The Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) reports that in 2025 the multi‑year rise in banking‑related cyber‑fraud both in incident count and monetary value came to a halt. Total reported losses amounted to HUF 28.2 billion in 2025, down from HUF 42.4 billion in 2024. The number of recorded incidents was 214,300 in 2025, compared with 226,400 the previous year.
What changed: law and bank measures
The MNB attributes the decline to coordinated actions by the legislator, financial sector participants and the central bank. Varga Mihály, Governor of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, announced the MNB’s "five strikes" package against cyber‑fraud on 2 June 2025. Following that initiative, an amendment to the payment services law has been in force since the end of last year: payment service providers (for example banks and payment institutions) must bear the loss from unauthorised payment transactions linked to cyber‑fraud if they failed to apply the required strong customer authentication.
Strong customer authentication requires two independent elements (for example a static password combined with a bank SMS, push notification or biometric method). In addition to the legal shift in liability, banks have upgraded or implemented real‑time fraud screening systems and widely offered free, customer‑adjustable transaction limits.
Central screening system and further steps
To support bank systems, the Central Fraud Screening System (Központi Visszaélésszűrő Rendszer, KVR) was launched a year ago with the involvement of GIRO Zrt., an MNB subsidiary, and employs artificial intelligence tools. Several banks have also taken steps to prevent straw‑man account openings and to close accounts controlled by criminals, although the MNB says further efforts will be needed to materially reduce these phenomena.
The central bank monitors banks’ implementation of the KVR‑related developments and compliance with the expectations set out in its fraud guidance. The MNB and the KiberPajzs cooperation are also running a communications campaign to curb fraud.
Areas with the largest declines
Retail transfer fraud showed the most conspicuous fall: the value of these incidents was HUF 15.6 billion in 2025, HUF 5.6 billion less than in 2024. Card‑payment frauds accounted for HUF 6.7 billion in 2025, HUF 3.4 billion lower than the previous year.
Overall, the share of fraud value where customers had to bear the loss fell by 7.3 percentage points year‑on‑year. Nonetheless, the number of payment‑service related frauds remains high, and the central bank says it will use all available tools to support further reductions.
Why it matters
The combination of legal liability changes and technological upgrades at banks reduced financial losses and strengthened consumer protection. The MNB aims for further declines and will continue supervising banks and supporting both central and bank‑level system improvements.
Lead image: illustration (Getty Images)
Tags: MNB, Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Varga Mihály, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cybercrime, legal amendment, payment services, fraud, banking fraud
