Webbank registered in civil government initiative

A civil initiative to establish a low-cost internet bank for the benefit of Hungarian borrowers with foreign currency-denominated loans has registered Webbank with the company court, Gyorgy Doubravszky, who heads the initiative, told MTI on Wednesday.

"We have stood by our word on everything till now. We fulfilled every commitment we made on time. Webbank is ready to launch, now it’s the government’s turn," Mr Doubravszky said.

 The initiative, dubbed Hiteltarsulas, or "Credit Association" in English, agreed in principle on the establishment of the bank, to be owned by the state and private individuals, at a meeting with National Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy in November.

Hiteltarsulas is waiting for the state to take decisions on a HUF 1.5bn capital injection for the bank as well as making Webbank a priority projection, Mr Doubravszky said.

About 3,000 private individuals with almost HUF 15bn in savings have registered at Webbank’s website. A further 1,700 business with an average current account balance of HUF 7bn have also registered.