BUDAPEST, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Hungary (MNB) has launched its instant payment system, making bank transfers available around the clock in a matter of seconds, the central bank said Monday in an online statement.
"Immediate payment is available! MNB has launched its Instant Payments system, which is used to execute individual domestic transfers up to 10 million forints (33,027 U.S. dollars) electronically every day of the year, from 0 to 24 hours, in 5 seconds," MNB said.
"The novelty of Instant Payments is that we can forget about complex account numbers. From now on, one can enter a pre-registered email address or phone number as an identifier instead of an account number," MNB added.
Immediate payment is "cash without cash" by itself, as it is a convenient and competitive alternative to cash payment, according to MNB.
Before the introduction of Instant Payments, Hungarians had to wait for at least two hours to receive a bank transfer, which were limited to weekdays during banking hours.
Instant Payments is automatically provided by each commercial bank in Hungary for no extra charge, and allows sending and receiving payment orders 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including weekends and public holidays, MNB added. (1 U.S. dollar = 302.8 HUF)
