Awards for Excellence 2020
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Over the past decade Poland’s banks have consistently been at the head of the pack in Europe in terms of digitalization.
The early leader in the field was mBank, which pioneered internet banking before the financial crisis. From 2008, the Commerzbank subsidiary faced stiff competition from digital challenger Alior Bank, until it was bought five years ago by Polish public-sector insurance firm PZU.
More recently, the running has been taken up by state-controlled market leader PKO BP and smaller private-sector rival ING Bank Slaski.
PKO BP was one of the main drivers behind Blik, the local payments system launched in February 2015 by Poland’s six biggest banks and was also the first in the market to harness the power of blockchain, launching document verification via distributed-ledger technology in late 2018.
When it comes to using technology to add value for both clients and bank, however, the standout is ING Bank Slaski, the winner of this year’s award for CEE’s best bank for digital.
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Michal Boleslawski |
Over the last two years, the Dutch subsidiary has taken the lead in key areas including e-commerce, remote verification and open banking.
In 2018, it became the first bank in Poland to launch an internet gate for online retailers. Dubbed Imoje, the facility offers internet shoppers a range of payment options, including a deferred payment solution provided by Czech fintech Twisto in which ING bought an equity stake in 2017.
The product quickly proved popular with Polish retailers and, following a surge in take-up of e-commerce during the Covid lockdown, notched close to 500,000 transactions in May.
ING Bank Slaski has also seen increasing demand since the start of the Covid crisis for its accounting solution for self-employed and small business customers, which is provided in partnership with Polish fintech CloudPlanet.
Michal Boleslawski, vice-president at ING Bank Slaski, says that – as with Imoje – the service has been a valuable source of data for the bank.
“It gives us information about the sales of these companies and enhances our ability to predict the performance of the specific industries in the times of Covid,” he says.
Accounting is only one of a growing suite of ancillary products and services for entrepreneurs provided by ING Bank Slaski. Since April 2019, these also include remote registration of companies.
Boleslawski notes that this was not a new concept for the bank. It originally launched a similar service in 2013, “but Polish society wasn’t digital enough,” he explains.
“Since then the mindset of society has evolved and we were able to take advantage of this,” he adds. “It’s good for us because if you are an intermediary between entrepreneurs and the government in establishing a business, then you have the guarantee they will open an account with us.”
Open banking
Last year also saw ING Bank Slaski become the first bank in Poland (and in the ING Group) to fulfil the EU’s second Payment Services Directive requirements by allowing customers to view accounts and cards from various banks in a single application.
It was also the first to start offering unsecured consumer loans based on account histories from other banks added to Moje ING, the bank’s digital platform.
Boleslawski says ING Bank Slaski’s readiness to take the lead in open banking reflects the bank’s confidence in its own customer offering.
“Connecting with other suppliers potentially leaves you exposed and vulnerable,” he says. “If you’re ready to take that step it means you are confident of your ability to effectively compete with other market participants.”
Another area where ING Bank Slaski is ahead of the Polish pack is digital onboarding. This has been a focus area for most banks in Poland for the last two years but has proved a particularly tough nut to crack.
ING Bank Slaski’s solution, which was launched this spring, was developed in conjunction with France’s Indemia, demonstrating once again the bank’s ability to collaborate productively with tech partners.
“It is still a work in progress but has already proved very popular with customers,” says Boleslawski. “They find it a very easy process.”
