Postal payment services in Hungary

The study offers a summary on major postal payment services in the domestic payment market. In addition to their share based on volume, the importance of these services lies in that more than one-fourth to one-third of Hungarians does not have a bank account (bank relationship), meaning that for these people postal payment services are basically the only means to handle their payment transactions, to pay their bills, and to collect their pension or social benefits. Postal payment services are unique in that they are provided by a single domestic service provider. The study is fact finding and descriptive in nature, for it takes account of all products featured in postal payment services in the domestic market, it shows the processes by which they are executed, and – from 1998 – it analyses the turnover of these products and compares it to those of the banks, along with a comparison of demand for postal payment services in Hungary and elsewhere. The study uses this approach to make a contribution to efforts made in the research of payment services in Hungary and to provide information to those interested.