The Hungarian Postal Savings Bank was a major savings institution in Hungary, established in 1886 as the Hungarian Royal Postal Savings Bank and terminated in 1948. It is well remembered for its head office in District V of Budapest, a striking Art Nouveau building designed by Ödön Lechner.[1]
History
The Postal Savings Bank was established on 1886/02/01 by order of Lax IX of 1885. This act initially only authorized savings accounts, but was later expanded by Law XXXIV of 1889, which authorized "checks and clearing" starting on 1 January 1890. A state institutions under the Ministry of Trade, the Postal Savings Bank used local post offices as its branches and thus had unparalleled to retail clients, especially less wealthy ones.[2] By end-1908, the Postal Savings Bank had 684,299 depositors out of a population of around 20 million in the Kingdom of Hungary.[3]
In 1919 the Postal Savings Bank notes were issued by decree of the Revolutionary Governing Council of the Hungarian Soviet Republic by the Magyar Postatakarékpénztár (Hungarian Postal Savings Bank).