New ATMs may be located here first. The specific list of settlements is on the map

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 03. 25. 11:26

A proposal has been submitted by the Hungarian Banking Association regarding the installation of ATMs. Depending on the size of the settlement, banks would deploy new ATMs in several phases. Experts at Bankmonitor have mapped out where the new machines might appear first.

According to a statement published on the Banking Association’s website, banks are committed to expanding the geographical coverage of ATMs. In the first phase, ATMs would be placed in settlements with more than 2,000 inhabitants (provided that the local governments request their installation and can offer a suitable location).

Additionally, the Banking Association has requested that foreign-based financial service providers offering bank cards to Hungarian residents also take part in this initiative. (In effect, this would require fintech companies to contribute to the effort.)

The government welcomes the Banking Association’s position and agrees that banks should initially place ATMs in towns and villages with over 2,000 inhabitants. At the same time, it requests that in a second phase, ATMs also be installed in settlements with more than 1,000 residents. Furthermore, it reaffirms the long-term goal that every Hungarian settlement should have access to at least one ATM.

How many settlements might receive ATMs in the first phase?

Based on data from the National Spatial Development and Planning Information System (TEIR), in 2022 there were 775 settlements in Hungary with a population exceeding 2,000. Of these, 166 had no ATM that year. (One of these had a bank branch, which may make ATM installation unnecessary.)

Thus, ATMs could be installed in these 165 or 166 settlements in the first round, assuming that population and ATM numbers have not changed since.

According to the government’s website, the second phase would include settlements with more than 1,000 residents. Based on 2022 data, there are 615 such settlements, of which 159 had ATMs at the time. Therefore, approximately 456 additional towns and villages could receive ATMs in the second phase. (In 2022, two of these already had bank branches.There is no information yet regarding a third phase, but the government has reiterated the long-term goal of installing an ATM in every Hungarian settlement. In 2022, there were 1,765 settlements with populations of 1,000 or fewer, and only 36 of these had an ATM. Therefore, if a third phase were to be implemented, another 1,729 ATMs could potentially be deployed