Send money from Australia to Hungary
One thing has to be clear before anything else on this page: Grey does not convert into forint. What Grey sends to Hungary is a euro credit, delivered into the recipient's Hungarian IBAN through SEPA, at OTP Bank, K&H Bank or Raiffeisen Bank Hungary. If the account is a forint account, the recipient's own bank converts the euro on arrival, at that bank's rate. Grey holds no Australian dollar balance either, so the euro leave a US dollar, pound or euro balance that you fund first.
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A euro credit, not a forint transfer
Hungarians in Australia mostly arrived in two waves, after the war and after 1956, and settled around Melbourne and Sydney. Three generations on, the community halls and the Hungarian clubs are still there, and so are the reasons to send money: an estate being settled in Budapest, a flat carrying charges nobody local is paying, an elderly aunt in Pecs or Szeged, a lawyer's invoice. Anyone who has done this before expects to talk in forint, which is why the mechanics need stating plainly.
Grey pays Hungary as a euro credit. The money travels through SEPA into a Hungarian IBAN, exactly as it would to any eurozone account. Hungary is not in the eurozone, so what happens next depends on the account that receives it. A euro account holds it as euro and nothing more happens. A forint account triggers a conversion by the recipient's own bank, at whatever rate and terms that bank applies on the day. Grey fixes the rate on its own leg and has no part in the second one.
That makes this arrangement a good fit for some people and a poor one for others. It suits a recipient who holds a euro account, a lawyer or an agent who invoices in euro, or a family that would rather receive euro than forint. It suits nobody who needs an exact forint figure to land on an exact day, because that last conversion belongs to a bank in Hungary, not to Grey. And as with every Australian corridor here, there is no Australian dollar balance behind it: you hold US dollars provided by Lead Bank, pounds or euro, funded by pay, invoices or a transfer you make in yourself.
How to send euro from Australia to Hungary
Sign up
The account is free and takes about five minutes to open with one valid identity document, and it can be done from Melbourne before the lawyer in Budapest sends the IBAN. Nothing needs arranging in Hungary beforehand.
Fund
The balance can be US dollars provided by Lead Bank, pounds or euro. Euro held in Grey go out to the Hungarian IBAN without being converted by us at all.
Send
Enter the Hungarian IBAN, check the euro figure and the fee, and confirm. Tell your recipient that what lands will be euro.
What a euro payment to Hungary costs
That third step is the one worth a conversation with the person receiving the money. If they hold a euro account, it does not exist. If they hold only a forint account, their bank decides the rate at which the euro become forint, and neither you nor Grey has any influence over it.
On Grey's own leg the comparison is the usual one: look at the euro arriving rather than the fee quoted in Australia, because that figure already carries the rate and the fee together.
How the rate is fixed, and where it stops
If your balance is in US dollars or pounds, Grey makes one conversion into euro. The live rate is shown before you confirm and fixed at that moment, so the euro figure arriving at the Hungarian bank is settled before the payment leaves.
If your balance is already in euro, there is no conversion on Grey's side at all. The euro that leave your balance are the euro that reach the IBAN.
What Grey cannot fix is the second conversion, if there is one. A Hungarian bank crediting a forint account will apply its own rate to the incoming euro on the day it arrives. That is an ordinary part of receiving foreign currency in a country outside the eurozone, and the honest thing to say is that the forint number is theirs to determine, not ours.
Grey against an Australian bank sending to Hungary
An Australian bank asked to pay Hungary will usually offer to send forint, converting at its own retail rate and routing over SWIFT with correspondent banks along the way. That is a different product from this one, and for somebody who needs forint in a forint account on a fixed date it may suit them better. What it costs is the usual thing: a retail rate you cannot see the margin on, fees that can be taken in the middle, and a value date rather than a confirmation. Grey's offer is narrower and more transparent. A euro credit into the Hungarian IBAN through SEPA, a rate fixed before you confirm on the leg Grey controls, and a clear statement that the euro to forint step, if it happens, belongs to the receiving bank.
What your recipient sees in Hungary
A euro credit arriving in their Hungarian account through SEPA. What it looks like after that depends on the account it lands in.
Hungarian banks
OTP Bank, K&H Bank and Raiffeisen Bank Hungary among others. The IBAN is all that is required, and no Grey account is needed at their end.
A euro account
If the recipient holds euro, the credit simply sits there as euro. This is the cleanest version of the corridor and worth asking about before the first payment.
A forint account
If the account is in forint, their bank converts the incoming euro at its own rate. The forint total is therefore known to them rather than promised by you.
Funding your balance from Australia
There is no Australian dollar balance to top up, so the euro you send are funded by dollars, pounds or euro arriving in your Grey account.
An employer outside Australia
Grey US dollar account details can be given to an overseas employer, and pay then lands in the balance each cycle.
Invoices you raise
Consultants and contractors billing abroad can be paid straight into Grey, in dollars, pounds or euro, and send to Hungary from there.
Money you transfer in
Funds can be moved in from another account you hold in those currencies, which is how most one-off estate payments get funded.
Each route shows its fee before you confirm anything, and a balance already funded sends to Hungary without waiting on a deposit.
What Australians send to Hungary for
Estates and legal work
Settling a relative's affairs in Budapest or a county town, paying a lawyer and a notary who will often accept euro without complaint.
Property costs
Charges, taxes and repairs on a flat or a house kept in the family. Where those must be paid in forint, the conversion happens at the Hungarian bank.
Elderly relatives
Money towards the care of an aunt or an uncle who stayed. Worth asking whether they hold a euro account, because it changes what arrives.
Younger family and students
A niece studying in Budapest or Debrecen, a cousin starting out. Younger recipients are the most likely to already hold euro alongside forint.
Four reasons dominate this corridor, and each one is worth checking against the euro credit model before you send.
Why use Grey on this corridor
Free to open, about five minutes, one valid identity document, and one conversation worth having first.
Ask the person in Hungary whether they hold a euro account before the first payment. If they do, this corridor is as simple as any eurozone one. If they do not, the euro still arrive safely through SEPA and their bank converts, and everyone knows that in advance rather than afterwards.
FAQs
Can Grey send forint to a Hungarian bank account?
No. Grey delivers a euro credit into the Hungarian IBAN through SEPA, and the receiving bank converts to forint if the account requires it.
Which Hungarian banks can receive the euro?
OTP Bank, K&H Bank and Raiffeisen Bank Hungary among others. Any Hungarian IBAN can take the euro credit through SEPA.
What if my relative's Hungarian account is in forint?
Their bank converts the incoming euro at its own rate on arrival. The forint amount is decided by that bank, not by Grey.
What happens if the recipient holds a euro account in Hungary?
The credit stays as euro with no conversion anywhere after it leaves your balance, which is the simplest version of this corridor.
Can I promise an exact forint figure on a set date?
No. Grey fixes the euro amount at confirmation, but the euro to forint step belongs to the Hungarian bank receiving it.
Is there an Australian dollar balance for sending to Hungary?
No. You hold US dollars provided by Lead Bank, pounds or euro, and the euro credit leaves from one of those.
Can I pay a lawyer in Budapest handling an estate?
Yes. Many Hungarian firms accept euro, and the credit arrives in their IBAN through SEPA with the euro figure fixed beforehand.
How long does a euro credit take to reach a Hungarian account?
Transfers from a funded Grey balance typically arrive within minutes through SEPA, with SEPA Instant used where the receiving bank supports it.
Does my aunt in Hungary need a Grey account?
No. The euro arrive in her Hungarian bank account as an ordinary incoming credit, with nothing for her to register.
Is a euro credit worse than a forint transfer from my Australian bank?
It depends on the account. For a euro account it is simpler and clearer; for a forint-only account their bank handles the conversion.
Is Grey a bank if the euro arrive at OTP Bank?
No. Grey is a financial technology company working with licensed banking partners, and the Hungarian bank receives an incoming euro credit.
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