What would István Csók say about tablet banking?

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 09. 17. 10:40

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If Oktogon could tell a story, perhaps it would first talk about how many horse-drawn carriages have rattled past it, how many gentlemen in checkered coats have entered Abbázia for a strong black drink, or how many poets have scribbled lines of poetry next to the marble tables. But today we live in a different era: it is 2025, and the site of the once legendary café has now been re-opened by an ultra-modern K&H bank branch – where you no longer arrive with a credit card, but with a mobile bank.

A café that has always been ahead of the times

Abbázia was not just a café in turn-of-the-century Budapest – rather, it was a kind of social melting pot, where painters such as Pál Szinyei Merse, Ödön Márffy or Károly Ferenczy, politicians, public figures such as Károly Eörvös or Vilmos Vázsonyi, writers, poets and editors such as Ferenc Molnár, Sándor Bródy or Jenő Heltai had their regular tables. Since its opening in 1888, the establishment on the southern side of the Oktogon has been considered one of the largest and most luxurious coffee houses in the capital, and according to some rumors, it was here that the table-mounted bell system first appeared in the city. And the gentlemen – as soon as they arrived – asked not only for coffee, but also for the latest stock market prices. The smell of coffee mixed with the rustling of newspapers, the exchange of ideas and a good dose of political gossip – teachers, scientists, writers, journalists, artists and, of course, ordinary citizens visited here. The building still stands today at 49 Andrássy út, where a renovated branch of K&H Bank now awaits its modern guests – with a digital signature, a tablet and Kate, the digital financial assistant.

Would you like to sketch on a tablet?

Imagine Pál Szinyei Merse sitting in the corner trying to draw a sketch of the Chestnut Tree – only not on paper, but on a K&H consultant tablet with a stylus. Or József Rippl-Rónai digitally signing a bank account agreement over a delicious coffee. István Csók might not need any special help, just a quick mobile banking app download – but he might forget his password, so he would probably ask his colleagues at the branch for a little help.

The branch where there is no bell, but there is Kate

Today’s branch no longer has a brass bell, instead there is Kate, K&H’s digital financial assistant, who helps you arrange almost anything up to date – from account balance to pension insurance. Advisors working with tablets handle cases paperlessly, with digital signatures, and if you wish, you can even discuss your questions about mortgages or private banking options in a separate meeting room.