Cash has become a constitutional right: every merchant must provide the opportunity

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 06. 23. 12:00

A new regulation enshrining the right to use cash as a constitutional right has been published in the Magyar Közlöny (Hungary’s official gazette). The measure mandates that retailers must provide customers with the option to pay in cash—a move that has sparked intense debate between lawmakers and the retail sector.

Is cash payment available to everyone?

According to the newly announced regulation, businesses are obliged to ensure that customers can pay in cash if they so request. There are several ways to do this: the obligation can be fulfilled in the store, at a designated point of sale, at an ATM or even by cash on delivery. Cash payment is also considered acceptable by yellow check or by deposit into an account.

Exceptions to the provision are online subscriptions (e.g. digital content providers), cross-border online sales (e.g. Netflix, Spotify), and automated, cashless stores.

OKSZ criticizes: unrealistic expectations for retailers

The National Trade Association (OKSZ) strongly criticized the new regulation. According to them, the provision extends the obligation to use cash to sales channels where there is neither demand nor technical possibility to fulfill it in practice.

Tamás Kozák, Secretary General of OKSZ, warned that in the case of vending machines, self-service stores, and parcel machines, the introduction of cash would be technologically practically unsolvable or would entail huge conversion costs. The association fears that this could lead to the cessation of several services, especially for smaller businesses.

Additional costs, competitive disadvantage, regression

According to the association, making cash payments mandatory is not only unviable, but also imposes significant additional costs on domestic traders – while not affecting foreign, digital platforms, thus further increasing the competitive disadvantage of domestic businesses. In addition, according to OKSZ, cash payments can also pose challenges from a logistical and security perspective, especially in the case of home delivery, where digitalized solutions are safer and more efficient.

The organization believes that customer needs are now primarily pointing towards electronic payments, especially among the younger generation and in urban areas. According to them, the new regulation does not take these consumer habits into account and represents a regression in the development of digital commerce.