Following the March 2025 amendment to Hungary’s Fundamental Law, which elevated the use of cash as a constitutionally protected right, significant legislative changes entered into force on 1 July 2025. These amendments aim to bring existing legal provisions in line with the constitutional recognition of the freedom to pay with cash, thereby guaranteeing that consumers can continue to choose their preferred method of payment, including cash, when purchasing goods or using services.
This constitutional protection of cash represents more than just the acknowledgement of a traditional means of payment; it affirms cash usage as a fundamental right, closely tied to personal freedom, privacy and social inclusion. To uphold this principle, the amended legislation imposes a general obligation on businesses throughout Hungary to provide a cash payment option in addition to any digital payment methods they may already offer. In practice, this means that consumers must have the ability to pay in cash at the point of sale, except in cases explicitly exempted by law.
According to the implementation rules published in the official Hungarian Gazette, cash payment does not need to be offered in certain specific scenarios. These exceptions include contracts concluded exclusively online, such as digital newspaper subscriptions; cross-border online transactions, like subscriptions to international digital services (e.g. Netflix, Spotify, or Google Cloud); and purchases made through automated, cashless outlets, such as unmanned self-service stores.
To ensure compliance, businesses are granted flexibility in how they meet their obligation to accept cash. They may choose among several legally permissible models, including providing at least one physical point of sale where cash is accepted, installing cash-accepting machines or kiosks, offering cash-on-delivery as a payment method, or allowing consumers to make payments by depositing cash into a bank account or through a postal money order.
With this legislative package, Hungary has assumed a distinctive position within the European legal framework by embedding the right to use cash into its constitutional order. While digital payments remain on the rise, the new rules guarantee that individuals who either prefer or rely on cash are not excluded from everyday transactions, reinforcing both consumer choice and social equity in the evolving payment landscape.
On 14 July 2025, the Curia of Hungary published a uniformity decision concerning foreign currency loan agreements, in response to a judgment of the CJEU. The decision states that if such a contract is deemed invalid due to insufficient information provided regarding the exchange rate risk, it may only be declared valid at the explicit request of the consumer. Furthermore, previous conflicting judicial decisions are no longer considered binding.
By Levente Csengery, Partner, KCG Partners Law Firm