Erste Bank in Hungary continues to support SMEs. Domestic businesses can choose from a lot of, even state-subsidized, options to help them restart a business after a pandemic. Erste Bank has compiled the six most important offers available:
- Power Business: credit made easy. Erste Bank has been actively involved in financing the sector so far: due to its simplicity and speed, the hugely popular Power Business loan has so far been applied for by almost three thousand entrepreneurs. A loan can also be used to replace other loans and the bank does not ask for real estate or movable property of greater value as collateral. The request is extremely simple: the bank searches for the available public data itself, so the customer only needs to sign a single paper.
- Széchenyi Card Program. In the Széchenyi Card Program, loans supporting the mitigation of the economic effects caused by the pandemic provide entrepreneurs with a source of liquidity and financing at a cost of almost zero forints. The interest rate on Széchenyi loans after the subsidy is 0.1-0.5 percent. The loan amount can be a minimum of HUF 1 million (approx. 2 797 EUR) and a maximum of HUF 1 billion (approx. 2 797 458 EUR), depending on the type of loan. The term can be 2 years for overdrafts and job loans, 3 years for liquidity loans, and up to 10 years for investment loans.
- NHP Hajrá. Under the loan program of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises can apply for funds for investment, working capital financing, replacement of existing loans, and pre-financing of subsidies at commercial banks participating in the program. The interest rate on the loans is fixed, the rate depends on the other parameters of the financing (maturity, collateral), but it cannot exceed 2.5 percent, there are no other costs for the customers towards the bank.Quick loans can be applied for by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises established in 2019 or earlier at MFB Points that have felt the effects of the coronavirus crisis the most. There are currently half a hundred activities that representatives can take advantage of, such as hotels and restaurants, hairdressers and beauticians, furniture and clothing stores, industrial and technical goods merchants, gyms, and masseurs.
- Interest-Free Restart Quick Loan. Quick loans can be applied for by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises established in 2019 or earlier at MFB Points that have felt the effects of the coronavirus crisis the most. There are currently half a hundred activities that representatives can take advantage of, such as hotels and restaurants, hairdressers and beauticians, furniture and clothing stores, industrial and technical goods merchants, gyms, and masseurs.
- Ten thousand kilometers from Erste. Erste Bank is not only helping to get started with favorable, easy-to-take loans designed for small businesses. The financial institution now provides enough fuel for up to ten thousand kilometers in addition to the loan. Small entrepreneurs who apply for a new Power Business loan with a term of at least 2 years and a minimum amount of HUF 1 million (approx. 2 797 EUR), or a Széchenyi Card Overdraft Plus, can receive a fuel card topped up with HUF 300,000 (approx. 839 EUR) between the beginning of May and the end of August. The subsidy is the largest for those who use environmentally conscious cars.
- Erste PowerOn partner program.
Erste PowerOn is a partner program in which entrepreneurs find benefits beyond banking services. The financial institution’s account management clients can use the PowerNetwork business community platform, which helps to find and connect potential market partners, free of charge for one year after quick registration. This system not only helps to find new customers but also to select the right supplier.
“Borrowing for small businesses increased by more than a third, 39 percent, i.e. the amount of newly disbursed loans in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year at Erste Bank. We support those entrepreneurs who do not give up even in current crisis times, and who believe in themselves,” said Zsuzsa Erdei, Small Business Leader at Erste Bank.
She underlines that Erste Bank gives priority to these entrepreneurs – not only because they are the basis of the Hungarian economy, they provide a quarter of the national product, but they also employ half of the employees. “These contractors are known to everyone: they are the carpenters, plumbers, electricians, gas and car mechanics who help us when we get in trouble. They are the bakers, the greengrocers, and the butchers, whom we go to every day – or just the hairdressers and beauticians. These are family entrepreneurs where existence is at stake, as income means the living of the family. But this apparent weakness gives enormous stability and strength: there can be no question of a collapse, the small entrepreneur adapts, struggles and does everything he can to recover even in the most difficult conditions, ”said Zsuzsa Erdei.
Source: Bank’s Press Release from May 07, 2021
