Polish banks and currency exchange
Poland has a well-developed banking system with a wide range of services available for natives and immigrants legally staying in the country. Let's consider the features of Polish banks and ways to exchange Polish zloty for other currencies or vice versa.
Features of the country's banking system
The banking system includes, first of all, the National Bank of Poland (NBP) and commercial and corporate bank branches of foreign financial institutions operating in the state. The NBP and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority supervise their activities.
The services provided by banks are generally standard:
- loans, mortgages;
- deposits;
- issuance and servicing of bank cards.
Private investors manage most institutions, but a few banks are controlled directly by the state, and foreign owners own a few. The level of competition is relatively high, and cooperative banks often lose out. But they also have their important role — financing agriculture and supporting farmers.
The best PLN banks in the country
Bank Ochrony Środowiska
Bank Ochrony Środowiska was established in 1991. Its active support of environmental protection characterizes it. BOŚ S.A. is one of the twenty largest banks in Poland. Its primary shareholder is the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, which owns 56.62%. The bank's offerings include services for individual and institutional clients, focusing on local authorities and municipal companies.
MBANK
This financial institution was founded in 1986 and is the largest Polish bank. It is also among the first virtual banks in the state; in 2021, it created its online banking system. Clients can issue MasterCard/VISA cards, including specialized cards for online and foreign transactions.
ING Bank Śląski
It is also quite an old and time-tested bank — opened in 1989, having separated among 10 commercial banks from the National Bank of Poland. In 2017, it became the fourth in terms of total assets. The number of the bank's customers is close to 4 million. More than four hundred branches of the organization are open across the country. You can control accounts in available currencies — USD, EUR or PLN.
Bank Millennium
This is the first banking institution in Poland that is based on private capital. It works with both Poles and foreigners. Notably, this bank has its own account management system called Millenet, through which you can do everything up to opening deposits, taking out loans, investing, etc.
PKO Bank Polski
A quality bank, which often occupies leading positions in various thematic ratings. Very old — founded in 1919, it repeatedly became state-owned, but since 1989, it is finally a private JSC. The number of accounts opened in the bank exceeds 7 million, with over 1000 branches operating within the country. The institution provides services to Polish citizens and foreigners legally residing there.
Pekao Bank
In 2019, Pekao Bank was ranked second in the top Polish banks by assets. The bank appeared in 1929 and specialized specifically in serving immigrant clients. To this day, this remains a priority. After the Second World War, Pekao Bank was one of the first banks to start operations. In 1990, it took several small banking companies under its wing.
Transfers from PLN banks
Migrants working in Poland, and not only migrants, often face the urgent question of transferring money to another country and another currency. For this purpose, they often use TransferGo, Western Union, PaySend, SWIFT, and MoneyGram. These systems have both advantages and disadvantages.
There is another way: use our service and find a quality exchanger that allows you to change currencies and cryptocurrencies in any direction in minutes. There are hundreds of working exchangers on the site, which you can sort by the most favourable exchange rate.
