Historic interest rate reduction in the Széchenyi Card Program! The banking sector and KAVOSZ take on a new role for the development of SMEs

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 02. 04. 11:52

With the active participation of KAVOSZ Zrt., in close cooperation with the domestic banking sector and the Government, the interest rates of the specified schemes of the Széchenyi Card Program MAX+ will be significantly reduced from March 1, 2025 for contracts concluded after this date, further strengthening the subsidized financing options of Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their preferential terms and conditions. The interest rate on investment-type loans (Agricultural Investment Loan, Investment Loan) and the leasing construction will be reduced to 3%, while the interest rate on the Széchenyi Card Overdraft MAX+ (including the Tourism Card) and the Liquidity Loan will be reduced to 4.5%. Through the joint burden-bearing of KAVOSZ Zrt. and banks and leasing companies, domestic SMEs will be able to access a loan volume of HUF 300 billion more under preferential terms.

The Hungarian banking sector’s priority mission is to ensure sustainable economic development, which it implements in a stable and transparent market environment. The role of SMEs is crucial in this: they are the defining elements of the Hungarian economy through innovation, job creation, flexibility and filling market gaps. The Széchenyi Card Program helps finance these enterprises, ensuring that they can continuously develop and invest.

KAVOSZ Zrt. – on behalf of the Ministry of National Economy, which provides professional supervision of the Széchenyi Card Program and provides support to enterprises for its schemes – has been playing a key role in supporting the financing of SMEs for decades, and in a joint system with the ministry, as well as financing banks, leasing companies and guarantor institutions (Garantiqa Hitelgarancia Zrt., Agrár-Vállalkozási Hitelgarancia Alapítvány) ensures that the schemes of the Program are available to a wide range of enterprises. Now, it is making another significant commitment to enable SMEs to take out loans under even more favorable conditions and to access additional favorable sources under a leasing structure.

As of November 1, 2024, as part of the Demján Sándor Program, the interest rate on investment-type structures in the Széchenyi Card Program MAX+ portfolio has been reduced from 5% to 3.5%. The current measure further increases this discount by extending the current 0.5% interest rate reduction to fixed-interest free-use loans (Széchenyi Card Overdraft, Liquidity Loan).

In accordance with government goals, the loans and leasing structures of the Széchenyi Card Program will continue to play a prominent role in the financing of domestic SMEs.

In the case of new contracts concluded after March 1, 2025 within the framework of the above-mentioned fixed-interest rate schemes of the Széchenyi Card Program, the customer-side fees will be reduced by 0.5%, which will be made possible by KAVOSZ Zrt.’s 0.1% burden and the banking sector’s 0.4%. The exception to this is the investment loans with the “GREEN” sub-structure, which already have an exceptionally favorable interest rate, which will continue to be available to businesses at a net interest rate of 1.5% per annum.