Qvik payment: New mobile payment option in Hungary

As of September 2024, a new payment option is available in Hungary. Customers can use their mobile phones to pay sellers in a new way, simply with their existing banking app, even if they do not have a bank card. At the same time, qvik payment is free of transaction fee, which can significantly reduce the costs of sellers.

What is Qvik?

Qvik is a new payment method sellers can offer to customers in Hungary beside paying by cash, card, or bank transfer. It is developed by the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), and it is only available in Hungary.

When a customer chooses qvik payment, the seller will generate a unique link that will let the customer pay by qvik transfer with the help of the banking app in their mobile phones. The process is as quick as paying by a bank card, while offering sellers the same benefits as if the customer paid by bank transfer.

Qvik is an alternative to paying by card or by transfer

In Hungary, you can pay by card at most sellers. To customers, this is free of charge (although many banks charge a yearly flat fee for managing your card). Sellers, however, pay a commission around 1-2% of the purchase price, or a minimum fee if the purchase price is below a certain threshold. While the money gets immediately deducted from your card, it can take days, or even weeks until it is transferred to the seller’s account.

To counter these negative effects, online sellers often have an option for payment by bank transfer. This way the seller receives the payment almost immediately. However, making a transaction may incur a fee for the customer, depending on their bank. Even though there is no transaction fee on transfers up to HUF 50,000 (ca. EUR 120) originating in retail accounts as of 1 August 2024, banks do not necessarily forward this benefit to their customers.

Qvik has no transaction fees attached

Unlike payment by card or transfer, qvik transactions do not incur any transaction fees either by the seller or the customer. As a result, they let the seller receive the price of their products in full. Moreover, sellers receive payment within a few seconds. This way sellers can take advantage of the same benefits offered by bank transfers without imposing any fees or inconvenience on the customers.

For customers, the biggest advantage of qvik payment that it is available even to people who do not have a bank card attached to their bank account. This way customers can take advantage of the flexibility and independence offered by bank cards even without paying for one.

At the same time, precisely because qvik payment is very much like paying by card, customers who do regularly pay by card might not be sufficiently motivated to switch to qvik. Awareness campaigns focusing on how payment choices affect the businesses customers wish to support might be helpful in this regard.

How does qvik work?

Qvik is currently available at around 5,000 sellers in Hungary, but this number is expected to increase to 20,000 by the end of November 2024. If a seller has enabled qvik payment, users will be able to choose this form of payment at checkout, whether they are at a physical or an online store.

In fact, qvik offers 4 payment options, of which the recently popularized QR code is only one:

• QR code (available in physical and online stores, on invoices, or between 2 retail customers)
• NFC (available in physical stores and between 2 retail customers)
• Payment request (available in physical and online stores, on electronic invoices, or between 2 retail customers)
• Deep link (available in online stores and on electronic invoices)

When you choose the QR code, a unique QR code is generated which you can scan with your mobile phone. You can simply use the camera app of your phone, and you will be redirected to the banking app. If you do not have a QR code scanner in your camera app, you can open your banking app directly, and use its QR code reader function to scan the code.

When you choose NFC, you can pay with your phone just like when you are paying with the bank card saved there. The only difference is that a different app (or at least a different function) will get activated.

Once you are redirected to the right function of your banking app, you will need to approve the payment. When done, payment is processed and sent to the seller within 5 seconds.

Qvik payments in Hungary

Introducing qvik as a payment option will benefit the smallest retail businesses the most. Here the costs related to card payments may be up to 3% of the revenue from card payments, and qvik may reduce these costs significantly. At the same time, using qvik payment incurs no costs for the customers.

Regarding equipment: introducing qvik as a seller should not require the procurement of new equipment. POS terminals are supposed to be able to send the right data to the customer’s phone, while the customer can use their phone as always.

By providing an electronic payment system that is cheap as well as comfortable for both sellers and customers, qvik payment may also contribute to better transparency in the economy and the reduction of undocumented transactions in Hungary.

Helpers Finance at your service

Our team offers accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, and advisory to small and medium-sized businesses operating in Hungary. We have considerable experience working with foreign owners, and we are confident that our accurate and up-do-date reports will support your decision making and help you achieve success in Hungary.

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