Contrary to common belief, the global fintech market can be conquered from Hungary too. While global B2C brands like Revolut didn’t originate here, many international banks, neobanks, and fintech companies rely on world-class Hungarian developments – and these solutions are increasingly available to local financial institutions as well.
According to István Molnár, founder of DPC Consulting, Hungary’s banking sector is now mature enough to adopt even core banking functionalities from the cloud. The regulatory framework allows it, the banks’ mindset has shifted, and reliable Hungarian-developed solutions are available. Founded in 2008, DPC has been developing financial and banking systems for over 20 years and achieved significant international success in this field.
Seamless Payment Solutions
One of the fastest-evolving segments of the financial industry is payment services – no wonder many fintechs started here and found success. Traditional banks can only compete if they modernize and implement forward-looking systems. A truly efficient payment solution must connect to various payment schemes and banking applications (such as account management), support fraud prevention systems, and serve multiple payment channels from mobile apps to POS terminals.
With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DPC has developed such a system – the Payment Hub – built on open-source foundations and optimized for cloud environments. The platform is already in use at numerous domestic and international banks and financial service providers. „Naturally, it holds all necessary MNB [Hungarian National Bank] approvals, so local financial institutions can confidently adopt it. Thanks to our international projects, we have built a strong network of developers and integrators capable of handling projects of any size in the Hungarian market as well,” says Molnár.
Banking from the Cloud
DPC doesn’t stop at payments. Its Kenu platform covers the full spectrum of banking operations — from online account opening, account management, and lending to payments, customer and contract management, and regulatory reporting. „Besides the Payment Hub, the platform includes the Apache Fineract core banking module, to which DPC is one of the largest contributors,” explains Molnár. „With Kenu, a complete banking operation – whether traditional or neobank – can be realized, fully compliant with regulatory audits and licensing.”
The platform can run entirely in the cloud – offering rapid deployment, flexibility, and unlimited scalability – or be operated on-premises if required.
Kenu has already made its mark abroad: it’s used by a top U.S. fintech company, several German, British, and Singaporean banks, and even by one of Hungary’s recent fintech success stories, BinX, which largely builds its operations on the Kenu platform. Another Hungarian provider is currently implementing it as well.
DPC is taking things even further, planning to offer Kenu as a managed service, so clients can focus solely on their business processes without worrying about operations. „I’m not fond of the term Banking-as-a-Service,” says Molnár, „because it usually refers to white-label banking services. What we’re offering is platform-as-a-service – specifically for the financial sector.”
Secure Testing Environments
Over the next year, Hungarian banks will face several major development requirements. Among them is the rollout of GIRO’s central fraud management system (KVR), which complements each bank’s internal anti-fraud system. Before execution, every bank transfer will have to pass through KVR – even though instant transfers must still be completed within five seconds.
„Testing such integrated external systems is never easy,” Molnár explains. „When instant payments were introduced, we built the GIRO Instant simulator, which allowed participants to test and refine their solutions in a safe, realistic environment. Now, we’ve extended it with the KVR simulator, enabling banks to validate their systems in a familiar setting and avoid costly errors.”
Perhaps the biggest challenge ahead is GIRO’s platform consolidation project, scheduled for completion by June next year. The goal is to unify the IG1 and IG2 systems – which handle the majority of domestic banking transactions – onto a single modern platform. DPC is adapting its simulator to serve as a full development and testing environment for financial institutions participating in this consolidation.
