Fintech Sector Booming in Hungary - with One Problem

The domestic fintech sector in Hungary has continued to grow, with the number of active fintechs increasing to 175 in 2022, employing nearly 9,000 people, with a significant increase in revenue and improved profitability, according to the Fintech and Digitalization Report by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB).

The sector appears to be entering a more mature phase, but the vast majority of domestic fintechs still make their living from serving incumbent financial institutions.

In its report, the MNB looked at fintech companies that filed their annual reports for 2021 and were active in 2022. The central bank's analysts used automated methods to scan the websites of all potential firms and examined them in detail.

While in 2020, there were just over 140 fintech firms operating in Hungary, in 2021 there were 175 fintech firms in Hungary. Some of these newcomers are start-ups, while others are subsidiaries of established international players. The majority of Hungarian fintechs, around 85%, remain B2B (business-to-business) focused, but their share is declining as the market matures, MNB analysts say.