreement between the National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (NAV) and UniCredit Bank, any giro transfers from our clients initiated via electronic means (SpectraNet Internet Bank, Spectra, Spectra Light, MultiCash client program or the UniCredit Telefonbank) or hard copy form, as well as any cash payments made in our branch offi ces to the NAV’s accounts are almost immediately regarded by NAV as settled, thus enabling them to release the merchandise. Therefore, it is also no longer necessary to provide a physical (printed) proof of such payment in customs offices. You only have to submit the Decision Number, which can be checked by the customs offi ce in their own system.
Since UniCredit certifies the payment of all necessary duties to the NAV within a maximum of fifteen minutes, our clients can have free disposal of their merchandise subject to customs duties almost immediately after paying such duties. Also, our clients do not need to visit our branch offi ce in person to initiate the transactions, since they can do it through one of the electronic channels, right from their own office.
Clientele Informative - Information System for Customs Payments
EFER transfers
You can settle your company’s payment obligations to public institutions joining the EFER, such as the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) or the National Judicial Authority (OBH) faster and more easily.
What is EFER?
EFER1 is a central electronic payment and clearing system that enables clients to fulfill their payment obligations arising out of their official administrative obligations in the course of electronic administration using their bankcards or on the usual electronic bank interface of their bank (through a so-called “home bank”). The number of organizations joining the EFER system is constantly on the rise but payment to the National Tax and Customs Authority (NAV) or the National Judicial Authority (OBH) can already be initiated.
What are the advantages of EFER transfers?
- Comfortable administration: after logging into the electronic banking system, at the website of the beneficiary authority, you will receive the preliminarily completed order matching the recorded data, so all you will need to do is approve the payment transaction.
- Opportunity to reduce transaction fees: the individual authorities can provide an opportunity for the aggregate fulfilment of payments made under various titles (e.g. using a so-called division order, payment obligations to NAV can be fulfilled at once for several tax types at the same time); as such, through the lower number of transactions and the aggregate payment amount, bank transaction charges can be saved.
How can you transfer through the EFER system?
You can initiate EFER transfers via the beneficiary authority’s website. Subsequent to that, by logging into UniCredit Bank’s Spectra/SpectraNet/SpectraNet Mobile systems
- you will find the fully completed EFER transfer orders in a separate menu item,
- you can approve or reject payment here.
How can you use this service?
EFER transfers are available for all of our clients holding a HUF payment account at our bank with a related Spectra (v.6.02), SpectraNet or SpectraNet Mobile access. The precise conditions are included in the bank’s General Terms and Conditions, while the fees are indicated in the lists of conditions.
EFER transfers can only be fulfilled towards public institutions joining the EFER system. The individual beneficiary authorities give their own instructions regarding the method of launching EFER transfers, therefore please consult the affected authority’s website or customer service.
NAV (National Tax and Customs Authority): http://nav.gov.hu/nav/archiv/adoinfo/egyeb/tajekoztato_az_efer_rendszer_bevezeteserol.html
OBH (National Judicial Authority): http://birosag.hu/allampolgaroknak/csod-es-felszamolasi-eljarasok/i-fizetes
Related materials
Foreign Currency Payments
We credit our client’s receivables to their accounts denominated in foreign currency and execute the payment orders in favour of the instructed accounts. Outgoing transactions can be initiated personally in any UniCredit Bank branches or using our electronic banking solutions.
Useful information on Cross Border Payments
What IBAN stands for?
The format of bank accounts in Europe is subject to the national regulations hence it can be various in the different countries. In order to having unified format many Banks have already introduced IBAN (International Bank Account Number) The list of the participating Banks is continuously growing; apart from the 28 members of the European Union more than 50 other countries are using IBAN format.
Following the introduction of the IBAN the need of manual processing has been minimized. You can take advantage of it from multiply different ways.
- Quick execution of international payment orders without any delay.
- The beneficiary of the payment is going to be checked before each transaction that reduces the possibility of transfers with incorrect or missing data.
- Since every non-IBAN transaction must be processed manually, the extra work is being charged on the beneficiary or the sender of the payment. With IBAN this extra fee can be avoided.
What Swift and BIC stand for?
Beside the aforementioned IBAN, the use of Swift (or BIC) code is also necessary for the international payments. This code is needed to clearly identify the bank of the beneficiary account.
All payments are classified as cross-border transactions, which are initiated in any other currencies than Hungarian Forint (e.g. payment denominated in foreign currency between two Hungarian Banks), or Hungarian Forint transactions from domestic Banks to non-domestic beneficiaries.
Swift stands for “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication” while BIC is for “Bank Identifier Code” but both names reflect on the same format.
We kindly ask you to provide the Swift (BIC) code of the beneficiary Bank every time.
- Swift (BIC) code (8 or 11 characters) identifies the beneficiary Bank. By using it there is no need to provide the name or address of the Bank.
- If the beneficiary account is held with UniCredit Bank Hungary, please use BACXHUHB as Swift code.
What is Bank Identifier?
Bank Identifier is only additional information - not the same as Swift or BIC code - and it is used quite rarely.
In case you provided Swift (BIC) code alongside the IBAN, please do not add any Bank Identifier. Any unnecessary additional information might cause delay in the payment processing.
If you need to provide Bank Identifier please bear in mind the following;
- The Bank Identifier starts with 2 alphabetic characters – and it is a country specific pre-code (e.g. BL for “Bankleitzahl”, SC for “Sort Code” and FW for “Fedwire”), which is followed by a numeric code (various length depending on the country, e.g. 8 characters after BL, 6 characters after SC and 9 characters after FW)
- Leave no space, hyphen or any other characters between the country specific code (2 digits) and the numeric characters (e.g. BL12345678, SC123456, or FW123456789)
You can find a detailed description about the country specific Bank Identifiers at the end of “Information about transfer orders with missing or incorrect data” page.
Bank Holidays
According to our General Terms and Conditions, “Bank Business Day” refers to a day on which the Bank conducts business activities as per its effective opening hours
In respect of payments denominated in any foreign currencies, Bank Business Day means that;
- the Bank is open for the purpose of executing payment transactions and
- clearing systems are open and working in the given country of the foreign currency, and
- there is no national bank holiday on the value date of the payment.
Please find more about the currency bank holidays in 2024 on the following link.
Extra transfer fees for transfer orders with missing or incorrect data
An extra fee is going to be charged if any key information is missing or has been input incorrectly to a payment order denominated in foreign currency.
According to the standard international practices - in order to minimize the occurrence of false or incorrect payment instructions – Banks offer favourable conditions for automated transfer solutions and impose an extra fee on transaction orders with missing or incorrect data.
The extra fee will be charged every time (according to the current General Business Conditions) if any of the following data are missing or have been input incorrectly;
- Swift (BIC) code (8 or 11 characters, e.g. BACXHUHB)
- IBAN account number (e.g. BE62510007547061) if the beneficiary account held in IBAN member country
- Exceptional cases when not IBAN has been given as a beneficiary account, e.g. Bank Identifier (starts with 2 country specific alphabetic characters and followed by numeric digits)
In order to take advantage of favourable conditions and avoid any extra fees please fill your payment instructions completely and precisely. You can find further information and assistance to your transfers following the below link.
Sepa transfer
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) transfer can be used for both domestic and cross-border euro payments in EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. As a Client of UniCredit Bank you are entitled to send and receive SEPA transfers. This payment option is available through our electronic banking applications.
Further details
The benefits of SEPA transfer:
- Greater transparency: each payment is made under clear, standard conditions.
- Full amount crediting on the beneficiary’s bank account: the Bank of the beneficiary credits exactly the same amount on the beneficiary’s account as the amount of the transfer initiated by the remitter; hence the credited amount cannot be reduced by the costs charged by the transmitting bank.
- Extended period to receive orders (cut-off).
- Easier liquidity planning: payments are easier to schedule, thanks to the standardized system of payments.
- Unified and more accurate transfer data: the use of verifiable IBAN account number and BIC/ SWIFT bank identification codes instead of the account number and local bank identification numbers ensures a more reliable processing of payments.
- Process optimization opportunities: in the case of transfers within the SEPA zone, it is no longer necessary to distinguish between domestic or cross-border euro payments.
- Automatic processing from remitter to beneficiary: if the data of the transaction order are entered correctly, the new standardized format provides a greater opportunity for processing the payments without any manual intervention than before.
Chinese Yuan
UniCredit Bank has launched its CNY transaction services among the first providers on the Hungarian market which enables our clients to hold current accounts and conduct their business activities in Chinese Yuan.
The second largest national economy of the world, China—in parallel with implementing a more relaxed exchange rate policy and a gradual opening of money markets—actively supports strengthening the role of yuan in international trade and finances.
Why is it worth?
Contracts denominated in yuan may mean not negligible administrative relief and cost saving for Chinese partners, therefore foreign exporters/importers who are able to administer their payment transactions may get significant competitive advantage over the enterprises who still trade (typically) in US dollars or euros with their Chinese partners.
Clientele Informative - Account keeping in chinese yuan
IBAN calculator
With the help of the below tool you can generate the IBAN format of your UniCredit account number by entering your local account number. The same number is stated in the top left corner of your account statement.
You can also validate your partners' IBANs by entering them without special characters (e.g. "-" ";") and spaces. (e.g. BE62510007547061)
HUF Cash transactions
Our clients and the entitled persons can pay in and withdraw cash at our counters or the UniCredit ATMs.
Postal cash transfer order
If you wish to enable your clients to fulfil their financial obligations via postal cash payment, this is made possible by postal cash transfer orders (“yellow cheque”). Amounts paid this way are processed by the clearing centre of the Hungarian Post JSC (PEK) on the day following the payment and transferred to UniCredit the next day. Our Bank credits the transferred amounts to the accounts of beneficiaries named on the transfer orders. The detailed data of credited items are provided to our clients via our electronic services and the copies of the cheques can also be forwarded to our clients by e-mail. Upon request, our Bank will cooperate in preparing the necessary order form as well as in having it certified by the Hungarian Post.
As of October 2014 a QR code based electronic payment method is also available for the settlement of “yellow cheques”. The electronic payments are redited to the benefi ciary account on the banking day after the settlement is made.
Cash transport and processing
For safe handling of cash it is possible to employ a cash transport company - occasionally or regularly - to deliver the money to the Bank. This service is recommended to clients with an extended network, for whom the safe transportation and handling of their daily revenues is a problem. The partner companies of our bank offer the following services to our clients:
- Occasional transportation of cash and assets between the client’s headquarters and the bank
- Cash and assets processing as well as depositing to the client’s bank account
- Transportation of other assets
Night safes and cash depositing in bags
The Night Safe service of our Bank relieves our clients of the risk of keeping their cash with themselves. The amounts deposited in night safes outside the Bank’s opening hours are credited to our Clients’ bank accounts on the day following the emptying of the safe. Large amounts in HUF or other currencies can be deposited using the Bank’s standardized bags by taking them personally to the Bank. The bags are carried to the bank by the account holder and the bank credits the deposited amount to the client’s account the next day.
The information is not comprehensive. The detailed terms and conditions are included in the bank’s currently valid lists of conditions. Other conditions are included in the bank’s General Terms and Conditions. The Bank reserves the right to amend the conditions unilaterally.
1 The operation of EFER (Electronic Payments and Clearing System) is regulated by Government Decree No. 83/2012 (IV.21.) on regulated electronic administrative services and mandatory public services. The details of the whole EFER clearing process are available on the website of the Central Office for Administrative and Electronic Public Services (KEK KH).
