This is what used to be the case with personal loans: single-digit interest rates were available at every bank

At the beginning of this year, single-digit interest rates became common for personal loans, and interest rates below 10 percent became available on the market with all banking players selling the product – points out Péter Gergely, financial expert at BiztosDöntés.hu. This is still a very significant development – ​​he adds – when we consider that some players still have to meet serious conditions to achieve an annual interest rate starting at nine, and there are also financial institutions where the most favorable pricing is currently available for targeted use schemes.

According to data from the Hungarian National Bank, the annual average interest rate on personal loans in forints decreased at a good pace last year: the 14.53 percent value shown in contracts as of December was nearly two percentage points – 188 basis points to be exact – lower than at the end of 2024. The average interest rate in December, just over 14.5 percent, also represents a roughly 3.5-year low, while also falling more than 4.5 percentage points short of the multi-year high of 19.07 percent projected for May 2023.

“There is fierce competition among banks in the personal loan market, as it is the most popular retail financing product next to home loans: last year, banks concluded contracts worth more than 1,120 billion forints, which exceeded the record set a year earlier by nearly 37 percent,” reminds the financial expert of BiztosDöntés.hu. In light of all this, he adds, it is only a matter of time before the first offer with an annual interest rate of less than 9 percent appears on the market. A further, substantial reduction in interest rates obviously requires a favorable development of the interest rate environment, as a reduction in interbank interest rates would also significantly increase the room for maneuver of financial institutions.

On the personal loan market, the amount of the requested loan and the size of the certified income still determine the available interest rate, but according to the BiztosDöntés.hu personal loan calculator, there may still be significant differences between the offers of individual service providers.

With the OTP Home Personal Loan offered by OTP Bank, the annual interest rate in the highest amount band is 9.99 percent, while the loan amount can be 15 million forints and the term can be 10 years. However, an important condition is that the applicant’s monthly income reaches 400 thousand forints and that he or she also has an ownership stake in a property belonging to the accepted categories.

With the MagNet Bank Green Personal Loan, the annual interest rate can be as high as 9.50 percent for loans over HUF 8 million if the client can take advantage of the discounts offered: at the same time, interest rates below 10 percent are also available for loans over HUF 1.8 million. With the Car Purchase Personal Loan, the annual interest rate can be as high as 9.95 percent for loans over HUF 8 million.

Trive Bank – like its other financing products – offers a loan called eHitel Expressz that can only be applied for online.