Finances: a preparation guide for next year

Balázs Toldi

According to Balázs Toldi, head of Budapest Bank’s corporate customers business area, the bank provides a full scale of financial services to micro-, small and medium-sized businesses. 90 percent of the bank’s portfolio is Hungarian-owned companies. Budapest Bank’s corporate customers business area concentrates primarily on the agri-food sector, on exporting businesses and processing companies. The bank pays great attention to utilising the financing opportunities that lie in buyer-supplier cooperations, offering classic factoring-type financing and current asset financing services. There is great interest in the European Union funding schemes available to SMEs. In May 2016 MFB Points were set up in Budapest Bank branches to provide SME partners with EU products. Nearly 40 percent of so-called combined products available to enterprises were applied for at Budapest Bank. As for the HUF 100-billion grant programme for medium-sized businesses in the food sector, there is great interest in it among Budapest Bank’ s customers. The bank’s EuBázis2020 counselling service helps customers to search for EU funding for which they are eligible; once the right grant programme is found, partners are assisted throughout the process in getting and using the financial support for their projects.

K&H Bank’s estimation is that by 2020 no less than 66 percent of transactions will be realised via mobile and online banking. The bank’s experts have told: until 2017 K&H Bank had invested HUF 6 billion on digital development. K&H Bank’s customers like three bank account types the most: start extra, dynamic extra and active extra – these are available 50 percent cheaper until 31 December 2017. Partners can open a bank account online at the kh.hu website, they only have to visit a K&H Bank branch to sign the contract. In the last few years the number of transactions realised at POS terminals and in online shops has been growing dynamically. Those businesses which intend to start offering bank card payment to their customers, can commission K&H Bank with installing modern, GPRS-communication, touchscreen, portable bank card terminals for them, within the framework of the Ministry for National Economy’s POS terminal installation programme. Demand has increased for the bank’s business support loan, which partners can get quickly and simply because they don’t need to have own resources and tangible fixed asset guarantee, thanks to the EU-funded COSME portfolio guarantee.

Béla Pál

We learned from Béla Pál, managing director of NiTrisk Kft. that the complex services they offer to customers are unique in the market. This covers every area, from risk assessment and risk analysis to selling the insurance to partners; contracts are reviewed every year, so that they suit partner needs the best and are available at the best price. NiTrisk Kft. can react to market and legislative changes instantly. One of their lesser-known but useful services is the employer’s liability insurance, which can be of great help to employers if a worker has an accident at work. Company directors are starting to realise that the pressure on members of the management is growing, therefore it is a good idea to take out a professional liability insurance policy on managers. These can be very useful, as in order to be able to collect tax debts, the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV) is entitled to take legal action against high-ranking managers, and the company can also start proceedings against them if they deem that they managed affairs negligently. //