On December 15, Magyar Bankholding reached another important milestone: the first step in the merger schedule of Budapest Bank, MKB Bank and the Takarék Group was adopted. Accordingly, on March 31, 2022, the two member banks of Magyar Bankholding, Budapest Bank and MKB Bank, will merge. Takarék will join the merged bank by the end of the second quarter of 2023, until which time its internal operations will be harmonized.

The new merged bank will temporarily operate under the name MKB Bank Plc., And the brand name of the unified financial institution will be finally introduced in early 2023.

The customers of Budapest Bank and MKB Bank will be able to handle matters related to banking products and services in the current, standard manner. After March 31, customers of the two banks will be able to manage their finances in a larger network of several locations belonging to the previous branch, in addition to their usual bank branches and channels. The customers of Takarék Group are not currently affected by these steps.

The experience can benefit from the merger

Dr. Zsolt Barna, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Bankholding, said that the planning phase of the merger, which is of historical significance in the Hungarian banking sector but unique in the region, will be finally concluded. With this, the implementation of the merger of the three separate banking groups representing significant market power can begin. The primary goal of the banking group is to best serve Hungarian people and businesses.

Magyar Bankholding is currently building a new digital bank, as well as the latest platform for developments. The banking group is introducing flexible, internationally leading digital solutions and building on the strengths of the three strong domestic commercial banks.

The emerging large bank aims to cover the entire market spectrum and serve all customer segments, with a special emphasis on offering new, modern, affordable products and services to its retail, micro, small and medium-sized enterprise and agricultural customers.
One of the long-term goals of Magyar Bankholding’s strategy is to build a domestically owned superbank, which will eventually appear in other countries in the region.

Leasing area is also a market leader

On January 1, 2022, the Car Finance Division of MKB-Euroleasing, Budapest Leasing, Takarék Leasing and Budapest Bank will continue to operate under the Euroleasing brand name.

The four leasing companies are already dominant players in the Hungarian market, but together, under the Euroleasing brand, they can have a market share of over 20 percent based on the newly leased total leased portfolio *.
* Source: Hungarian Leasing Association, 31 December 2020.