I don’t often take advantage of the benefits of my various memberships. I don’t buy hot dogs cheaper at the gas station, I don’t redeem points at the hypermarket, etc. But now, due to the seriousness of the issue, I asked my bank for premium banking guidance. I was there yesterday and I can say with satisfaction that it was worth taking the opportunity.
List of my questions
The night before visiting the bank I finalized the list of questions I had created in the post titled The Bank Job, so I went to the meeting with these points:
- Brief outline of the situation: starting a permanent life abroad in September 2025.
- Is there any form/obligation to report this to the bank?
- There will be no monthly payments on the account: will the repayment amount increase?
- Bank card questions:
- How do I indicate that I want to use my cards anywhere?
- Can I use my cards abroad? EU? Outside the EU? Are there any restrictions?
- My debit card expires on July 2025. When should I apply for a new one, if I want an embossed one instead? What should I do?
- The credit card expires on April 2026. Here too, a renewal is required by September. How can I replace the card?
- How many years is a card valid for? Can it be more than two years? What is the card replacement fee if I replace it prematurely?
- Question about USD and EUR accounts. How much can I open one for, what are the costs, etc.
- Can we work together on insurance?
- I would like to give my confidant a power of attorney. How can I do this?
- Is there anything you can bring to my attention?
- Let’s stay in touch, I’m sure I’ll have more questions.
To start the conversation, I said that I had a list of questions. It wasn’t the first time that I had experienced that if I arrived with a list and a notebook (Remarkable in this situation), the person sitting opposite me would get a little embarrassed. This time was no different. After the word list was mentioned, the consultant apologized in advance, saying that she might not be prepared enough. I reassured her that I didn’t think I would ask her anything that she wouldn’t be able to answer. By the end of the conversation, it turned out that I was fortunately right.
The idea expressed in point 8 accompanied our conversation throughout. The lady told me a lot of little things and details, and drew my attention to quite a few things.
The first thing we clarified was that even though I would not be living here, I would remain a partner of the Hungarian bank.
The Answers
2) Notification requirement
There is no such thing. The only thing is that, based on point 4.1, it would be good to let the bank know where I am so that my card is not automatically blocked after the first transaction due to the unusual location.
3) The repayment amount
I was reminded that there are two conditional discounts attached to my account. One is that a minimum of 1.250 USD is received on it, and the other is that at least 250 USD in salary appears on it every month. For the sake of the example, a salary of 1.250 USD satisfies both conditions. (Of course the amounts are in HUF, but I wrote USD for ease of reading.)
As stated in the post titled The Decision, I will have a spending package to cover my expenses in Hungary, which I will debit from my Hungarian bank account. This way, I will be able to meet the two conditions above. There is no further action required.
4) Bank Cards
As you can see from the post titled The Deck of Cards, I am quite equipped with bank cards. Now, however, I have received answers to all my questions on the subject.
The card that is about to expire will be automatically renewed. Moreover, it will not be valid for two years, but for four years, fortunately I remembered the duration incorrectly. I do not need to apply for an embossed card, because these are already embossed, even though it is not visible on them. They are called laser engraved cards and their technology corresponds to embossed cards.
Instead of the card that will expire next spring, I will have the opportunity to apply for a new one this summer (application before expiration), so I can set off on the world with two Hungarian cards that will be good for four years.
I have already experienced in recent years that I can use these cards anywhere in the EU without any problems, but I can also be sure that they can be used at Mastercard acceptance points in other parts of the world, there are no restrictions.
5) USD and EUR accounts
Thanks to my premium banking membership, I have the opportunity to open two foreign currency accounts for free, without a monthly fee. Accordingly, we did this during the consultation.
So at the moment I already have 5 HUF, 3 EUR and 3 USD accounts at 3 financial institutions. That’s almost a dozen.
6) Insurance
I have to look elsewhere for this. The bank’s insurance was not designed for what I need. This is approximately what I expected, and I don’t want to diminish the bank’s merits.
No problem, it will be another post.
7) My confidant
He will be the one who can act on my behalf in official matters. I asked if I could give someone a power of attorney in advance, and then it turned out that I have more options than that. These are the following:
a) Power of attorney.
b) Involving a co-owner of the account.
c) A death provision.
Each solution has its own authorization and framework. I don’t know which one I will use yet. However, we discussed during the consultation that there is almost no matter that I cannot reach via the internet. Most options are available via the banking application, and there are also person-identified video calls, telecenters, and email inquiries.
And besides all that (point 9), the lady repeatedly said that I can turn to her with confidence at any time, and she will help me.
I am grateful for the love of the bank. The mutual and disinterested friendship between us is now complete.