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Poland 2026

Market Overview
Payment Organisation Polski Standard Platnosci, the BLIK operator.
Domestic Payment Brands No domestic card brand.

BLIK, the digital A2A payment service of Polish banks.
Market Structure The number of debit cards has grown slowly in recent years, while credit cards reached a peak of 33% of the cards total by end-2009, falling to 11.15% at end-2024.

Poland is one of the pioneers of contactless card payments. 97.74% of all POS terminals installed were contactless as at end-2024.

All banks issue contactless cards accounting for 98.87% of the cards total, or 44.14 million cards.

Digital A2A payments are the preferred online payment service.

With more than 10.75 million cards, PKO BP is the largest issuer and the biggest bank, followed by Bank Pekao and mBank.

Two immediate payment systems are offered in Poland: bank-owned Express ELIXIR and BlueCash of FinTech Blue Media.

Emerging Open Banking payment ecosystem. Consolidation more advanced than in comparable Central European markets.
Notable Market Trends HCE NFC payments, Apple pay, Google Pay, contactless ATMs, digital A2A payment apps.

As a result of the lingering effect of the pandemic, remote card payment value rose by 27% while cross-border payment value increased by nearly 24%.
Major Card Issuers PKO BP, Bank Pekao, mBank, Santander Bank Polska, ING Bank Śląski.
Major Card Acquirers Fiserv Polska, eService (EVO), Bank Pekao, Elavon, Santander Bank Polska.
Major Card Processors Fiserv Polska, Euronet, EVO Payments, Worldline.
Key Statistics 2024
Population  37.49 million, with 1.23 cards per capita
Cards Debit: 40.96 million

Delayed debit: 170,594

Credit: 5.16 million

Total payment cards: 46.29 million
Card Payments Debit: 9.62 billion; value PLN 692.06 billion (€162.0 billion)

Delayed debit: 8.17 million; value PLN 3.38 billion (€0.8 billion)

Credit: 541.36 million; value PLN 67.37 billion (€15.8 billion)

Total: 10.46 billion; value PLN 800.92 billion (€187.5 billion)
POS  1,380,844
POS Payments All cards: 6.67 billion, value PLN 473.94 billion (€111.0 billion)
ATMs  20,741
ATM Withdrawals All cards: 302.25 million; value: PLN 298.99 billion (€70.0 billion)
Digital A2A Payments Credit Transfers: 5.28 billion, value: PLN 59,831.7 billion
– thereof BLIK: 604.8 million, value PLN 85 billion
Direct debits: 39.0 million, value: PLN 45.3 billion
Note: Italic forecast figures for 2025F are estimated in the payment market context based on 2024 figures.
Source: ECB, Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP).

Introduction – Payments in Poland

Poland is a representative democracy, with a bicameral parliament and a president as head of state. Poland is a member of the European Union (2004) and the European Economic Area. As such, it is one of the most developed economies in eastern Europe.

Poland has pioneered several advanced payment technologies, including contactless in the early 2000s. Poland is consistently ranked as the most prolific market for contactless payments in Europe, and mobile payment initiatives such as BLIK have successfully leapfrogged on this early adoption to become widespread in usage across all demographics.

While e-commerce usage is yet to match other markets, Poland is rapidly catching up, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which pushed a large proportion of previously cash-based payments online.

The adoption of the revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, and disruptive technologies have set the stage for digital payments for the digital economy in Poland. They have accelerated digital payment transformation and mobile payment services, as well as cardless IBAN-based payments directly from bank accounts.

In the last decade, Polish consumers have embraced mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and Internet of Things (IoT). This change significantly impacts their shopping experience. Consumers become increasingly connected and they have started to purchase anywhere, at any time, from any device.

In addition, new consumer demands are a game changer. Polish consumers like digital banking apps with access to all their accounts at different banks in one single app, with the option to make payments directly from their bank account of choice. Additionally, they appreciate more banking services and payment services added to their mobile banking app. Consumer adoption of digital payments in Poland is driven by minimal cost, secure payments and a high level of user convenience.

Driven by the development of social media and mobile devices, the emergence of permanently connected consumers has impacted their interactions with brands but also their expectations of how to shop using the increasing number of touch points between consumers and merchants, e.g.:

The ongoing rollout of a mature online and mobile communication infrastructure is an enabler for digital card payment transformation and for Open Banking payments in Poland.

In a few years from now, mobile banking apps and mobile payment apps are expected to combine account management, digital payment services, personal finance management and value-added digital services from location finders to digital vouchers.

Cash payments, card payments and cardless payments directly from bank accounts (A2A payments) remain all relevant for Polish merchants and are heavily used by Polish consumers.

This country profile provides an introduction into two competing payment ecosystems in Poland:

Legal Framework for Payment Services

The legal framework for European payment services is a joint project undertaken by the European Commission as the regulator, the European Central Bank (ECB) as the Euro System, and the European Payments Council (EPC) with the objective of standardising payments in Europe and to remove existing barriers, promote cross-border competition between payment services, strengthen the European internal market and drive the digital payment transformation.

Based on its vision, the EU Commission has therefore created a unique legal framework for cashless B2C and B2B payments that supersedes pre-existing national legislation and is binding for financial service providers and payment service providers throughout the EU.

Poland has largely transposed this legal framework into their national payment legislation.

Historically, there has been a de facto national regulation of all Polish payment schemes with high technical barriers to ensure and defend payment security.

With the implementation of the payment services directive, all payment services in Poland are based on the unique legal framework for payment services of the European Commission effective in the European Economic Area (EEA).

In addition, the respective rules and regulations of the domestic card scheme and the international card schemes continue to be applied by the card payment service providers (e.g. EMV, PCI, RTS SCA, and SEPA Cards Framework), respectively.

Legal Framework relevant for Payment Services in Poland

The revised Payment Services Directive, PSD2, had established a legal and regulatory framework for payment services providers, enforcing several protections for their clients such as safeguarding of funds; and required them to execute processes in accordance with banking regulations, such as KYC and AML. It has already resulted in significant progress regarding the integration of the European retail payments markets.

Following the alignment with the EEA region, the legal framework for payment services in Poland includes the directives and regulations of the European Commission (EC), the ECB, and/or the national central bank (NCB) of the individual country.

All card payment service providers and all cardless payment service providers of the Open Banking payment ecosystem must apply for the European legal framework including:

Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2)
PSD2 is the key directive for borderless banking and payment services in Europe.
Among others, PSD2 regulates digital payment services and payment service providers such as payment institutions, e-money institutions, payment initiation service providers and account information service providers. PSD2 formulates the Open Banking Mandate for regulated access to payment accounts.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – effective from May 2018
GDPR establishes a regulatory framework for customer control of their data through consent mechanisms, the right to be forgotten and the right to retrieve all personal data for re-use at other service providers of choice, thereby preventing a ‘lock-in’ situation.

E-Money Directive (EMD)
The EMD sets out the rules on the business and supervision of e-money institutions.

Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD)
The AMLD6 aims to improve the harmonisation of the criminal liability of money laundering and terrorist financing across the EU27.

Customer Rights Directive (CRD)
CRD gives consumers the same strong rights across the EU. It aligns and harmonises national consumer rules, for example on the information consumers need to be given before they purchase something, and their right to cancel online purchases, wherever they shop in the EU.

EU Price Regulation for cross-border payments
In 2001, Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001, followed in 2009 by Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, fixed uniform underlying conditions for processing cross-border payments in euro, and the fees for intra-EU cross-border payments in euro were aligned with those for domestic payments in euro.

SEPA End-Date Regulation
SEPA payment instruments replaced domestic A2A payment instrument formats for euro payments.

Card Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR)
The IFR caps interchange fees for payments with consumer cards, effective from 9 December 2015. It increases transparency on fees thus permitting retailers to know the level of fees paid when accepting cards.

Domestic bank service laws
Complementary to EC directives and EC regulations.

Characteristics of the PSD2 Outlook: PSD3 and PSR

The adoption of PSD2 has formalised the relationship between banks and trusted payment providers (TPPs) by establishing the Open Banking Mandate providing open access to customer account data and the payments infrastructure. This is expected to stimulate the FinTech market to develop new integrated services models for both consumer and business customers.

This regulation is a reaction to the growing demand from customers as mobile and internet applications have become widely adopted driving expectations in how services should be delivered across all industries. Other market segments have adopted Open Banking APIs to respond to this demand and shown that innovative applications can grow business and change customer behaviour.

PSD2 has a significant impact on the European payments industry. According to the EC, the revised Payment Services Directive brings several new important elements and improvements to the EU payment market e.g.:

In 2022, the regulator started a PSD2 review process, which will end up in a revised PSD2 dubbed PSD3. While consultations are currently ongoing, the revisions are expected to address the achievements of the PSD2 and evaluate the need for a revised standard.

Proposed EC Revisions to the EU Payment Services Regulation – PSD3 and PSR 

In June 2023, the European Commission (EC) published its proposed revisions to EU payment services legislation, as well as a proposal on Open Finance/data access in the financial services sector beyond Open Banking/payment accounts in the form of a new Open Finance framework called “FIDA”.

Essentially, the EC is proposing that PSD2 would be split into two different instruments. These will ensure consumers can continue to make electronic payments and transactions safely and securely in the EU, domestically or cross-border, in euro and non-euro. Whilst safeguarding their rights, it also aims to provide greater choice of payment service providers on the market:

The objective of the regulation is to enhance harmonisation of the rules and enforcement across the various EU Member States. In addition, the EC proposed to merge the E-Money Directive (EMD2) with the proposed PSD3 and PSR texts, so as to have one coherent regime for both payment services and e-money services and thereby ensure a level-playing field between PIs and EMIs.

PSD3 also amends the Settlement Finality Directive (SFD) in order to allow non-bank PSPs (e.g. PIs and EMIs) to participate directly in SFD-designated payment systems. Fintechs will be given access to all EU payment systems, with appropriate safeguards, and giving them a right to have a bank account. That way, those non-bank PSPs would no longer need to rely on banks in order to execute payment transactions.

A system to check IBANs and a platform to enable payment service providers to share fraud-related information are two proposals around consumer protection, including an extension to all credit transfers of IBAN/name-matching verification services. These have been proposed by the Commission for instant payments in Euro. All consumers should benefit from them, for both regular and instant credit transfers.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is given once again a number of mandates under PSD3 and the PSR to prepare draft regulatory technical standards (RTS) and draft implementing technical standards (ITS), ultimately to be adopted by the EC, as well as guidelines, and to continue maintaining the register.

In 2024, significant progress was made in updating PSD2. In April 2024, the European Parliament adopted the European Commission’s proposals for PSD3 and PSR at first reading. While the exact timelines for enforcement are not yet confirmed, it is anticipated that the finalised versions of PSD3 and PSR may become available by 2025.

In 2025, the EU made substantial progress toward finalising PSD3 and PSR, marking the next major phase in the evolution of Europe’s payment services framework. In June 2025, the Council of the EU reached agreement on compromise texts for both legislative instruments, subsequently endorsed by COREPER (the Committee of Permanent Representatives), enabling the start of trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament and the European Commission.

These negotiations aim to align positions on key issues, including liability for payment fraud, direct access of non-bank payment service providers to payment systems, and strengthened consumer protection. Final adoption and publication of the legislative package are expected by late 2025, after which the PSR will apply directly across all EU Member States, while PSD3 will require national transposition within approximately 12–18 months. This means the new framework could come into practical effect during 2026–2027.

The 2025 developments reaffirm the EU’s objective to harmonise payment regulation, enhance security and consumer rights, and create a more competitive and innovative payments landscape across the single market.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU). Since the Regulation applies regardless of where websites are based, it must be heeded by all sites that attract European visitors, even if they don’t specifically market goods or services to EU residents.

Adopted in April 2016, the Regulation came into full effect in May 2018, after a two-year transition period. The GDPR replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC and is designed to:

The GDPR mandates that EU visitors to all websites must be given a number of data disclosures. Sites must also take steps to facilitate such EU consumer rights as timely notification in the event of personal data being breached (breach notification). Among others, the GDPR mandates the user’s right to access its data and the right to be forgotten. In addition, the conditions for consent have been strengthened, and companies are no longer able to use long, illegible terms and conditions full of legalese. Also, it must be as easy to withdraw consent as it is to give it.

eIDAS Regulation and Digital ID Trends

The electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services regulation (eIDAS) is a set of EU standards and regulations for electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the European Single Market. It was established in the EU Regulation as of 23 July 2014, relating to electronic identification, and repeals directive 1999/93/EC from December 1999. It entered into force on 17 September 2014 and applies from 1 July 2016 except for certain articles, listed under its article 52.

In June 2021, the European Commission proposed an update to eIDAS that will enable every European to have a set of digital identity credentials recognised anywhere in the EU. In May 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 entered into force, formally establishing the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet under the revised eIDAS 2.0 framework. The regulation requires all EU Member States to provide at least one interoperable digital identity wallet within 24 months of the adoption of the implementing acts, placing the expected rollout across the EU by late 2026.

Throughout 2025, the European Commission has continued to issue implementing regulations defining the wallet’s technical architecture, certification procedures, and security requirements. The framework embeds privacy-by-design, data minimisation, and user consent principles, ensuring data remains under user control and stored locally on the user’s device.

Pilot projects launched between 2023 and 2025 have been finalising testing across Member States to validate interoperability, usability, and cross-border functionality. From 2026 onward, public and private entities that require strong electronic identification will be expected to recognise and accept the EUDI Wallet for secure authentication and digital transactions across the EU.

Many digital ID schemes operate based on super-secure passwords and/or mobile apps confirmed by a second factor, either passwords or one-time token or biometric factors such as fingerprints.

Digital ID in Europe has been proliferating rapidly in recent years. To date, both the nature of these schemes and their application have varied widely – for example, BankIDs in the Nordics being used to support instant payments and the delivery of harmonised government services.

eID platform initiative – In May 2017, a group of European companies including banks, vehicle manufacturers and technology providers signed a “corresponding declaration of intent” to establish a joint, pan-industry platform that will let their customers use a so-called “master key” for registration and identification when accessing online services across a range of sectors including government, aviation and retail.

Biometric Authentication Services

As a form of digital identity, biometric factors have been gaining ground across Europe in recent years, especially since the EU mandated their use for national ID cards and passports from August 2021.

In the payments industry, European banks and other account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) have started to support new biometrics technology companies that will develop client identification and authentication systems. They will be dedicated to the research and development of software for the digital verification and authentication of personal identity, through facial, voice, image or document recognition, or fingerprint reading.

With the EU regulator’s decision to mandate Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) as part of the revised payment services directive, PSD2, biometric authentications look set to grow further in importance as part of the payments landscape.

Companies such as Sweden’s Fingerprints (for online payment ID) and the UK’s Fingopay (for physical payments) have pioneered their use in P2P and P2B transactions, while some national ID schemes such as BankID in the Nordics and nemID now include biometric factors alongside PIN in their log-in processes.

Fingerprints (Sweden): Continues to lead development of biometric sensors, especially for fingerprint-enabled payment cards and mobile devices in Europe, supporting both remote (online) payment ID and card-based transactions since 2025.​

Fingopay (UK): Specialises in vein recognition systems for physical payments, with deployments in retail, hospitality, and transport, pioneering biometric authentication for point-of-sale transactions and peer-to-peer (P2P) settings.​

National ID Schemes: Nordic BankID services (Sweden, Norway) and Denmark’s NemID (transitioning to MitID) now commonly offer biometric log-in options—such as face and fingerprint authentication—alongside traditional PIN/password, used for identification in financial, public, and private sector services.

Biometric Authentication in European Payments

Additional Trends and Initiatives for 2025

Mastercard Identity Check – Mastercard launched Identity Check in October 2016, pioneering biometric authentication for online card payments across much of Europe.​ 3D Secure (EMV 3DS) is the framework enabling these secure authentications, often using SMS codes, push approvals, or biometrics (fingerprint/face).​

Since 2024, Mastercard has expanded Identity Attribute Verification services, integrating them with new European Digital Identity Wallet pilot programs. This supports not only consumer-to-merchant payments but also richer identity checks (age, address), further reducing friction without compromising security.​

Today, 2-factor authentication for Mastercard payments may use one-time codes, fingerprint/face recognition in mobile apps, and sometimes dedicated hardware or behavioural biometrics, complying with PSD2’s Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) mandate.​

Mastercard Identity Check (EMV 3-D Secure) is supported in all European Economic Area (EEA) countries, the United Kingdom, and most other European markets, along with global acceptance in North America, APAC, and Latin America through Mastercard’s international network.​

For Europe specifically, this means Mastercard Identity Check is available in at least 30 countries (all EEA states plus the UK, Switzerland, and several others). The number continues to grow with compliance expansion and global merchant adoption.

Banking Sector

National Bank of Poland (NBP) is responsible for payment systems regulation and payment system supervision. Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (KNF) has been the Polish Financial Supervision Authority since 2006. The legal framework in which Polish financial institutions and companies operate is based on EC directives and Polish banking laws.

With a population of 37.49 million, Poland is the largest and most important CEE market for retail banking. With recorded growth of 2009:1.7%, 2010:3.9% and 2011:4.3%, Poland was the only EU economy to avoid recession and the banking sector as a whole remained profitable. Poland’s banking system survived the credit crunch in better shape than most of the CEE region.

In 2012, however, Poland’s domestic economy experienced one of the strongest setbacks in a decade. Having recovered in 2013, the Polish banking sector continued to profit from a solid macroeconomic development. In 2019, GDP growth slowed to 4.5% in 2019, on the back of consistent household consumption, investments, and exports. However, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, annual GDP declined by 2.5% in 2020, which was more than twice lower than the EU average of 6.2% for 2020. Domestic demand and international trade were severely limited. By 2021, GDP had recovered to grow by 5.7% and is set to reach 5.2% in 2022. In 2022, GDP growth came in at 4.9%, posting the best performance among Central European countries due to increased household consumption. GDP growth was expected to slow in 2023 to 0.7% according to the World Bank as rising inflation drags household consumption. In 2023, GDP growth came in poorly at 0.2%, worse than the World Bank’s prediction, due to elevated inflation rate and the attendant monetary policy tightening. According to the latest data from the World Bank, growth rebounded to approximately 2.9% in 2024. The recovery is being driven primarily by private consumption supported by rising real wages and government spending, though investment remains weak and net exports are exerting a drag.

During 2020, the NBP’s objective of maintaining inflation at the range of 2-5-3.5% was mostly successful in spite of the economic impact of COVID-19, remaining on average lower than in other countries. By the end of 2020, inflation was 3.4%, driven by higher energy process and food prices. By 2021, inflation rose to 5.1% on the back of rising commodity and energy prices worldwide. In 2022, inflation worsened significantly to 14.4%, representing one of the highest rates in Europe due to a surge in energy and food prices and the Zloty’s depreciation. In 2023, annual inflation rate improved to 11.4% due to falling global commodity prices, albeit still high on the back of high food prices. In 2024, Poland’s annual consumer price inflation rate fell sharply to approximately 3.8%, down from around 11.4% in 2023. The improvement reflects easing pressures from global commodity and energy prices, as well as a strong policy response by the National Bank of Poland and government-measures to stabilise food prices.

On 4 November 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB), via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), assumed the responsibility of supervising the financial stability of banks operating within the euro zone. However, while the ECB has final supervisory authority over all banks operating within the euro zone, it will only directly supervise those banks classified as ‘significant’ under the terms of the SSM (by July 2025, 114 significant banking groups have been recognised). All other ‘less significant’ banks continue to be supervised by the KNF.

In January 2016, a new tax was approved by the Polish parliament. The bank and insurance levy came into force in February 2016. The tax, which applies to domestic banks and foreign bank branches with total assets in excess of PLN 4 billion, requires the payment of an annual tax of 0.44% on assets. The Polish government proposes to raise the CIT rate for banks to 30% in 2026, then 26% in 2027, and thereafter stabilise at 23% from 2028 onwards. According to ZBP, Poland’s banking sector is among the most heavily taxed in Europe, with a current effective fiscal burden of 32.2%. The higher CIT in 2027 would push that to nearly 47%, and in later years raise it permanently by about three percentage points. In 2024 alone, the sector paid more than PLN 24 billion in taxes and levies, including PLN 13.42 billion in CIT and PLN 5.8 billion from the bank levy.

Structure

The Polish banking sector is digitally sophisticated in terms of the online and mobile services available to retail and corporate customers. However, the transformation into digitised institutions continues to be a strategic priority for Polish banks.

As a consequence of the decline in traditional banking practices, there has been a corresponding drop in the number of bank branches. Figures from KNF show branch numbers fell from 6,266 in December 2018 to 4,943 by December 2024 (2023: 4,948).

Banks in Poland operate as commercial banks and cooperative banks. In 2024, there were 29 commercial banks, 33 branches of credit institutions and a network of 489 cooperative banks. In addition, there were 12 branches of foreign banks and nine representative offices of foreign banks.  As of 2024, there were 12 commercial banks under domestic control, eight controlled by the state, four under private ownership and 17 under foreign control.

Cooperative banks are members of three associating banks; despite the large number of cooperative banks, their market share is under 6% of total assets of the sector. Bank Polskiej Spółdzielczości (Bank BPS) and Bank SGB/GWB are the largest organisations of the cooperative banks in Poland.

Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) is Poland’s remaining state-owned commercial bank. The state also has a 29.43% minority stake in PKO Bank Polski (PKO BP).

The balance sheet total of the Polish banking sector at the end of December 2024 amounted to PLN 3,374.42 billion (an increase of 11.6% compared to the end of December 2023). Domestic commercial banks (with foreign branches) accounted for 90.3% of the value of the sector’s assets, 2.7% for branches of credit institutions, and 7.0% for cooperative banks.

The country’s five largest banks account for 49.5% of the banking sector’s total assets.

PKO BP and Bank Pekao are the biggest Polish banks. Other investors in Poland include Santander (ES), RBI (A), ING (NL), Citigroup, BNP Paribas (F) and Portugal’s Millennium BCP, all of which hold substantial stakes in Polish banks. In November 2016, General Electric (US) completed the sale of Bank BPH’s core bank to Alior Bank.

Several European banking groups, including Nordea and Raiffeisen, have opted for a direct presence in the Polish market, though Nordea acquired LG Petro Bank, one of Poland’s 20 largest banks, in May 2002.

In November 2015, SK Bank declared bankruptcy, the first failure of a Polish bank in 15 years.

In 2019, there were several changes to the bank sector, including the acquisition of Euro Bank by Bank Millennium, the commencement of operating activities by ING Hipoteczny, the commencement of operations by BFF Branch in Poland. Additionally, HSBC Bank Polska was transformed into HSBC France Branch in Poland, along with the transformation of RBS Bank Polska into a non-banking company.

In December 2020, Idea Bank was forcibly taken over by Pekao. Idea Bank was established in 2010 as a bank focused on SME lending, which had been under supervision by Poland’s Bank Guarantee Fund since May 2019 due to inadequate capital levels.

In May 2021, a decision was issued authorizing the commencement of operations by Millennium Bank Hipoteczny Spółka Akcyjna. The Polish Financial Supervision Authority also allowed FCE Bank Spółka Akcyjna to begin operations in Poland.

1 - Main Polish Banks
BankOwnershipAssets (PLN bn)Assets (€bn)Market share
PKO Bank Polski (PKO BP) state: 29.43%, investors: 14.59%, free float: 55.98%525.23123.015.6%
Bank Pekao SAPZU: 20.00%, PFR: 12.80%, Investors: 67.20% 334.2478.39.9%
Santander Bank PolskaSantander Group (E): 62.20%, investors: 37.80%304.3771.39.0%
ING Bank ŚląskiING Group (NL): 75%, Aviva OFC: 9.30%, investors: 15.70%260.4061.07.7%
mBankCommerzbank (D): 69.07%, free float: 30.93%245.9657.67.3%
Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK)State-owned223.0052.26.6%
BGZ BNP ParibasBNP Paribas (F): 57.26%, BNP Fortis (NL): 24.01%, others 18.72%167.5439.25.0%
Bank MillenniumBCP Group (P): 50.1%, Nationale OFE (NL): 9.30%, Allianz Polska: 9.0%, free float: 31.6%139.1532.64.1%
Alior BankPZU: 31.91%, Nederlanden OFE (NL): 9.84%, Allianz OFE: 8.83%; free float: 49.42%93.2921.82.8%
Citibank HandlowyCitibank COIC (US): 75%, free float: 25%72.4817.02.1%
Getin Noble Bank (GNB)LC Holding: 47.85%, Getin Holding 6.39%, free float: 45.76%
BOS BankNational Fund NFOSIGW (PL): 58.05%, Polish interest: 14.15%; free float 27.8%22.725.30.7%
Other banksvarious986.04230.829.2%
Total assets3,374.42790.0100.0%
Note: total banking assets €563.5bn at end-2024.
Source: Annual Reports of Polish banks, PCM research.

PKO BP (Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski) was formerly wholly owned by the state, but the shareholding fell to 50.94% after PKO BP’s 2004 Warsaw stock exchange listing. In July 2012 and January 2013, the state sold another 19.55% stake via stock exchange and held 29.43% in PKO BP by end-2021. The other major shareholders include Aviva OFE (7.49%), Nationale-Nederlanden OFE (8.58%), and free float (54.50%) for the balance.

PKO BP is Poland’s biggest bank by total bank assets. As of 2024, PKO reported 11.48 million individual customers, 634,000 SME customers, and 20,000 corporate customers served through 945 branches and 3,056 ATMs. PKO BP has extended its reach into Ukraine with the purchase of 99.56% in Kredobank, previously Kredyt Bank, having opened its first foreign office in Prague in 1999. In August 2013, PKO BP signed an agreement to acquire Nordea Bank Polski from Nordea Group (S). In March 2014, PKO BP acquired Nordea Bank Polski after approval from KNF. The merger was complete in early 2015.

As of 2024, PKO BP had a total of 12.1 million customers.

Bank Pekao (Bank Polska Kasa Opieki), is the second biggest Polish bank by assets. By end-2024, Bank Pekao reported 573 branches in Poland, and about 7 million customers. Bank Pekao is also responsible for the operations of UniCredit Bank in Ukraine. From 2017, Bank Pekao has majority owned by Polish interests. As of 2024, Pekao had 1,314 ATMs.

Bank Pekao was a member bank of UniCredit Group (I) for many years. However, in January 2013, UniCredit reduced its stake in Bank Pekao from 59.2% to 50.1% by selling 9.1% to institutional investors. In July 2016, UniCredit sold a 10% stake in Bank Pekao to investor Boost Capital. UniCredit Group (I) held 40.1% after the sale. In December 2016, UniCredit sold a 32.8% stake in Bank Pekao for PLN 10.6 billion to the Polish insurer PZU Group and the Polish Development Fund, PFR, retaining a 6.26% minority stake in the bank. Institutional investors accounted for 60.94% for the balance, including Black Rock (US) for 5.09%. Subsequent stake reductions by Unicredit and other minor shareholders meant that other shareholders held 67.20% as of 2019. As of 2024, 20% of shares were held by financial group PZU, 12.8% by PFR, and other investors held 67.2%.

In 2024, Pekao opened 572,000 new customer accounts (2023: 583,000), maintaining high acquisition results and consolidating our position as the leader in the growth of the number of net accounts in Poland with a result of more than 338,000 accounts, an increase of 6% compared to the record-breaking 2023.

In January 2021, Pekao took over the enterprise and liabilities of Idea Bank. In November 2021, Pekao completed the migration process of over 270,000 Idea Bank customers to Pekao’s systems.

Bank Santander Polska (formerly Bank Zachodni WBK) – BZ WBK was sold by Irish AIB Bank to Spanish Banco Santander in September 2010. Further, Banco Santander bought Polish Kredyt Bank from Belgian KBC in February 2012. In May 2012, Banco Santander and KBC agreed to merge Bank Zachodni WBK and Kredyt Bank. With 889 branches and 4.1 million retail customers, the merged BZ WBK/Kredyt Bank became Poland’s third-largest bank by deposits, loans, branches and profit. In September 2018, BZ WBK became rebranded as Santander Bank Polska and is the third largest bank by assets in Poland.

Following the merger, in January 2013, Santander held approximately 76.5% of the merged bank, KBC around 16.4%, and other minority investors held around 7.1%. In March 2013, Santander and KBC sold a 21.4% stake in the new BZ WBK Bank via SPO. Santander retained 69.34% of the shares in BZ WBK while KBC divested its 16.4% stake. As of 2024, Santander retained a 67.41% stake. Following the merger with Santander Bank Polska/BZ WBK merger, the enlarged bank reported 349 branches more than 7.5 million customers in 2024, including 1.5 million Santander Consumer Bank (SCB) customers.

On 14 December 2017, BZ WBK and Banco Santander signed a transaction agreement with Deutsche Bank (D) to purchase a part of Deutsche Bank Polska, (DBPL) business, consisting of retail banking, private banking, SME banking and DB Securities. However, DBPL’s corporate and investment banking business and foreign-currency mortgage portfolio are excluded from the transaction and will remain in DBPL (retained business).

In 2024, Santander reported 3.4 million digital customers (up 8% from 2023), and 389,000 digital SCB customers, along with 2.9 million mobile customers (up 12%). Santander customers conducted 360.9 million mobile banking transactions in 2024, up 27% from 2023. The bank enabled BLIK contactless payments during 2021.

mBank (previously BRE Bank, Multibank and mBank), the fifth-largest bank by assets, is focussed on corporate and private banking. BRE Bank had split out its retail banking business into its two bank subsidiaries MultiBank and mBank. In November 2013, BRE Bank and Multibank were rebranded as mBank. Commerzbank owns a 69.07% stake in mBank with free float (30.93%) for the balance.

In 2024, mBank reported 305 mBank branches and centres in Poland, 5.7 million retail customers, 613,000 SME customers, and 36,000 corporate clients in Poland.

mBank claimed to be the first fully online bank in Poland in 2022, reporting 3.34 million mobile app users in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. By 2024, the number of mobile app users rose to 3.8 million. The number of monthly active users rose from 3.37 million in 2023 to 3.46 million in 2024. In 2024, 89% of operations were initiated by customers in digital channels.

ING Bank Śląski is the fourth largest bank by total bank assets. In 2024, the bank reported 175 banking outlets compared to 205 at the end of 2023 and 55 cash service outlets (same as in 2023). As of 2024, the bank also had 56 ING Express outlets (55 at the end of 2023) located in major shopping centres across Poland.

At the end of 2024, ING served a total of 5.1 million clients, including 4.57 million retail segment clients (up 113,500 from 2023) and 572,000 corporate segment clients (up 13,500 from 2023).

Bank BGZ BNP Paribas – In September 2014, BNP Paribas (F) acquired a 74.39% stake in Bank BGŻ (PL) from Rabobank (NL) for €1.1 billion. In April 2015, Bank BGŻ merged with BNP Paribas Polska and was rebranded as Bank BGZ BNP Paribas. By end-2016, BNP Paribas held 88.33% in BGZ BNP Paribas while Rabobank retained a 6.66% stake. In May 2016, Bank BGZ BNP Paribas absorbed Sygma Bank Polska and LaSer Polska, the other Polish subsidiaries of BNP Paribas (F). The enlarged Bank BGZ BNP Paribas reported 363 branches at end-2024, and it serviced more than 4 million retail customers (3.63 million) and corporate clients (363,000). In November 2018, the EBRD acquired a 4.5% stake in Bank BGZ.

Millennium Bank, owned 50.1% by Portuguese BCP, is the eighth-biggest bank by total bank assets. In 2015, BCP sold a 15.4% stake in Millennium Bank Polska to investors. It reported 606 branches (Bank’s own and franchise branches), 509 ATMs, and 3.14 million active retail clients in 2024.

The digital platform developed by Bank Millennium enables an omni-channel approach, which assumes full integration of Millennium internet banking, Mobile Banking, TeleMillennium, and service in branches.

In November 2018, Societe Generale Group (F) sold its retail banking subsidiary in Poland, Euro Bank, to Bank Millennium (PL). Bank Millennium took over Euro Bank on May 31, 2019, after obtaining the required consents from UOKiK and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. On October 1, 2019, the legal merger was entered in the National Court Register and the banks were formally merged.

In June 2020, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority gave permission to Bank Millennium to acquire Bank Hipoteczny. Currently, the enlarged bank in the process of obtaining approval from the PFSA to commence operating activities. On 20 May 2021, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority gave permission to start the mortgage bank operation under the name of “Millennium Bank Hipoteczny Spółka Akcyjna”. By April 2022, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority approved the first prospectus of Millennium Bank Hipoteczny. This decision enabled Bank Hipoteczny to issue mortgage-covered bonds in the territory of Poland, on the terms set out in the prospectus.

Getin Noble Bank (GNB) was the second largest bank controlled by Polish capital (Getin Holding controlled by Leszek Czarnecki: 62.67% (directly and through GETIN Holding and LV Holding) and other investors (37.33%) for the balance. Retail banking services are represented by the Getin Bank brand whereas the Noble Bank brand covers private banking services. In 2021, Getin Bank provided services to 2.5 million clients in 106 of its own branches and franchise units.

During 2021, GNB reported that its share of remote channels was growing systematically, in particular in electronic banking, which accounted for 45% of volume (a rise of 24% from 2020). Around 70% of transaction volumes were initiated in remote channels. The share of remote channels in sales of credit cards was almost 90% in 2021 and increased threefold compared to 2018.

The bank also reported a significant increase in the volume of BLIK transactions, rising by 98% in 2021 compared to 2020. The share of customers with an active mobile authorisation method increased to 46% vs 30% at the end of January 2021 and 41% at the end of June 2021.

In September 2022, the Bank Guarantee Fund of Poland initiated the restructuring of GNB, as the bank neared collapse. The process, effectively a state-managed takeover, will bring GNB under control of a bridging bank on including all private deposits and loans. The bridging bank shareholders will include the Bank Guarantee Fund, and a unit held jointly by ING Bank Slaski, Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, mBank, PKO BP, and Santander Bank Polska.

In March 2024, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of VeloBank S.A., the bridge institution established during the resolution of Getin Noble Bank. The transaction completed and was announced on 1 August 2024. Cerberus, together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) acquired 100% of VeloBank shares, the bridge bank status was removed and the bank freed of the constraints tied to the resolution process.

GNB History – In 2004, Górnośląski Bank Gospodarczy (owned by Getin Holding) was transformed into Getin Bank. In December 2004, Getin Bank took over Bank Przemysłowy in Łódź. In 2005, Getin acquired Wschodni Bank Cukrownictwa. In March 2006, branches of WBC were incorporated into Getin Bank’s sales network, and its banking licence and equity became the foundation for Noble Bank, the first financial institution in Poland entirely dedicated to providing private banking services.

In 2009, Getin decided to merge the two banks but to keep the Getin Bank and Noble Bank brands separate. Established in January 2010, GetinNoble Bank immediately joined the ten biggest banks in Poland with the merger process completed on 1 June 2012.

During 2012, GNB acquired the Polish retail portfolio of DnB Nord (DNB Bank) for PLN 5 million and Dexia Kommunalkredit, for PLN 57 million, from Belfius Group (B). In November 2006, DnB NORD (now DNB Bank) had expanded its business in Poland with the purchase of 76% of BISE for €140 million.

Alior Bank, the ninth biggest bank by total bank assets. The enlarged bank reported 185 of its own branches, in addition to 331 partner outlets (e.g. T-Mobile Polska, Tesco Polska), and 4.4 million clients in 2024. In October 2014, Alior Bank bought Meritum Bank with the merger complete as at end-2015. In November 2016, Alior Bank bought the demerged Bank BPH business from GE Investment Poland for 400 million and absorbed it in 2017. In December 2017, Alior bank stepped up its digital transformation strategy with the establishment of a FinTech department, start-up accelerator and Open API platform.

In 2019, Alior Bank is a public company owned by PZU SA (31.94%), Aviva OFE BZ WBK (7.25%), Nationale-Nederlanden OFE (7.12%), and free float (53.69%) for the balance.

As of 2024, Alior Bank served 4.4 million individual customers through 516 outlets (157 traditional branches, seven private banking branches, 12 corporate banking centres, nine Microenterprise centres and 331 partner outlets).

Raiffeisen Bank Polska (Raiffeisen Polbank) – In June 2011, Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) bought a 70% stake in Polbank EFG from Greece Eurobank EFG for €490 million. Polbank reported 400 branches and about 900,000 clients in Poland at end-2011. In October 2012, RBI reported the formal closing of the acquisition of its 70% stake in Polbank. The merged bank out of Polbank and Raiffeisen Bank Polski operates under the brand “Raiffeisen Polbank” and reported 181 own branches, 46 franchise branches, and 800,000 customers at end-2017. As part of the rightsizing program, 62 branches were closed and 23 of its own branches were converted into franchise outlets. Further to the bank’s acquisition by BNP Paribas (see below) subsequent updates on branch and customer numbers have not been available.

RBI Group (A) intended to divest from Raiffeisen Bank Polska and to exit the Polish market. However, negotiations with Alior Bank on the sale of the core banking business of Raiffeisen Bank Polska to Alior Bank were terminated on 7 December 2016.

In April 2018, RBI Group (A) agreed to sell the core banking operations of Raiffeisen Bank Polska for €775 million by way of demerger to Bank BGZ BNP Paribas, the subsidiary of BNP Paribas Group (F). RBI transferred the remaining Raiffeisen Bank Polska operations, mainly comprising the foreign currency retail mortgage loan portfolio, to a Polish branch of RBI. The transaction closed in October 2018.

In connection with the demerger, RBI and BNP participated in a Bank BGZ BNP Paribas share capital increase, in which RBI received shares in Bank BGZ BNP Paribas representing 9.8% of the latter’s share capital. The shareholding of BNP in Raiffeisen Bank Polska was terminated and RBI remained the sole shareholder of the remaining operations of Raiffeisen Bank Polska following the demerger.

Citibank Handlowy, the 10th-largest Polish bank by total bank assets, reported 18 own branches, and 564,500 individual customers in 2024.

In April 2021, the main shareholder of Bank Handlowy, Citigroup, announced a new retail banking strategy. Citigroup has announced a plan to discontinue servicing retail clients in 13 markets, including Poland. Citi will focus its global consumer bank presence in Asia and EMEA on four wealth centres – Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE and London. Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group will continue to serve clients in these markets.

Background Bank BPH – Divestment terms were finalised in May 2007, when UniCredit agreed to spin off a major part of the old BPH to GE Money for €625.5 million. GE Money owned 66% of the new Bank BPH, with total assets of PLN 35 billion as of end-2009 and a customer base of more than 2 million. Transfer of the BPH shares took place in 2008; the assets involved amounted to 10% of UniCredit’s balance sheet total in Poland.

In 2015, GE Investment Poland (GEIP) owned an 83.74% stake in Bank BPH while other investors hold 16.26%. Bank BPH reported 236 branches, 172 partner outlets and over 535,000 current accounts for private individuals as at end-2015.

In April 2016, GE reached a deal to sell its majority stake in Bank BPH’s core bank to Alior Bank. With this transaction GE divested itself of Bank BPH’s core bank while retaining the BPH’s mortgage portfolio and the Investment Fund Society, which were separated in a demerger from Bank BPH’s core bank, which subsequently was merged with Alior Bank. The transaction was closed on 4th November 2016.

Digital Challenger Banks 

A number of digital challenger banks have entered Poland, e.g. N26, Revolut and Wise. They already have a clear Open Banking strategy in place.

In parallel, many Polish banks co-operate and partner with trusted digital payment providers and Fintechs to prepare for the Open Banking ecosystem, enrich their digital banking services, and to offer additional mobile banking app features.

In June 2017, mBank announced it would license its digital banking platform, mBox, to other financial institutions. The bank signed a servicing arrangement with La Banque Postale (F). The service scope includes the use of the digital banking platforms as well as product, process and sales know-how.

Digital Banking 

All Polish retail banks offer online banking services and mobile banking apps to their clients. Services available include balance and transaction reporting and payment initiation. At end-2024, around 21 million Poles used internet banking at least once a month. A total of 73% of people in the age group of 16-74 use online banking services. There is no bank-independent electronic banking standard in Poland. However, the MultiCash platform has become a de facto standard.

The Invoobill electronic bill presentment and payment service (EBPP) managed by KIR was replaced by the Qlips service and is currently offered by 30 banks to approximately 98% of online banking clients in Poland.

Paybynet Service is a 24/7 online payment application enabling secure retail purchases and bill payments over the internet from bank accounts via credit transfer. Paybynet is managed by KIR.

The online OGNIVO service, which enables the exchange of clearing-related information, currently has 58 participant banks, 40 of which participate in its direct debit digitalisation module.

Online banking began with the launch of three ‘virtual’ retail banks during 2001 – BRE Bank SA, Bankgesellschaft Berlin Polska and Volkswagen Bank Polska. Also, Nordea extended its online banking service to Nordea Bank Polska clients.

In 2007, BRE Bank set up its subsidiary mBank as a mobile-only bank to launch mobile banking in Poland. mBank had significant success and became a recognised best practice for mobile banking.

Figures from the retail banking market leaders, PKO BP, Bank Pekao, mBank and ING Bank Śląski, show rapid adoption of online banking services and mobile banking apps in Poland.

Other mobile banking apps with added mobile money transfer services include PayPal. As of 2023, there was an increase of 3 million in the number of mobile banking customers in Poland compared to 2022, raising the total to about 28.9 million, and 15.8 million actively used BLIK, the Polish mobile payments system.

PKO Bank Polski – There were 8.3 million digital customers of the IKO mobile banking app in 2024, from 7.8 million in 2023. These users made nearly 2.6 million transactions for a total amount of PLN 709 billion in 2023.

During 2022, PKO continued to grow its share of sales through remote channels, including the use of AI bots in customer service and support functions. The share of digital clients in PKO’s active clients base was 75% compared to 71% in 2020, and the bank reported that its share of sales through digital channels was 82%. In 2024, the bots handled more than 24 million conversations (2023: 13.8 million calls). In 2024, the IKO voice assistant made a total of more than 15 million customer calls (+592% from 2023). By December 2024, the IKO voice assistant had conducted a total of 20 million conversations with over 4.9 million customers.

In mobile banking, PKO counted 5.9 million (2023: 5.8 million) active mobile banking users and the share of digital clients reached 83%.

In 2024, 53 new processes were robotized, bringing the total number of processes handled by robots to 348. The number of tasks completed by AI robots totalled 355 million in 2024, with 105 million in 2024 alone. In April 2024, PKO rolled out the pilot version of the Digital Mortgage. This is the first solution of its kind in Poland, allowing the entire process – from application submission, through analysis and decision-making, to signing the loan agreement – to be conducted remotely, without the need for the customer to visit a branch in person. By September 2024, the Digital Mortgage, enabling the process to be completed through digital channels was fully implemented. By December 2024, a total of 89 applications had been submitted under the program, 49 agreements had been signed, and 38 loans worth PLN 9.38 million had been disbursed.

Bank Pekao – As of 2021, Pekao stated that it was intensively developing digital channels as well as quicker service processes, to enable retail clients to handle almost any matter online. The digitisation rate of nearly 100% is one of its key strategic aspirations. In 2023, the bank continued to automate processes and implement advanced digital solutions.

The PeoPay mobile app is the main channel of client contact.

In 2021, Pekao expanded its mPOS terminal offering with Android portable terminals. In its business segment, the value of POS transactions increased by 14% in 2021 compared to 2020. In 2022, Pekao introduced a new, android type of terminal – MiniPOS – along with the service of delivering transaction confirmations and reports to the merchant electronically (e-Confirmation). As the first in the market, the bank also introduced an Android programmable PIN pad. At the end of 2022, the bank already supported several thousand Android terminals. In payment terminals, the bank also added the multi-merchant service, which allows several entities to execute cash transactions on one terminal.

In 2022, the bank implemented a new Customer Relationship Management system (Omnibank CRM) which, thanks to advanced analytics and cloud solutions, will improve communication with customers so that they receive the most relevant and personalised offers and information.

In 2024, the number of active mobile banking customers increased by 295,000 to 3.4 million (+9% from 2023) and was 24% higher than 2 years ago. The number of active mobile customers using the PeoPay application increased by 327,000 to 3.2 million (+11% from 2023) and was 31% higher than 2 years ago. In 2023, the number of active mobile customers in relation to the current accounts number was 62% at the end of 2024, up by 2% compared to 2023, as the bank achieved its strategic aspiration target.

In 2022, Pekao launched new remote omnichannel processes, supporting the sale of cash loans, overdraft loans, and credit cards, and also actively promoted the possibility of receiving loans on the Pekao24 website, in the Pekao mobile application. Similarly, the bank transferred post-sales processes to electronic channels.

During 2021, Pekao developed the PekaoID digital identity and trusted profile services, enabling remote confirmation of the identity of retail clients. With integration to the eIDAS National Node, PekaoID activation increased significantly. By the end of 2021, the number of customers using PekaoID amounted to 1.5 million.

ING Bank Śląski – During 2021, ING expanded the availability of its digital solutions, encouraging clients to use remote channels for contact with the bank and cashless transactions and operations.

In 2021, ING in cooperation with the Polish Payments Standard provided contactless BLIK payments as part of the BLIK Mobile platform, implementing the solution in parallel with five other banks. The solution was made available in November 2021 to retail and business clients with Android phones. In Q4 2024, ING’ reported that its clients made a total of 61 million BLIK transactions, an increase of 22% from 2023.

In 2022, ING Group reported that over 58% of its customers used mobile banking only (mobile device log-in through the app or mobile device log-in through the website) compared to 51% in 2021. In 2024, ING reported that the number of mobile-only clients increased by 15% from 2023 to 2.3 million. ING Bank Slaski reported an increase in the number of active users of its mobile application to 2.9 million (2023: 2.72 million) in 2024. Similarly, the number of outgoing electronic transfers of individual clients in My ING amounted to 168 million in Q4 2024 – an increase of 8% compared to 2023.

In Q4 2022, Visa Mobile – a new online card payment method – was made available in Q4 2022 to users of the Visa contactless debit card or ING Visa virtual card for online payments.

Citibank Handlowy – Despite the announcement of its strategic decision to exit consumer banking, Citibank launched BLIK mobile contactless payments in 2021 and launched a virtual card. By 2024, the number of transactions using the BLIK code made by the Bank’s clients in 2024 was almost 3 million, which means an increase by 141% compared to 2023. And the number of BLIK transfers by phone was 1.5 million, which is an increase by 164% compared to 2023. The number of active users of Citibank Online was 348,000 in 2024 compared to 353,000 in 2023. The share of active Citibank Online users in the entire client portfolio was 64% as of the end of 2024, down by one percentage point compared to the end of 2023. At the same time in 2024 digital users accounted for 90% (2023: 84%) of all transactionally active clients. In 2023, the number of active users of mobile banking amounted to 259,000, up by 2% compared to 2023. Hence, the share of active users of mobile banking in the retail client portfolio of Citi Handlowy was 48%, an increase of 1 percentage point as compared to the same period in 2023.

During 2021, Citibank reported progress in process automation, with 37% of bank account agreements in 2021 signed electronically, and the bank processing approximately 33 million transactions electronically. In 2022, almost a third of the documents flowing to the bank were signed with an electronic qualified signature. In 2024, the number of transactions processed electronically by 3% as the Bank developed its platforms and conducted extensive commercialization of the CitiDirect electronic banking system.

Santander Bank Polska (formerly BZ WBK) – in 2024, Bank Santander had 3.4 million digital customers, and 2.9 million mobile customers (up 12% from 2023), while Santander Consumer Bank had around 389,000 digital customers. There were 360.9 million mobile banking transactions conducted, a rise of 27% from 2023. Corporate customers made over 48.8 million e-commerce transactions in 2020, a rise of 25% from 2019.

mBank – mBank claims to be number one in the market by share of mobile users among total active customers, and the second largest of Polish banks by number of mobile app users. 1.1 million people were mobile-only users, around 40% of all active customers. Users logged into the app on average 31 times per month. As of the end of 2024, mBank reported 3.8 million (2023: 3.6 million) users of its mobile application and 3.46 million (2023: 3.37 million) Monthly Active Users (MAU) in Poland.

In 2021, mBank introduced the BLIK contactless payment service into its mobile app and also implemented biometric authentication. In 2024, active users of BLIK amongst its individual clients increased to 2.33 million from 2.14 million in 2023. In mid-2022, mBank launched contactless BLIK payments in foreign currencies.

As of 2024, mBank reported a 12.2% (2023: 12.6%) market share in card transactions, with more customers switching from plastic cards to mobile payments. In 2021, Apple Pay was used by 472,000 customers who completed more than 136 million transactions. Google Pay was used by 532,000 customers who completed more than 121 million transactions. Smartwatch payments were used by more than 20,000 mBank customers who completed 2.1 million transactions. BLIK, made available at the end of 2021, was used by 150,000 customers in the first few weeks. Apart from contactless BLIK, in 2021 mBank introduced two new services which allow clients to pay contactless without using a plastic card: SwatchPAY! and Xiaomi Pay. In addition, corporate customers can now use two contactless mobile payment apps: Google Pay and Garmin Pay. In April 2022, mBank launched Personal Finance Management (PFM), a new tool for online banking and the App, helping clients manage and understand their finances and household budgets. By the end of 2024, 1.92 million users were utilising the PFM tool. Also, the average monthly number of unique users of PFM in the mobile app and online banking reached 1.45 million. On average, around 30% of PFM users log in once a week (over 4 times a month).

BNP Paribas BGZ – During 2021, BGZ reported that increased digitisation and development of omnichannel services helped to increase the share of digital customers in the total number of customers. More than 90% of individual customers acquired were digitally active after 30 days due to digital and paperless processes across all channels (online and in branches). As of 2024, the bank reported 1.4 million mobile banking users (+6% from 2023), and a 12% increase in the number of logins to mobile banking to 330 million. There was a 24% increase in GOmobile transactions in 2024. The bank also reported 1.26 million GOmobile users, 60 million BLIK transactions (+37% from 2023), and 510,000 tokens made available in digital wallets in 2023. Mobile payments for tickets and parking increased by 20% to 2.7 million and sales through digital channels in 2024 for retail customers rose to 64% from 43% in 2023.

BGZ’s Open Banking Data Hub is now used for many key processes (KYC, fraud detection, income confirmation, credit scoring, accounts aggregation). The Hub was used in 2021 by 15,000 customers for credit applications. The CRM system for individual clients was renewed in 2021 and enhanced with real-time management and artificial intelligence. Further development of the robotization platform included 58 additional robots delivered in 2021.

The e-signature platform (Autenti) ramped up across most of the bank’s processes, with more than 1 million signatures already processed.

Millennium Bank – During 2024, the number of active customers increased to 3.148 million from 3 million in 2023, including 2.90 million digital channel users, compared to 2.70 million in 2023. Its share of digital active clients rose to 92% from 90% in 2023. The number of active retail clients actively using the mobile app and mobile version of Millenet rose by 7% in 2023 to 2.65 million. In 2024, the number of logins to the mobile app exceeded 1 billion.

The bank reported 2.29 million BLIK payments users in 2024 (up 13% from 2023). More than 1.58 million clients performed at least one e-commerce payment, making a total of 37 million transactions in the period. 64% choose to pay by BLIK. In 2022, more than 1 million customers registered for services that enable contactless payments by phone (BLIK contactless, Apple Pay, HCE virtual card). This is an increase of 31% compared to 2021. Digital channels accounted for 81% of sales of cash loans, 95% of sales of term deposits, and 34% of current accounts acquisition.

Alior Bank – In the Alior Online mobile app, mobile payment methods BLIK, Android Pay and Apple Pay, and smartwatch payments Fitbit Pay, Garmin Pay, Swatch PAY are available. In Q4 2021, Alior implemented BLIK contactless payments. In 2022, the offer of contactless payments was expanded to payments using Xiaomi devices.

During 2021, Alior Bank focused on providing further financial and non-financial services in its mobile application, including the ability to purchase public transport tickets and pay for car parks with moBilet, the AutoPay automatic motorway toll option, BLIK alerts and reports, the availability of LINK4 and PZU insurance in the app, and access to telemedicine services. By Q2 2024, the number of motorway journeys and tickets paid through the Alior mobile application increased to 655,000 from 606,000 in Q4 2023.

In 2021, Alior launched a voice assistant for its hotline to facilitate contact with customers. InfoNina received around 9,000 calls a day, 10% of which it handled completely on its own, and the average call time reduced by around 10%. Alior’s goal is that by the end of 2022, 60% of calls on the helpline will be made with voicebots, and 30% of customer interactions with chatbots. In December 2023, the bank completed work on extending the chatbot functionality in Alior Online. An information process was added to the chat regarding applying for a new credit product for a logged in Customer. In addition, a new Chatbot was implemented in Alior Online. In its first phase, the chatbot handles the top queries for information and the list of most frequently asked questions from customers. In 2024, the bank reported that the chatbot handle nearly 11,000 daily customer interactions (8,000 via voicebot, 3,000 via chatbot). Furthermore, Alior Bank has implemented outbound bots, which conduct over 2 million conversations annually.

In 2022, it continued the development towards hyper automation to streamline processes and increase efficiency. The effects in the form of accelerated digital transformation, thanks to the use of artificial intelligence and robotisation, are visible both in communication with the customer (Voicebots, Chatbots, InfoNina), as well as in lowering costs and enhancing the efficiency of the processes for which these technologies are used.

In 2024, the number of Alior mobile banking users increased by 17% to 1.27 million. The number of BLIK transactions reached 21.6 million by Q2 2024 from 18.9 million in Q4 2023.

In 2024, Alior Bank maintained a strong and stable position while continuing on its growth path. The increase in the number of primary relationship customers (+65,000) and the rising adoption of its mobile app (+189,000 users).

BGK – as of 2020, state-owned BGK developed its online bgk24 system, with more than 20 functional extensions launched. In addition, in line with the requirements of PSD2 and the Act on Payment Services to Clients, the bank implemented strong customer authentication during logging on to the bgk24 system. At the end of 2024, there were 4,534 active entities (60 more than in 2023) and the number of system users grew by 447 to 30,016. As of 2024, the system processed more than 17.5 million financial instructions up from 15 million in 2023.

About Open API Standards

Historically, Polish banks developed online banking and Open Banking at the level of individual banks. With the advent of PSD2, however, Polish banks have made a joint push for digital credit transfer payments and mobile P2P payments. The banks are also collaborating to offer a cardless digital payment scheme known as BLIK.

In 2019, early-mover Polish banks began to add account information services to their individual online banking services and mobile banking apps. From a pan-European perspective, Polish banks have created a best-in-class case study in the domestic BLIK scheme and in-house PISP and AISP services for how to transform domestic payment solutions into omnichannel payment services fit for the digital economy.

PKO BP is among Europe’s frontrunners in Open Banking and has joined the European Payments Initiative (EPI). PSD2 was incorporated into Poland’s Payment Services Act (PSA) through the Amending Act of May 10, 2018 that came into force on June 20 2018 and provided for a general transition period until December 20 2018. As the next step towards Open Banking, Polish banks have opted for a new domestic Open API standard, PolishAPI, which is seen as a key part of Open Banking in the Polish financial market. Polish API is one standard, but there are different understandings and applications of Polish API among the country’s banks.

In 2019, ING Bank Śląski was the first Polish bank to enable customers to view accounts from other banks in a single app. This new in-house AISP solution was implemented in the Moje ING online and mobile banking systems. The other Polish banks are expected to follow suit.

In 2024, 15 AISPs were authorised by the KNF. There were also six Open Banking licences in the country for PISPs, 13 for AISPs, and 21 licences for third-party players. As of 2024, there were 118 third-party players passported in Poland, along with 25 API aggregators and 46 Bank APIs.

From a pan-European point of view, Polish banks have created a best practice model with the domestic BLIK scheme and in-house PISP and AISP services for the transformation of domestic payment solutions into omnichannel payment services fit for the digital economy.

In June 2017, The Berlin Group, the European payments interoperability coalition of banks and payment processors with membership comprising bank backed ACHs and industry bodies, announced it would push a single standard for API access to bank accounts (XS2A) compliant with the PSD2 regulation.

The Berlin Group says its NextGenPSD2 Initiative provides a harmonised API standard for accessing bank accounts. Built as an ‘Access to Account Framework’, The Berlin Group says the standard offers operational rules and implementation guidelines with detailed data definitions, message modelling and information flows based on RESTful API methodology.

As of the beginning of 2021, the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 was implemented in all EU countries, in several non-EU countries in Europe and in countries outside Europe who are focused on maintaining reachability and compatibility with the European market. Around 80% of European banks and hundreds of third-party providers (TPPs) have implemented the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 Framework. In 2021, the group was migrated to the Open Finance task force to explore use cases of Open Banking schemes and Open Finance schemes.

Among others, European Open API sets include Open Banking UK, Swiss Corporate API, and STET Open API (F, B).

In 2020, ING Bank Śląski stated that its Open Banking proposition was developed in line with the PSD2 directive through the Moje ING app. In 2020, ING continued working on the development of the Add account from another bank service, making it the first bank in Poland to implement it. In 2020 the service was extended by three more banks: BNP Paribas, Alior Bank and Santander Bank Polska. As a result, as of 2020, customers could add accounts from as many as seven banks – BNP Paribas, PKO BP, Pekao, Millennium, mBank, Santander Bank Polska, and Alior Bank.

In Q4 2020, ING offered clients payment initiation from an account in another bank, enabling customers to order transfers from accounts in five other banks that they had previously added to Moje ING (mBank, PKO BP, Santander Bank Polska, Millennium and BNP Paribas).

As one of the first banks in Poland to adopt Open Banking, Millennium offered the service of aggregating accounts from other banks through its own Finance 360º offering. Customers can check the balance and transaction history of their accounts in nine of the largest Polish banks by logging in to the Bank Millennium account. Bank Millennium was the first bank in Poland to offer a service allowing customers to order transfers from their accounts in other banks via Millenet. Currently, the service is available for six banks.

Alior Bank, exploiting solutions based on Open Banking, developed its activities as a third-party provider by integrating with other banks and extending its offer using services of accessing account information and initiating payments. In 2020, personal customers were able to use both the services of accessing account information in the loan process and aggregating accounts in digital channels, as well as, from the level of Alior Bank’s online and mobile banking, they had the option of ordering transfers from accounts kept in other banks.

Alior Bank, using the opportunities offered by Open Banking, further developed its product offering in 2022 to address personal and business customers, as well as to launch the first API services, offered on a commercial basis, to institutional customers and external partners.

In 2020, BNP Paribas reported that Open Banking had enabled faster confirmation of customer identities, along with improved process automation. Over 100 operational processes were automated during 2020.

Regulatory Sandbox – Poland’s FinTech regulatory sandbox, overseen by the Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), continues to support innovation through two main mechanisms:

Regulatory Sandbox

The KNF established its regulatory sandbox in 2018, enabling Polish fintechs to test innovative financial products and services in safe, controlled conditions, including both virtual (simulated computer environments) and real (limited live interactions with customers) test options. Several major banks (PKO Bank Polski, Alior Bank, BNP Paribas, Citi Handlowy, Pekao, etc.) operate as sandbox providers, offering their IT environments for pilot projects and evaluation.

Entry is open to firms operating or planning to operate in Poland, provided they have a registered office in the country. The sandbox facilitates product refinement, compliance evaluation, and ongoing technical support from KNF.​

Virtual Sandbox and Innovation Hub

In January 2021, KNF launched a Virtual Sandbox—a secure, IT-controlled environment where fintechs can simulate banking/payment operations and test Open API (Polish API standard, PSD2-compliant), payment initiation (PIS), account info (AIS), and fund confirmation services. This supports rapid prototyping and regulatory feedback, and is a key part of Poland’s broader Innovation Hub Programme, which provides regulatory guidance and expert consultations to fintechs.​

Sandbox Impact and Expansion

The sandbox initiative expanded collaboration between banks and fintechs, cut barriers to market entry, and ensured new solutions (such as open banking, digital identity, RegTech, and instant payments) meet high legal and data protection standards. The sandbox project is supported by EU funding and continued to see strong demand in 2024–2025, with regulatory modernization and oversight increasing.​

Autenti: E-signature and Bank Collaboration

In 2020, Alior Bank, BNP Paribas, and PKO Bank Polski invested in Autenti—a Polish fintech offering digital document circulation and e-signature solutions. Autenti’s multi-bank platform is a CEE first, enabling customers and businesses to sign contracts and handle documents electronically, with full legal value. Autenti’s partnership with Swisscom Trust Services (2024) further expanded its cross-border reach and integration with European qualified electronic signature (QES) markets.​

Payment Services

In Poland, the law on payment services adopted the EU payment services directive (PSD) and the EU interchange fee regulation (IFR). In Poland, PSD2 was incorporated into the Payment Services Act (PSA) through the Amending Act of May 10, 2018, which entered into force on June 20, 2018, and provided for a general transition period until December 20, 2018.

In 2025, the more than 300 different payment services offered in Europe can be grouped into:

Card Brands and Card Types

At present, there is no domestic debit card scheme in Poland. All retail banks issue debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards with Mastercard or VISA brands, the principal payment card brands issued in the country.

All cards are now issued with contactless PayPass or payWave function. From July 2023, banks and other card issuers will no longer issue Maestro cards. Instead, they will need to issue Debit Mastercard. Maestro was launched in 1991 and was the world’s first debit card that could be used via an online network. About 400 million Maestro cards are in circulation worldwide, mainly across Europe. However, Maestro is not enabled for the demands of e-commerce and cannot be used for online or in-app payments, hence the decision to phase it out in favour of Mastercard Debit products. Visa announced that Electron cards will be phased out globally in 2024. The features of the Visa Debit card have been modified to match the features of the Visa Electron card.

Polish card products like consumer cards, commercial cards and purchasing cards range from classic cards to gold cards and to platinum cards. Additional card features (e.g. picture cards, bonus points, PIN selection at ATMs, cashback, card control by SMS notification and other in-app controls like geo blocking) are used to attract cardholders. Also, card accounts in EUR or USD denomination, individual picture cards and collector cards are issued on demand.

The EMV migration started as late as 2006 and has been de-facto complete since end-2015. According to NBP, 93.29% of cards were migrated to EMV chip cards by end-2022, with prepaid cards and virtual cards for the balance. As of 2025 EMV migration is complete in Poland. 100% of payment terminals support EMV/contactless: All payment card acceptance devices in Poland (point-of-sale, unattended, and mobile terminals) are now EMV and contactless-enabled, providing universal chip-based payment security.​

Card market fully migrated: All major Polish banks and card issuers transitioned their portfolios to EMV chip cards several years ago, and magstripe-only cards have been phased out.

Retail and public sector compliance: Both large chains and small merchants comply with EMV requirements; even transit, vending, and nonprofit sectors utilize EMV devices for secure payments.

Cashless Poland Foundation reports: The adoption of EMV/contactless technology is a core achievement of Poland’s “Cashless Poland” initiative, with countrywide digitization of payment infrastructure.

Debit cards issued are VISA Debit and Debit Mastercard cards. There are no V PAY cards in issue.

Credit Cards issued are cards branded VISA, Mastercard, American Express or Diners. There are no JCB cards in issue. Since 2008, American Express cards are no longer issued in PLN denomination but are issued from the UK in EUR or USD denomination.

Prepaid Cards – Issuance of innovative open-loop prepaid cards has accelerated since 2006.

Co-branded cards – In Poland, several issuer banks issue co-branded card products. Major Polish banks—including PKO Bank Polski, Credit Agricole, BGZ BNP Paribas, Citi Handlowy, Santander, and Bank Pekao—continue to issue co-branded credit and debit cards in partnership with leading retail, airline, fuel, and service brands. Private label cards for retailers remain in circulation, though most new deals are based on Mastercard or Visa brands for greater acceptance and customer rewards. Also, selected Polish banks issue private label cards for Polish retailers, e.g. Bank BPH.

Typical examples for co-brand credit cards in circulation are:

Contactless Cards and form-factors

Most Polish banks issue contactless debit cards and credit cards, since 2011. Piloting banks were:

Adoption of contactless debit cards in Poland moved swiftly. By end-2012, 19 banks in Poland issued 6.8 million contactless cards with PayPass or payWave function. Poland is in the group of countries with the highest level of contactless cards use in the world. As of 2020, Poland was said to be 100% contactless in issuance and acceptance with the majority of transactions being contactless. From 2019, 100% of POS terminals were adapted to support contactless payment cards. Cashless transactions represented over 50% of the total volume in 2024.

In July 2021, under the BLIK payment scheme, the contactless function for BLIK mobile payments was introduced. In Q3 2021, when this type of payment was made available for the first time, it was used 29,700 times. In Q4, 2.807 million contactless transactions were recorded. As of the end of 2022 (marking the first full year since the launch of contactless payments), 70 million contactless payments with a total value of PLN 2.7 billion were made. A third of these payments were made in Q4 2022 and there were 1.8 million registered users.

Poland is among the countries with the highest level of use of contactless cards in the world. At the end of December 2024, the number of payment cards with a contactless function reached 45.24 million, which represented a 2.51% rise on the 2023 figure. Contactless cards constitute 97.5% of all payment cards in Poland as of year-end 2024. As of year-end 2024, 100% of POS terminals are adapted for contactless payment cards. As at the time of compiling this report, the Payment System Oversight Report for 2024 is yet to be published by the NBP.

Contactless Display Cards – In August 2013, GetinNoble Bank launched a contactless Debit Mastercard display card. To check their balance on the display, cardholders enter their PIN using a mini keypad on the card. The display card can also be used to generate one-time passcodes for online banking services.

Contactless NFC Stickers – Also, other form factors of contactless cards are issued. In 2009, the MNO PTC partnered with Polbank EFG for the introduction of a co-branded PayPass contactless NFC sticker that is attached to the back of a customer’s mobile phone. The card is linked to the customer’s bank account and offers standard PayPass debit card functionality.

Predefined contactless limits – Contactless payments of purchase amounts below a predefined contactless limit are without PIN or signature and without transaction receipt. In Poland, the limit for payments without PIN/signature is set to be PLN 50 for cards with PayPass or payWave function but limited by an initial daily transaction limit of PLN 300. Larger transactions are accepted, provided a PIN code is entered. From Q2 2019, the contactless limit in Poland was raised to the PLN equivalent of 50 Euros, or PLN 213 per transaction. Media reports suggest that this move will lead to a further significant upswing in contactless transactions, especially since the 18-30 segment had been “holding back” given the relatively low daily transaction limit via contactless. In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the contactless limit was raised to PLN 100 to encourage more non-cash transactions.

Interchange Fee Arrangements

International and Intra European Non-EEA Interchange Fees are set by the members of the international card schemes to be applied in case of cross-border transactions or foreign cards used in Poland, respectively. The effective rates of Mastercard and VISA can be found on the respective Mastercard and VISA websites.

In Poland, domestic Merchant Interchange Fee (DMIF) rates for Polish cards is defined by Mastercard and VISA, respectively. The interchange fee regulation 2015/751/EU applies for Polish card business.

In December 2014, the Payment Cards Act in Poland was amended, reducing the domestic interchange fee rate to the level of 0.3% for credit cards and 0.2% debit cards, including commercial cards.

Therefore, the interchange fees for domestic card-based payment transactions on both consumer cards and commercial cards, as follows:

Most domestic transactions fall under these caps, though specific card products (business, premium, private label) may have different rates, often with a fixed maximum amount per transaction, such as PLN 0.20–0.30, per scheme guidelines.​

Special/local schemes:

Poland’s popular mobile scheme, BLIK, typically charges a much lower interchange fee: about 0.17% for mobile transactions, with minimal per-transaction fees, making it attractive for merchants, especially for lower-value purchases.​

Commercial and premium cards:

Some business and premium card transactions (e.g., Platinum, Infinite, Business Prepaid/Credit) can have interchange capped at higher levels for larger purchases, such as 0.30% with caps ranging from PLN 0.25 to PLN 0.55.​

Despite these regulations, Poland still has relatively high average interchange fees compared to other European countries. According to recent data, Poland’s average interchange fee rate is around 1.53%, which is significantly higher than the EU average and among the highest in Europe.

American Express – As a result of the EU regulation of interchange fees (IFR), American Express elected to exit all of its bank licensing arrangements in the European Union. This means that they have terminated all licenses with its existing EU partners, stopped issuing new cards and are in the final stages of the process of closing down all operations directly related to bank licensing. Over the course of 2019, American Express credit cards issued under independent operator agreements were rendered invalid in all countries of the European Union. Various banks that have up to now had exclusive licensing contracts with American Express have already responded accordingly and provided their clients with the opportunity to switch to other card brands.

From 2020, American Express Payments Europe is now the sole issuer and acquirer of American Express cards in Europe, including Poland. However, American Express Payments Europe continues its local sales partner arrangements with local acquirers enabling the use of American Express cards at ATMs and POS terminals.

Despite the exit from the EU licensing business, American Express cards are still present in the Polish market, although their usage is limited. Cards denominated in Polish zloty are only issued by Millenium Bank, while other cards available in Poland are settled in USD or EUR.

E-Money 

In Poland, the law on e-money services has adopted the e-money directive of the EU (EMD).

There is no electronic purse in Poland. E-money payment services offered include bank prepaid cards, private label cards and fleet cards with prepaid payment functions. Also, there are a few domestic prepaid online payment services. Currently, ECB and NBP do not report e-money statistics for Poland.

As of 2024, there was one e-money institution authorised by the KNF.

Additionally, software-based e-money e-/m-wallet services are also offered by international payment service providers and e-wallet issuers from the EEA region, primarily the UK. They provided notification of operating in Poland under the EU passport system.

Prepaid Products – paysafecard (A) entered Poland and launched its prepaid product, paysafecard. In June 2018, paysafecard launched cash-based payments via the Google Play Store. The international rollout of the partnership between paysafecard and Google starts in Poland, where more than 1 million Poles per year use paysafecard. paysafecard is available in 50 countries, and there are more than 650,000 sales outlets worldwide, around 40,000 of which are in Poland.

Digital Account-to-Account Payment Services 

In the Yearbooks, account-based payment services are classified as IBAN-based payment services in SCT/SDD format offered by banks or by independent payment initiation service providers (PISP).

Credit transfers are used for both high-value corporate and low-value retail payment transactions. They can be paper-based or automated. Electronic credit transfers are used by government and companies for salary, supplier and benefit payments. Paper-based credit transfers are typically used for retail transactions.

Poland is a part of the SEPA initiative for EUR-denominated retail payments. In 2025, 23 Polish banks participated in the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme.

Direct debits were introduced by the NBP as late as October 1997. They are used for low-value recurring payments such as utility payments.

Direct debits (polecenie zaplaty) are restricted to a maximum value of €1,000 for private individuals and €50,000 for companies and other non‑private debtors. These direct debits have revocation periods of 30 days and five days respectively.

The B2B Direct Debit (GOBI) is a high-value non-revocable direct debit (above €50,000). The GOBI direct debit is based upon voluntary interbank agreements.

SEPA Direct Debit Schemes have been available since 2 November 2009. Being outside the euro zone, many Polish Banks accept SEPA direct debits from 1 November 2014.

Instant payments (SCTINST) is the IBAN-based immediate payment scheme in Europe, officially launched in November 2017. It makes funds immediately available to the beneficiary – compliant with existing SCT infrastructure. The regulators will require all banks to offer Instant Payments from 2018.

Among others, the characteristics of SCTINST include an initial maximum of €15,000 with the funds made available on the beneficiary’s account in less than ten seconds, 24/7/365 real-time processing, and immediate refunds in the case that the SCTINST payment was not successful. From July 2020, the maximum for instant payments will be €100,000.

Chaired by the ECB, in 2014, the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB) identified the need for a pan-European instant euro payment solution. In April 2016, EBA Clearing started the SCTINST project with more than 40 large European banks involved. In November 2016, the European Payments Council (EPC) published the SCTINST scheme and SCTINST rule books version 1.0 while the ERPB provided the governance model. In November 2017, EBA Clearing completed the pan-European instant payments infrastructure, RT1.

SEPA credit transfers and direct debits can be settled on a same-day or next-day basis. In 2024, about 50% of all IBAN-based payments in Europe were processed intra-day, or even immediately inside of the same bank group. Potential first use cases for SCTINST in Poland may include P2P, mobile banking apps, online payments, and B2B.

As of June 2025, 2,765 banks from 36 European countries had registered for the SCTINST scheme. This represents 78% of all SCT scheme participants.

Immediate Payments in Poland – KIR operates the instant payment system Express ELIXIR for immediate credit transfers on behalf of the Polish banks (see KIR section below).

Blue Media S.A., a Polish FinTech, operates the other Polish immediate payment system, BlueCash. In 2024, there were 83 direct participants in the BlueCash payment system. In 2024, BlueCash processed 8.97 million.

In parallel to cards, the Polish banks are in favour of online bank transfers for payments on the internet. The leading Polish banks push the card-less BLIK mobile payment scheme (see below). In addition, most Polish banks offer secure mono-bank online credit transfer services to their clients (e.g. Przelewy24, Inteligo, mBank, MultiTransfer, Pekao24, Paybynet, PayU Express) for internet use in online shops. Pre-requisite is the registration of an electronic banking account with the bank. In August 2019, Przewely24 became part of P24 DotCard (owner: NETS (DK).

Foreign payment initiation service providers (PISPs) offering cross-border online credit transfers in the country include SOFORT (D).

As PSD2 is fully implemented in Poland, KNF permits PISPs authorised in another EEA member state to operate in Poland under the EU passport system.

IKO App – Based on PKO Bank’s IKO app, the bank launched a card-less account-based payment service in March 2013, which lets customers make in-store payments and ATM withdrawals by keying in a code generated by the app. Customers can also send money to recipients by entering their mobile phone number, like Barclays Pingit in the UK. At end-2013, PKO BP reported 101,000 active iKO apps. There were 8.3 million digital customers of the IKO mobile banking app in 2024, from 7.8 million in 2023. Bank customers conducted 274 million transactions through IKO in Q4 2024, compared to 235 million in 2023.

PeoPay is operated by Pekao. PeoPay enables money transfers, cashless payments in shops and service points, online purchase payments, and withdrawals from ATMs of Bank Pekao. In 2024, the number of active mobile banking customers increased by 295,000 to 3.4 million (+9% from 2023) and was 24% higher than two years ago. The number of active mobile customers using the PeoPay application increased by 327,000 to 3.2 million (+11% from 2023) and was 31% higher than two years ago.

mTransfer Mobile – mBank has partnered with PayU to launch mTransfer Mobile (mTM). According to mBank, the users of the service conform the money transfer by just one click without the need to log in.

In February 2018, Opal Transfer (UK) launched a new money transfer service between Poland and Ukraine. Opal said that there are more than 2 million Ukrainians currently working in Poland who will be able to use Opal Transfer’s app, and benefit from Opal’s same day transfer service. It is estimated that the transfer market between Poland and Ukraine is worth around €1 billion each year.

Advanced Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, advanced payment services are classified as online wallets, e-wallets, and/or mobile wallets with any type of payment service chosen by the wallet user to complete the payment.

In selected Polish online shops, the wallets PayPal and Skrill are offered as payment means.

PayPal – PayPal is widely used in Poland. As of end-2024, PayPal reported 434 million active customer accounts globally, up 2.1% from 426 million in 2023. This consisted of 398 million customer active accounts and 36 million merchant active accounts across approximately 200 markets. PayPal’s total payment volume increased to $1.68 trillion (up from $1.53 in 2023) and customer engagement grew to an average of 60.6 transactions per active account, driving 3% growth in transactions per active account at the end of 2024.

During 2020, with consumers worldwide embracing digital wallet capabilities, the company launched several related services including QR Code Checkout, Buy Now Pay Later, Crypto purchasing and Xoom direct transfers to bank accounts and debit cards.

In June 2018, PayPal continued its shopping spree with a $400 million cash deal to acquire e-commerce platform Hyperwallet. The acquisition followed deals to buy Venmo, Xoom, Sweden’s iZettle (renamed Zettle) for $2.2 billion and AI-based merchant marketing outfit Jetlore, as Paypal bids to extend its reach to all corners of the payments market.

In May 2022, PayPal Ventures invested in Modulr, an embedded payments platform for digital businesses, as part of a $108 million Series C funding round led by General Atlantic, Blenheim Chalcot, Frog Capital, and Highland Europe. Modulr delivers payments infrastructure for over 200 top-tier customers, including Revolut, Wagestream, Sage and BrightPay, and processes an annualised transaction value of more than £100 billion.

In 2023, PayPal was exploring the sale of Xoom, its international money transfer subsidiary, in a bid to cut costs and focus on high-growth business areas – as of November 2025, PayPal had not completed the sale. Also, Stax Payments – an all-in-one payment provider for businesses – announced its partnership with PayPal in July 2023. This partnership will allow PayPal’s users to easily make payments with more than 20,000 merchants of Stax through a fast checkout process as well as new payment options such as Buy-now-pay-later solutions.

In 2023, PayPal launched its own US dollar-denominated stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), which is fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US treasuries, and similar cash equivalents and designed for digital payments and Web3. Eligible US PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to transfer the token to external wallets, send person-to-person payments, fund purchases at checkouts supported by PayPal, and convert cryptocurrency holdings to and from PayPal USD.

In January 2024, PayPal launched AI-powered features to drive personalised offerings for both merchants and customers based on the data it possesses. These features include Smart Receipts (for merchants) which predicts what shoppers may want to buy next from the merchant. The merchant can then offer personalised recommendations, and cashback offers on this receipt. A major feature for users is CashPass which will use give users personalised cashback offers based on an AI analysis of their spending activity.

In March 2024, PayPal launched a complete suite of payment processing tools for online small businesses in the UK, Canada, and across more than 20 European markets. The PayPal Complete Payments package enables small businesses to accept an expanded range of payment instruments including PayPal, buy now pay later, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit and debit cards, and alternative payment methods from around the world. By April 2024, PayPal added new features to its complete payments solution for small businesses to enable small businesses to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later products. PayPal also gave small businesses access to four new features to help them drive payment acceptance and enhance how they run their business, and this will include Apple Pay as a checkout option.

In 2025, PayPal significantly enhanced its offerings for small businesses by introducing PayPal Open, a unified commerce platform that consolidates all of PayPal’s merchant solutions into a single interface. This platform provides small businesses with access to a comprehensive suite of tools, including payment processing, financial services, and AI-driven insights, all designed to streamline operations and foster growth.

Amazon Pay – was introduced in 2007. The payment service enables Amazon customers to checkout at participating third-party merchant sites using their Amazon credentials.​

Launch Date: Amazon Pay first launched in August 2007 as “Pay with Amazon,” later expanding globally and adding features for third-party merchant acceptance.​

Functionality: All active Amazon customers can use their Amazon credentials for checkout at partnered merchants—Amazon Pay is available in 18 countries as of October 2024.​

Global Usage: Over 50 million customers have used Amazon Pay for purchases worldwide, with a large share coming from Amazon Prime members, but recent statistics indicate over 3.2 billion transactions processed in 2025 and 600,000+ merchants accepting Amazon Pay as of June 2025.​

Prime Share: More than half of Amazon Pay users are Amazon Prime Members, matching your note on demographics.​

Market Impact: By the end of 2025, Amazon Pay accounts for approximately 6% of the global online payment market, processing an estimated $85 billion in payments.​

Expansion: Amazon Pay experienced 20% growth in mobile usage and 13% total transaction growth from 2024 to 2025.​

Merchant Share: SMEs comprise around 70% of all merchants using Amazon Pay.

Digital Payment Services

In the Yearbooks, digital payment services are classified as card-based payment services using EMV tokenisation security on the internet combined with HCE NFC technology in the case of contactless payments at POS terminals.

VISA Checkout – In November 2013, ING Bank Śląski and VISA Europe launched the digital wallet V.me in Poland. In February 2016, VISA launched its digital wallet VISA Checkout in Poland replacing V.me. In April 2016, the PSP PayU extended its partnership with VISA to offer Visa Checkout services.

Masterpass – In July 2014, Mastercard and uPaid launched the digital wallet MasterPass for consumer online shopping. uPaid is the first partner in Poland to leverage the MasterPass platform to enable its digital uPaid wallet app. MasterPass replaced the Mastercard Mobile platform, which has been present in Poland for three years. Also, Raiffeisen Polbank offers MasterPass. In October 2017, retailer Carrefour Poland launched a Scan&Go service embedded in its shopping app, which enables self-service product scanning, as well as in-app payments with MasterPass.

As of mid-2025, the Click to Pay online payment checkout service was available, replacing the previous MasterPass and VISA Checkout services respectively. Click to Pay is a joint service between Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and American Express, enabling consumers to make secure one-click payments without having to enter card details or passwords online.

Contactless payments on cards using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay (previously Android Pay) made by foreign users at contactless POS terminals in Poland are processed as payments on contactless cards.

Global contactless transaction values are projected to reach approximately $15.7 trillion by 2027, up significantly from around $4.6 trillion in 2022, driven by widespread adoption of contactless mobile and card payments. Contactless mobile and wearable payments are expected to grow by over 220%, while contactless card payments will increase by approximately 119% in the same period.

Contactless ticketing spend is forecasted to surge by more than 400% globally between 2022 and 2027, with mobile NFC ticketing powered by OEM wallet solutions such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay playing a critical role in enabling seamless transit and event ticketing across multiple markets.

By 2027, 99% of all smartphones are estimated to support contactless payments, up from 94% in 2022, with average contactless transaction values roughly $28.20 for Apple Pay and $33.40 for Google Pay. Digital wallets—including PayPal, Apple Pay, and Alipay—represent the majority of global mobile payments. Mobile wallets accounted for around half of global e-commerce payment transactions as of 2022 with approximately 2.8 billion users worldwide, nearly half concentrated in Asia-Pacific, led by large markets such as China, India, and Southeast Asia.

In North America and Europe, mobile payments increasingly overlap with broader “alternative payments” encompassing all non-cash, non-card payment methods, reflecting shifting consumer preferences towards convenience and digital-first financial experiences.

Overall, the global contactless payment market is witnessing rapid growth driven by technology advances, expanding wallet usage, and evolving consumer behaviours, signalling a transformative shift towards universal cashless and contactless commerce by the end of the decade.

Apple Pay has become one of the world’s most used digital payment methods. Its user base increased from 521.4 million to 535.8 million in 2022 and now sits at 785 million users worldwide at end 2024.

This payment method is also available in over 85% of US merchants and 60% of stores globally.

As of August 2024, the estimated total Apple Pay in-store sales now sit at $268 billion, up from $213 billion last year.

As of 2023, Apple Pay processed 14.2% of all online consumer payments and 5.6% of all in-store purchases globally, global transaction volume (2025 estimate) is $7.6 trillion.

In the US its Apple Pay users are measured as ~63.9 million (2025 forecast), with in-store U.S. retail sales via Apple Pay sitting at ~$268 billion (as of August 2024).

Putting it all together, Apple Pay is increasingly becoming an effective customer acquisition and retention feature for Apple. In June 2022, Apple Pay added Apple Pay Later, its buy-now-pay-later service, allowing users to split purchases into four equal instalments with no interest or fees. Initially launched in the US, the service is expected to roll out to other countries during 2023. In 2023, Apple launched its Card savings account from Goldman Sachs with a 4.15% annual percentage yield. Apple Wallet users can set up and manage a savings account directly from Apple Card in Wallet, with no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements.

As of October 2025, Apple Pay was available from 70 banks and payment providers in Poland.

Google Pay current data shows around 820 million active users across 45 global markets.

In January 2022, it was reported that the company was planning to transform Google Pay into a “comprehensive digital wallet”, following the app’s reported slow growth and the shutdown of Plex. In April, it was reported that Google was planning to revive the “Google Wallet” branding in a new app or interface and integrated with Google Pay. Google officially announced Google Wallet on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. The app began rolling out on Android smartphones on July 18, replacing the 2018 app and co-existing with the 2020 Google Pay app in the US. While the app name itself was changed from Google Pay to Google Wallet, the service name of actually paying for things online or in-store remains “Google Pay.”.

In the US, Google Pay has over 165 million users.  Also, Google Pay is used on nearly 800,000 websites as a secure payment gateway. Roughly 20% of all mobile purchases are made using this digital payment processor. Google Pay ranks 3rd among mobile payment methods globally. In Russia, it has an online usage distribution of 35.18% and has recorded approximately 1,281,838 transactions online. Available in 19 countries, 30% of Google Pay’s active users are millennials. It is one of Canada’s top 5 online payment apps and is the primary mobile payment method for 2,193 businesses worldwide. In India, Google Pay boasts 67 million active users and holds 36.10% of the mobile application market. Its widespread adoption and significant market share highlight its growing importance in the global digital payment landscape.

Google Pay was available from 72 banks and payment providers in Poland in October 2025.

Samsung Pay is available in 29 countries worldwide and has an estimated 150 million users. Samsung Pay works with a broad range of Samsung Galaxy phones, including the latest Galaxy S22 and newer models, as well as many previous models like the Galaxy S8.

Samsung claims that its system will work with almost all point-of-sale systems: NFC, magnetic stripe and EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) terminals for chip-based cards. In June 2022, Samsung Pay was renamed to Samsung Wallet in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Along with the renaming came new features such as the ability to store digital assets and digital keys within the Wallet app.

Samsung Pay launched in Poland in October 2025 and is currently supported by Bank Millenium, BOS and Bank Pocztowy.

Overview of Cashless Payments

Three different processing centres are used to clear card payments in Poland – KSR (operated by Fiserv, formerly First Data Polcard), PNNSS (operated by VISA) and EDCSS (operated by Mastercard).

In 2024, card payments accounted for 63.34% of all cashless payments compared to 55.85% in the EU. They showed a compound growth rate of 12.83% between 2020 and 2024. It is noted that cards are as well used for paying invoices at specific POS service terminals.

However, credit transfers (33.68%) are still the dominant cashless payment instrument in Poland, in terms of value. Direct debits accounted for 0.24% in 2024. Cheques are used almost exclusively for business-to-business payments. They continued to be marginal by number (0.001%).

In 2024, there was a high level of 440.5 cashless payments per capita, up 11.21% from 2023. They were composed of 279.0 card payments per capita, 148.4 credit transfers per capita, and 1.0 direct debits per capita.

2 - Cashless Payment Transactions in Poland
(millions)202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Payment cards6,090.77,279.88,566.89,481.110,459.811,801.510.32%82.84%12.83%
Cheques issued0.10.00.00.00.00.0-26.47%-66.22%-19.51%
Credit transfers3,595.54,172.84,548.34,944.15,562.26,242.612.50%78.07%12.23%
Direct debits28.229.730.339.839.041.7-1.81%38.55%6.74%
Total9,714.411,482.213,145.514,908.116,514.018,085.810.77%86.12%13.23%
Total card payments per capita158.8190.8226.8251.9279.0309.210.76%87.22%13.36%
Total cheques issued per capita0.00.00.00.00.00.0-26.18%-65.41%-19.13%
Total credit transfers per capita93.7109.3120.4131.4148.4163.612.94%82.33%12.76%
Total direct debits per capita0.70.80.81.11.01.1-1.43%41.86%7.24%
Total cashless payments per capita253.3300.9348.1396.1440.5473.911.21%90.58%13.77%
Source: ECB.

Exchange Rates

Poland does not use the euro as its currency. However, under the terms of their Treaty of Accession with the European Union, all new Member States “shall participate in the Economic and Monetary Union from the date of accession as a Member State”, which means that Poland is obliged to replace its PLN currency with the euro eventually.

There is no target date for euro adoption, and no fixed date for when Poland will join ERM-II (the fifth euro convergence criteria). However, the government of Poland plans to comply with all the euro adoption criteria by 2015 but OKdid not set a date to join the euro system. Euro adoption will require the approval of at least two-thirds of the Sejm to make a constitutional amendment changing the official PLN currency to the euro.

The national currency is the Polish New Zloty (PLN).

3 - Average Exchange Rates
20202021202220232024
1 EUR in PLN4.44304.56524.68614.33234.2714
Source: ECB.

Market Infrastructure

In Poland, PSD2 was incorporated into the Payment Services Act (PSA) through the Amending Act of May 2018, which entered into force in June 2018 and provided for a general transition period until December 2018.

The SORBNET2 RTGS payment system is mainly used for driving current accounts and making interbank settlement of PLN payments.

As of December 31, 2023, the SORBNET2 system kept current accounts in PLN for 46 banks (in 2022 – 47), the current account of the National Cooperative Union and the accounts of KIR, KDPW and KDPW.

In 2023, 5.6 million orders were executed in the SORBNET2 system (in 2022 5.4 million) for the amount PLN 136.4 trillion (in 2022 PLN 131.0 trillion). This means an increase in the number of completed orders 3.7% and an increase in their value by 4.1% compared to 2022. The average value of a single order in 2023 amounted to PLN 24.2 million (in 2022 PLN 24.0 million) and decreased by 0.8% compared to 2022.

The TARGET2-NBP system is the Polish component of the TARGET2 system, the pan-European RTGS system used for settlement of payments in euro. By 31 December 2024, accounts in euro were maintained in the TARGET2-NBP system for 19 entities: NBP, KIR SA, KDPW, and KDPW_CCP, and for 15 commercial banks (in 2021: 24 entities, including 15 banks).

In 2023, 2.4 million operations were performed in the TARGET2-NBP system for a total amount of €3.2 trillion. Compared to 2022, the number of completed operations remained flat, while their value rose by 14%. The mean value of a single orders amounted to €1.3 million, up from €1.2 million in 2022.

The SORBNET3 project was launched to build a new RTGS system in PLN (the launch of the system is planned for 2025). Work continued on the participation of NBP in the consolidation of the TARGET2 system with the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) platform, coordinated by the ECB. The aim of the consolidation is to launch the new RTGS system in euro in November 2022.

The Eurosystem has successfully launched the new T2 wholesale payment system, which comprises an RTGS system and a central liquidity management tool. T2 has replaced TARGET2 as the new RTGS system for settling payments related to the Eurosystem’s monetary policy operations, as well as bank-to-bank and commercial transactions. T2 went live in March 2023.

In addition, consultations with EBA Clearing as well as conceptual work and arrangements were carried out with KIR in order to join the NBP in June 2022 to the continuous model gross settlement (CGS – Continuous Gross Settlement) in the STEP2-T system.

In 2024, the SORBNET2 system—the Polish central bank’s RTGS (real-time gross settlement) platform for large-value PLN payments—achieved these key statistics:

SORBNET2 remains the backbone for large-value interbank and critical payments in PLN, with volumes and values continuing their upward trend in 2024.

Polcard

Established in 1990 by BIG Bank (now part of Millennium Bank) and by the travel services company Orbis, Polcard acts as an authorisation and clearing centre for debit and credit card transactions and is historically the largest Polish acquirer of card transactions.

Payment cards were first issued in Poland in 1991. Polcard introduced domestic cards issued as ATM cards, debit cards and credit/delayed debit cards. In 1997, Polcard reported about 200,000 Polcards issued by 12 banks. However, the very few domestic-only Polcard cards issued by two cooperative banks have been phased out.

Poland’s banks established proprietary ATM networks in the 1990s, leading to 15 separate networks with no cross-usage by cardholders. Subsequently, banks concluded bilateral agreements to allow greater access for cardholders. In June 1997, a group of banks introduced a domestic ATM switch through Polcard.

Polcard was acquired by First Data International (now part of Fiserv) in 2007. Following a legal merger in 2021, Polcard became fully integrated into First Data Polska S.A., itself a part of the global Fiserv Group. Today, Polcard by Fiserv is one of Poland’s leading merchant acquirers and payment processors, continuing the legacy brand for point-of-sale (POS) acquiring, card processing, and value-added payment services.​

Key Activities (2025):

Polcard by Fiserv is one of the top acquirers alongside eService (Global Payments/PKO BP), Santander, and Pekao, servicing a wide range of Polish merchants and supporting innovation in cashless transactions and fintech integrations.​ While the original Polcard domestic network and card products are now history, the Polcard brand endures as a symbol of Poland’s cashless payments transformation, now under the umbrella of a leading international payments group.

KIR Interbank Clearing

Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa (KIR), the Polish CSM mechanism, was founded in 1992 on the initiative of the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), 16 largest banks and the National Bank of Poland (NBP). Shareholders are now the NBP at 34.44%, and 11 major banks, all with around 5% shareholdings except Santander, which owns around 14%. Its clearing services are provided through electronic clearing systems:

KIR offers payment solutions supporting the development of e-commerce and e-services:

Finally, KIR has also launched an ID verification service (mojeID) to assist companies in rapidly identifying their customers in a digital environment.

Polski Standard Platnosci and BLIK

Polish Payment Standard Ltd. (Polski Standard Platnosci) is the operator of BLIK and develops the standards under the national regulator. In November 2014, it has received all required regulatory consent to operate the BLIK mobile payment system.

In July 2013, the six leading Polish banks agreed to come together to define a common standard for mobile payments, creating a system that could threaten the dominance of VISA and Mastercard. The joint venture was established in December 2013 by the six largest banks in Poland. The shareholders include: Alior Bank, Bank Millennium, Bank Zachodni WBK, ING Bank Śląski, mBank, and PKO Bank Polski. BLIK can also be used by the clients of Getin Bank, BGŻ BNP Paribas, Raiffeisen Polbank, Bank Pekao and Credit Agricole Polska. None of the affiliated banks has a dominating position, each using the same platform and then adding their own extra features, while the banks say they are open to bringing other banks and acquirers on-board.

In November 2017, the BLIK mobile payment system became the BLIK payment scheme, the first card-less payment scheme in Poland. BLIK has a unique model of co-operation between banks, payment acquirers and merchants. Built on a partnership of Poland’s largest banks, the BLIK payment scheme allows for a single, integrated platform across all mobile devices.

With the growth of its acceptance network, BLIK allows its users to pay at numerous points – online, mobile channel, physical network of ATM’s, shops, post offices, local administration offices and various other service providers.

BLIK is based on one-time codes and uses existing card infrastructure (POS terminals, ATMs) thus from the start benefiting from significant network acceptance. The system is open to all market participants, including other banks and retailers, and supports all transaction types: purchase of goods and services, ATM withdrawals, eCommerce and P2P money transfers.

In 2024, there were 78 direct participants in the BLIK payment scheme, including 20 of the country’s top retail banks. BLIK has just turned 10 and is now one of the most widely used payment methods in Poland. There were more than 2.4 billion transactions made for a total value of nearly PLN 347.3 billion in 2024. This means that in 2024 alone, BLIK users carried out more than half of all transactions made in the previous nine years combined.

BLIK’s popularity continues to rise, attracting more Poles. In 2024, the number of active users grew to 18.5 million, who carried out an average of 6.6 million transactions per day. Over the 10-year history of the system, users have completed 7 billion transactions and the total value reached nearly PLN 1 trillion. Compared to 2023, there was an increase of 37% in the number of transactions and about 43% in relation to value. At the end of December 2022, as many as 96% of banking app users admitted that they were aware of BLIK, with 49% choosing it most often as a payment form.

The recognition of BLIK in Poland has been consistently growing. In accordance with the KANTAR – MDS (Meaningful Different Salient) framework used to measure brand equity, in 2023, BLIK reached 44 points, well ahead of the competition. It continues to maintain a significant advantage over global brands such as VISA (24 points) or Mastercard (17 points). Moreover, the survey results confirm that BLIK is a brand recognised by virtually every Pole.

Polish BLIK users could make payments at about 830,000 payment terminals and contactless payments in about 1.123 million terminals in 2021, as well as in over 21,000 ATMs. In addition, BLIK users can use it to transfer money to a phone number, as well as set up recurring payments. The existing range of solutions offered by the BLIK mobile payment system from Q4 2021 was also supplemented by contactless payments, initially launching with six banks – Alior Bank, ING Bank, Bank Millennium, mBank, PKO BP and Santander Bank Polska. Since the launch of BLIK contactless payments, it has been activated by 3.6 million users by 2024 and BLIK contactless payments more than doubled in volume to 263.1 million for a total value of PLN 11.7 billion. In 2022, a record 25.9 million registered mobile applications were able to use BLIK, which is an increase of 20% compared to 2021.

In that period, Poles increasingly turned to convenient and secure BLIK contactless payments. In 2022 (the first full year since the launch of this service) they used the functionality to make nearly 70 million transactions with a total value of PLN 2.7 billion. One third of this figure was accounted for by payments made in Q4 2022. From October to December 2022, the registered users made as many as 23,400,000 payments totalling nearly PLN 1 billion. Since the launch of contactless BLIK, it was used to carry out payments in 117 countries on six continents. Between January and December of 2024, users completed 576.8 million transactions at point-of-sale (POS) terminals, an increase of 58% compared to 2023. Nearly half (46%) of these were contactless payments, which more than doubled in volume to 263.1 million (+101% from 2023). The total value of contactless BLIK transactions in this period reached PLN 11.7 billion, with an average transaction amount of PLN 45. The popularity of this service continues to grow, with 3.6 million users having activated it by the end of the year.

International retailers wanting to close sales with Polish customers can now receive payment simply via BLIK. PPRO is the first international partner for BLIK. In October 2019, Polski Standard Płatności and Mastercard partnered to enable contactless BLIK payments.

4 - BLIK Payment Statistics
(millions)Q1-2021Q1-2022Q1-2023Q1-2024Q1-2025GR Q1-24/Q1-25
BLIK transactions153.3247.0374.0518.0665.028.38%
- of which internet transactions114.0156.0207.0264.9325.522.88%
- of which ATM transactions7.210.013.215.917.610.69%
- of which POS transactions13.637.071.2105.0154.547.14%
- of which P2P transactions18.544.082.9132.0167.026.52%
Note: some Q1-2022 figures are as at Q4-2021.
Source: BLIK.

Card Issuers – Overview

Polish banks issue credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and prepaid cards in combination with bank accounts. Addressing the specific needs of personal banking and business banking, the card portfolio is composed of consumer cards, business cards and corporate cards.

Dedicated card products are offered for the individual client segments: families, millennials, students, affluent clients, small business clients, corporate clients and even basic account clients. The credit cards offered range from classic cards to gold cards and platinum cards.

About 32 Polish retail banks issue VISA cards, 25 issue Mastercard cards, and 27 banks offer revolving credit cards. Nine Polish banks issue more than 1,000,000 cards, with PKO BP being the leading issuer with 10.7 million cards at end-2024. All Polish retail banks issue contactless cards.

All Polish banks issue debit cards (VISA Debit, Electron, Debit Mastercard, Mastercard, and (few) Maestro), credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards. Also, selected Polish banks issue private label cards for Polish retailers, e.g. Bank BPH. There is an ongoing trend replacing Maestro and Electron debit cards with Debit Mastercard and VISA Debit cards.

The “Big Six” issuers are PKO BP, Bank Pekao, mBank, Santander Bank, ING Bank Śląski, and Citi Handlowy. From 2017, American Express (US) is now the sole American Express card issuer. PKO BP is the main issuer of Diners cards as UniCredit owns the Diners Club CS through Austrian DC Bank which is a 100% subsidiary of card complete (A). Table 5 illustrates the card brands issued by the leading Polish card issuers as at mid-2025.

5 - Leading Card Issuers in Poland
Domestic IssuersIssued Card BrandsOwned by
PKO Bank PolskiMastercard, VISA, Diners; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit state: 29.43%, investors: 14.59%, free float: 55.98%
Bank PekaoMastercard; Debit MastercardPZU: 20.00%, 13%, PFR: 12.80%, Investors: 67%
mBankMastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, ElectronCommerzbank (D): 69.12%, free float: 30.88%
Santander Bank PolskaMastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, ElectronSantander Group (E): 62.20%, investors: 37.80%
ING Bank ŚląskiMastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA DebitING Group (NL): 75%, Aviva OFC: 9.30%, investors: 15.70%
Citi HandlowyMastercard, VISACitibank COIC (US): 75%, free float: 25%
Alior BankMastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA DebitPZU: 31.91%, Nederlanden OFE (NL): 9.47%, Allianz OFE: 8.83%; free float: 49.79%
Bank BGZ BNP ParibasMastercard, VISA; Debit MastercardBNP Paribas (F): 57.26%, BNP Fortis (NL): 24.01%, others 18.72%
Bank MillenniumMastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, VISA DebitBCP Group (P): 50.1%, Nationale OFE (NL): 9.30%, Allianz Polska: 9.0%, free float: 31.6%
Orange FinanseMastercard, Debit MastercardJV Orange Poland / mBank (PL)
other issuer banksMastercard, VISA; Debit Mastercard, Electronvarious
Diners Club PolskaDinersDC Bank (A)
American Express (UK)American ExpressAmerican Express (US)
Consumer Finance IssuersIssued Card BrandsOwned by
Credit Agricole PoskaMastercard, VISACredit Agricole PF (F)
Oney Bank PolskaVISAAuchan Group (F)
Note: cards branded Mastercard or VISA are issued as credit cards and also as immediate debit cards.
Note: Orange Finanse will be phased out by its parents mBank and Orange Telecom Poland through 2019-2020.
Source: Polish banks.

Outlook – By mid-2025, Polish card issuers face the following notable challenges:

Card Processors and PSPs

In Europe, the payment processing industry is composed of card processors, ATM/POS network hub processors, e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs), and specialised processors (e.g. CSM processors, TSM services).

In Poland, card issuer processing services range from technical issuer processing, including card printing, to full cardholder processing services. They include all types of cards and card technologies allowing for card use in multi-channels (i.e. at ATMs, POS terminals, on the internet and in-store mobile payments in the future).

Acquirer processing services in the country range from technical acquirer processing, including POS terminal services, to full merchant processing services. Usually, ATM/POS network processing is part of acquirer processing while payments on the internet are routed by specialised e-/m-payment service processors (PSPs) to the card acquirers and independent payment service providers (e.g. FinTechs like PayPal), respectively.

More than ten of the larger banks (e.g. ING Śląski, Bank Pekao, PKO BP and BZ WBK) use in-house processing systems. Since 2006, Worldline (now: EquensWorldline) is the card processor of Santander Consumer Bank Polska. SIBS, the Portuguese processor, is the processor of Polish Millennium Bank.

Other Polish banks use the processing services of Fiserv (formerly First Data Polska). Mastercard Payment Transaction Services (preciously Trevica) is one of the mobile payment processors in Poland.

With the purchase of a 66% stake in the acquirer eService, EVO Payments International (US) entered the Polish processing market in 2014. ITCARD is a domestic ATM/POS network processor.

In August 2022, Global Payments announced its acquisition of EVO Payments, in a move aimed at increasing Global Payments’ target addressable markets, expand its presence in new and existing faster growth geographies, and augment its B2B software and payment solutions with the addition of accounts receivable software with broad third-party acceptance. The combined entity will have 4.5 million merchant locations and more than 1,500 financial institutions worldwide. The transaction will expand Global Payments’ geographic footprint into new geographies such as Poland, Germany, Chile, and upon closing, Greece, as well as enhance its scale in existing markets, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, and the UK. The transaction was completed in Q1 2023.

Fiserv (formerly First Data Polska (Polcard)) – In 2017, First Data Polska said it processed six million cards for 30 banks and financial institutions, 500 million transactions per year, 1,350 ATMs, 95,500 merchants with 110,000 POS terminals. It claimed to be the leading card processor in Poland. Following the takeover by FiServ (see below), further updates were not available.

First Data bought former interbank processor Polcard from US-based lottery operator GTECH (74.4%), Innova Capital (25.2%) and ZBP, the Polish bank association, to be one of FDI’s processing platforms for the CEE region. In March 2007, First Data International agreed to purchase Polcard for $325 million (€225 million). Polcard’s network then consisted of 70,000 POS terminals and 1,700 ATMs, with around 170 million transactions processed at its Warsaw authorisation and clearing centre in 2006. Despite the First Data purchase, the Polcard brand has been retained in the market.

Polcard added operations in Poland to existing First Data hubs in Slovakia, Serbia and the Baltics; and customer service units in Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary and Romania. Polcard added operations in Poland to existing First Data hubs in Slovakia, Serbia and the Baltics; and customer service units in Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary and Romania. However, In July 2017, Worldline (B) acquired 100% of the share capital of First Data Baltics for €73 million. In May 2018, Italian processor SIA and First Data (US) signed an agreement for SIA to acquire First Data’s card processing businesses in parts of Central and South-eastern Europe for €387 million but excluding First Data Polska.

Control of Polcard previously had passed to the US-based lottery operator GTech, which bought 75% of the company for $62 million in 2003. GTech had been operating in Poland for 15 years, chiefly managing Totalizator Sportowy, the Polish national lottery, including a network of POS terminals. GTech acquired and processed bill payments, tax payments and licence fees and provided pre-paid mobile phone top-ups. In 2006, GTech was bought by Italian lottery operator Lottomatica, which did not regard Polcard as a core asset.

In July 2019, Fiserv completed the purchase of First Data for $22 billion in an all-stock transaction. The companies said users would benefit from a “highly complementary combination” that offers a range of payments and financial services, spanning account processing and digital banking, integrated payments and the Clover POS system, among other products and services. Fiserv is one of the world’s largest payments and financial technology providers.

Worldline acquired SIX Payment Services – In May 2018, Wordline acquired the payments service business of Switzerland’s SIX Group in a deal which valued the cards unit at $2.75 billion. Under the terms of the transaction, SIX Group received a 27% stake in Worldline, while Atos retained its majority 51% share in Worldline. SIX Payment Services is active as cross-border acquirer in Poland and EquensWorldline is active as card processor serving Polish banks.

In October 2019, Atos announced its intention to sell part of its minority stake in Worldline; and SIX Group announced its intention to enter into an equity collar transaction related to part of its holding in Worldline. In April 2020, SIX sold a 6% stake in Worldline for €675 million. Upon completion of the placement and the unwinding of the equity collar, SIX held 10.9% of the Worldline share capital as of 2020.

In October 2020, Worldline acquired Ingenico in a deal worth $8.6 billion, creating the largest merchant acquirer and payments processor in Europe.

SIBS – In June 2018, SIBS acquired a 55% stake in a Polish company specialised in card acquiring for merchants, PayTel, for around €8 million (PLN 34 million). SIBS has been present in Poland since 2008, providing ATM network management services, terminal approval, transaction processing, switching, prevention and fraud detection, now expanding to acquiring services. Founded in 2003, PayTel, based in Warsaw, is an acquiring company that provides integrated payment acceptance, including processing services, POS terminal support, network management, and customer service centres. In 2018, PayTel managed more than 23,000 EFTPOS terminals and, in 2017, processed 30 million payment transactions.

In mid-2020, PayTel had over 50,000 terminals installed, representing more than 10 million monthly transactions worth over €100 million.

Euronet Worldwide – Since the mid-1990s, US-owned Euronet has been a leading deployer of ATMs in Poland and has established an ATM network that includes agreements with 18 leading Polish banks. As of 2024, Euronet Polska managed a network of approximately 7,000 ATMs and deposit ATMs throughout Poland, making it the largest independent operator in the country.

Shared Euronet ATM Network – In May 2012, Euronet Worldwide announced deployment of the first Independent and Shared Automated Deposit Terminal (ADT) networks in Europe. Euronet said it had already signed network participation agreements with several banks, including Alior Bank, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie (Citi Group) and Bank Pocztowy (Post Bank) in Poland as well as with Citibank Europe in Romania, among others. These agreements allow customers to deposit cash into any Euronet branded deposit terminal in their respective countries.

In 2024, Euronet claimed to operate the largest pan-European Independent ATM Networks (IAD), with independent networks in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Croatia, India, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Austria, and Serbia (see Hungary profile).

ITCARD – is one of the smaller processors and maintenance service providers in Poland. It claims to be an experienced business partner delivering complete solutions based on advanced payment technologies and tailored to the bank’s needs. ITCARD operates Planet Cash, a domestic ATM network in Poland, Planet Pay, a POS terminal network and the online shopping platform Planet Plus.

ITCARD shareholders include Polish banks (17.11%), investment funds (20.50%), domestic companies (43.65%), and individuals (18.75%).

Online Payment Service Processors (PSPs) 

Online payment service processors (PSPs) are specialised technical processors for all kind of secure online payments and mobile payments. Some of them also offer virtual PSP platform services (VPSP) for bank acquirers who want to take advantage of a kind of ‘internet network processor’.

Online shops of merchants are directly connected by an API interface or a hosted payment page either to the internet payment gateway of a bank acquirer, or they are connected to multi-acquirers through a PSP.

PSPs usually partner with more than one card acquirer and payment initiation service providers. Core services offered by PSPs may include payment gateways to card acquirers and other online payment service providers, online payment processing, risk management services, and collection services for merchants.

Security technologies applied to ensure secure online card payments include EMV tokenisation and strong 3D-Secure (MCSC, VbV, SafeKey) combined with one-time tokens. For card-less payment services, the security technologies applied include userID/password combined with one-time tokens and online banking access with one-time TAN.

Online merchants are serviced by their acquirers and by more than 40 payment service providers (PSPs) which connect the online shops to the respective payment service acquirers.

Poland’s online payments market is highly competitive and innovative in 2025, with both domestic and international acquirers and PSPs serving a flourishing e-commerce sector.

Leading Domestic PSPs & Acquirers

International/Cross-border PSPs and Acquirers

Summary Table: Top Polish Online PSPs (2025)

Provider Category Key Features
Przelewy24 Local PSP Instant transfer, BLIK, cards
PayU Local PSP Cards, BLIK, pay-later, global reach
Tpay Local PSP BLIK, automation, security
Blue Media Local PSP Recurring, utility, specialist niche
eService (EVO) Acquirer Largest POS network, gateway
Polcard/Fiserv Acquirer Bank and merchant integration
Dotpay PSP Merged with Przelewy24
Adyen Int. PSP International, multi-currency
Worldline Int. PSP Multi-currency, global reach
PaySafe (Skrill) Int. PSP Wallets, digital content, gaming
Stripe Int. PSP Fast-growing, developer-friendly

paysafecard and PayUp – In January 2014, paysafecard (A) and PayUp, a Polish provider of mobile top-up, financial and payment services through retail outlets, partnered to offer paysafcard from PayUp’s 5,000+ locations across Poland in order to shop, pay and play online.

P24 DotCard – In July 2016, eCard owner MCI Capital acquired DotPay. In July 2018, the large Nordic processor NETS expanded into Poland through a €73 million acquisition of eCard/DotPay from MCI Capital. The licensed card acquirers, DotPay and eCard serve over 30,000 merchants in Poland. Expected gross revenues for 2018 were €19 million. The acquisition was closed by the end of 2018.

In August 2019, the strategic alliance between NETS and online PSP Przelewy24 has become a reality as all regulatory authorities have given their approval. Expected P24 revenues for 2018 were more than €21 million.

The new joint Polish group under the holding company P24 DotCard includes Przelewy24 and Dotpay/eCard. P24 DotCard is now one of the largest online PSPs in Poland. With a stake of 51%, NETS (DK) is a majority shareholder of P24 DotCard. The brands of Dotpay, eCard, and Przelewy24 are being retained.

In March 2020, NETS announced its acquisition of Polskie ePłatności (PeP). The transaction valued PeP’s Enterprise Value at €405 million. PeP has over 600 employees, an installed base of more than 125,000 POS terminals and expects net revenues of around €55 million in 2020 (see PayLane below).

In November 2020, Italian processor Nexi confirmed its intention deal to buy NETS for €7.8 billion, with the signing of a merger deal taking place in June 2021. The merger of Nexi and NETS creates Europe’s largest payments firm by volume and number of customers.

PayLane received the status of a Payment Institution in May 2013, granted by the KNF. PayLane is a PSP offering to accept payments in 160 currencies and offers various bank transfer services to Polish online merchants. In March 2018, PeP (Polskie ePlatnosci) bought 100% shares of PayLane. PeP is one of the leaders in the Polish payment terminal market, while PayLane specialises in innovative solutions for online payments. Together they intend to expand the range of their services and offer their clients the opportunity to accept payments in the omnichannel model: via payment terminals, mobile and online.

Blue Media – Founded in 1999, Blue Media offers express money transfers, online payments, immediate credit transfers, authorisation online, and sales force automation on the Internet. Blue Media S.A., a Polish FinTech, operates the other Polish immediate payment system, BlueCash. BlueCash had 83 participants in 2024 and processed 8.97 million transactions.

Acquiring and Acceptance

In Europe, most acquirers offer multi-channel card acceptance and value-added merchant services at POS terminals, mobile MPOS terminals and online shops. The leading acquirers usually act on a European level and offer their services cross-border.

Additionally, innovative acquirers also offer the acceptance of card-less payment services based on partner agreements with the issuer of those payment services (e.g. account-based payments, wallets, prepaid products).

Most acquirers either operate their own acquirer systems and ATM/POS/MPOS network service hubs, or they use the processing services of external processors. In order to service online merchants in Europe, they may operate their own PSP processing platforms, or they co-operate with one or more specialised online payment service processors (PSPs).

From 2009, European acquirers compete in their home markets, cross-border on a European level, and cross-channel at POS terminals and servicing online merchants. From 2016, innovative acquirers started to offer omni-channel and multi-payment acceptance.

By mid-2025, omni-channel acceptance includes the ability to service all channels (i.e. POS/MPOS terminals, mobile in-store, online shops, in-app), and to accept multiple payment means in all of these channels. Multi-payment services demanded by merchants include cards, IBAN-based payments (SCT, SDD), online wallets, digital wallets, prepaid products, and immediate payments.

Outlook – By mid-2025, Polish acquirers face the following notable challenges:

Since the 1990s, active Polish acquirers have been in intensive competition to service merchants. Acquiring is part of corporate business strategies of the individual banks. All Polish acquirers accept Mastercard, VISA, Maestro and Electron cards. Eight acquirers accept V PAY cards.

16 Polish banks are reported to have acquirer licences, but not all of them are active. In 2024, the leading acquirers are Fiserv (First Data Polska) and eService. Bank Pekao, Elavon Polska and Santander Bank Polska (previously Bank Zachodni WBK) are the other major acquirers. The other active acquirers include REVO Payments, Alior Bank, BNP Paribas, PayTel (mBank), and Worldline Merchant Services (previously PaySquare Polska).

At end-2008 American Express had partnerships with the four leading Polish acquirers. However, American Express selected First Data Polska in 2009 to be the exclusive American Express acquirer in Poland. Also, First Data Polska accepted Diners and JCB cards, and it had partner arrangements with other Polish acquirers regarding American Express acceptance.

Diners Club Polska, owned by Austrian DC Bank, is the Diners and Discover acquirer. Foreign cross-border acquirers active in the country include Worldline SIX Payment Services (CH/L).

Many Polish acquirers have arranged partner agreements with Diners Club and American Express to accept all brands of cards on merchants’ demand. Polish merchants can sign for multi-brand card acceptance contracts only. In the past, merchants usually signed up indefinitely. In recent years, acquirers offer indefinite arrangements requiring a three-month termination period on either part (a minimum contract period is assumed).

However, separate acceptance contracts are practised in a few cases for obvious business reasons demanded by the merchants. Table 6 illustrates the card brands accepted by individual acquirer active in Poland as at mid-2025.

6 - Leading Acquirers in Poland
Domestic AcquirersAcceptance Brands offeredOwned by
FiservMastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, JCB; Electron, V PAYFiserv (US)
eServiceMastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, JCB, UnionPay; Electron, V PAY; PayPal, BLIKEVO Payments Int. (US): 66%, PKO BP (PL): 34%
Bank Pekao (CKC)Mastercard, VISA, American Express; Electron, V PAY PZU: 20.00%, 13%, PFR: 12.80%, Investors: 67%
Elavon Merchant ServicesMastercard, VISA, Diners, JCB; Electron, V PAY Elavon Merchant Services (IRL)
Santander Bank PolskaMastercard, VISA, Diners; Electron Santander Group (E): 62.20%, investors: 37.80%
REVO PaymentsMastercard, VISA; ElectronJV Raiffeisen Polbank + EVO Payments (US)
Alior BankMastercard, VISA, Diners; Electron, V PAYPZU: 31.94%, Aviva (NL) 7.25%; Nederlanden OFE (NL)7.12%, free float: 53.69%
Bank BGZ BNP ParibasMastercard, VISA; Electron, V PAYBNP Paribas (F): 57.26%, BNP Fortis (NL): 24.01%, others 18.72%
PayTel - mBankMastercard, VISA, Diners; Electron Commerzbank (D): 69.17%, free float: 30.83%
Bank MillenniumMastercard, VISA; Electron; V PAYBCP Group (P): 50.1%, Nationale OFE (NL): 9.30%, Allianz Polska: 9.0%, free float: 31.6%
Worldline Merchant Services (PaySquare)Mastercard, VISA; Electron; V PAY; JCBWorldline (B)
eCard DotpayMastercard, VISA 2018: NETS Group (DK)
Diners ClubDiners, DiscoverDC Bank (A)
Foreign AcquirersAcceptance Brands offeredOwned by
Worldline SIX Payment Services (CH/L)Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, JCB, UnionPay; Electron, V PAY; girocard, Bancontact, PostFinance; Alipay 2018: Worldline (B)
Source: PCM research

eService is the leading Polish merchant acquirer with more than 281,000 POS terminals, and 300 million transactions processed monthly as of 2024. It also claims to be the first and only Polish acquirer with a certificate of compliance with the PCI P2PE standard, guaranteeing the highest global level of security of transactions.

eService performs a key role in the development of PKO BP’s mobile banking service, IKO. In November 2013, processor EVO Payments International (US) acquired a 66% stake in eServices for a minimum $113.5 million, with PKO BP retaining a 34% stake.

In August 2022, Global Payments announced its acquisition of EVO Payments. The transaction will expand Global Payments’ geographic footprint into new geographies such as Poland, Germany, Chile, and upon closing, Greece, as well as enhance its scale in existing markets, including the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, and the UK. The transaction was completed in Q1 2023.

eCard/DotPay – NETS of Denmark (formerly PBS) entered the market in 2006 with an agreement to route payment transactions for eCard, the Polish internet payment services provider. In 2015, private equity investor MCI EuroVentures, the owner of the PSP DotPay, bought eCard. In July 2016, eCard and DotPay started the integration process. In July 2018, the large Nordic processor NETS expanded into Poland through a €73 million acquisition of eCard/DotPay from MCI Capital.

First Data Polska – Though First Data Polska claimed to be the largest acquirer, formerly Polcard appeared to have lost ground based on the ECB figures for electronic POS terminals. The figures suggested its market share has dropped from 60% to less than 30%. In 2022, First Data Polska serviced 92,000 companies and 210,000 POS terminals.

Elavon Merchant Services bought the acquiring business unit of BZ-WBK, Cardpoint, in 2004 as euroConex (see Ireland country profile). However, BZ WBK re-entered the acquiring business again until its acquisition by Santander.

Worldline Merchant Services (previously PaySquare Polska), the former Commerzbank subsidiary Montrada absorbed by PaySquare (NL) at end-2013, is active in Poland in close cooperation with mBank (previously BRE Bank), the member bank of Commerzbank Group (D). In December 2012, Montrada acquired REA Card Polska, a local POS terminal service provider, in order to enlarge its POS service capabilities in the country. In November 2015, Worldline (B) bought acquirer PaySquare for €72 million from Equens (NL), including the Polish acquiring business of PaySquare Polska.

In June 2020, SIX Payment Services, a Worldline Group company, together with Polish FinTech SOFTPOS, launched SoftPoS mobile terminal on the market, which can be installed as an application on any mobile device with the operating system Android 8.0 or newer. The implementation of the solution will ultimately be addressed to medium-sized and large retail and service outlets throughout Poland, including those offering their products and services in other European markets.

REVO Payments – In April 2015, Raiffeisen Polbank entered into a partnership with acquirer and card processor EVO Payments International (US), and the acquiring business of Raiffeisen Polbank was transferred to the newly founded Polish joint venture, REVO Payments.

Payment Institutions

As of 31 December 2024, there were 46 payment institutions resident in Poland (2023: 43, 2022: 42, 2021: 40, 2020: 40, 2019: 39, 2018: 41, 2017: 45, 2016: 38, 2015: 36, 2014: 28, 2013: 19, 2012: 4, 2011: 1). Authorised in another EEA member state, additionally, 621 cross-border payment institutions provided notification of operating in Poland under the EU passport system. Most of the institutions report payment services taking the form of remittance business.

ATM Network Infrastructure

The ATM infrastructure in Poland has expanded in recent years. By end-2023, the Polish ATM network infrastructure was in the process of consolidation. Numerous banks no longer operate their own ATMs and have instead sold them to IAD processors.

In 2015, Planet Cash integrated all the ATMs from BGZ BNP Paribas. It reported more than 4,700 ATMs serviced in 2023. In 2018, First Data Polska (now Fiserv) managed 1,500 outsourced ATMs and the domestic ATM switch in Poland.

Euronet Worldwide (Bankomat24) operates a white label ATM network in Poland. In 2011, Euronet acquired the 535 ATMs and over 350 retailer contracts from Diebold Poland, the owner of the independent cash4you network. In 2016, Raiffeisen Polbank outsourced its ATMs into the Euronet ATM network. In 2017, Euronet absorbed the ATMs from Eurobank into the Euronet IAD network. By end-2024, Euronet claimed it managed 7,000 ATMs in its ATM network in Poland. Currently, Euronet manages every fourth ATM in Poland. An increasing number of bank customers can use Euronet ATMs without commission or on preferential terms.

Polish ATMs are open for debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit, Maestro, Cirrus, Electron, V PAY, and Plus) and credit cards (Mastercard, VISA, American Express, Diners, Discover, Pulse and JCB). UnionPay cardholders can withdraw cash at most Polish ATMs. The EMV migration of ATMs is complete since the end of 2012.

ATMs in Poland are typically free to use. Most ATM servicing banks participate in undisclosed bilateral or multilateral sharing agreements.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen in the fall in cash withdrawals over 2020 and 2021. According to the NBP, in 2024, there were 20,741 ATMs (-6.09% from 2023) and a total of 302.25 million cash withdrawals on cards (-16.17%) with the total value PLN 298.99 billion (-9.45% vs 2023) giving on average 1,214.4 transactions per ATM per month. The ATV per cash withdrawal amounted to PLN 989.24 (€231.60).

7 - ATMs and Cash Withdrawals in Poland
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
ATM Terminals with cash function21,82921,82921,31022,08520,74119,479-6.09%-8.65%-1.79%
Ø Number of TXs per ATM per month1,843.41,764.31,864.41,360.51,214.41,211.8-10.74%-46.13%-11.64%
Number of ATM cash withdrawals (m)482.87462.15476.76360.56302.25283.25-16.17%-50.78%-13.22%
- on domestic cards (m)474.21453.23460.63350.55296.97278.82-15.28%-50.64%-13.17%
- on foreign cards (m)8.668.9216.1310.015.284.44-47.29%-57.95%-15.91%
Value of ATM cash withdrawals (PLNbn)317.21328.63369.62330.20298.99293.26-9.45%-12.60%-2.66%
- on domestic cards (PLNbn)311.33322.82356.17322.84295.23287.65-8.55%-11.65%-2.45%
- on foreign cards (PLNbn)5.885.8113.447.363.775.60-48.83%-52.50%-13.83%
ATV per ATM withdrawal (PLN)656.92711.10775.26915.80989.241035.328.02%77.59%12.17%
# ATM Terminals per 1m capita - Poland569.1572.0564.3586.8553.3510.4-5.72%-6.46%-1.33%
# ATM Terminals per 1m capita - EU27 total685.3678.8642.2642.2642.2605.640.00%-25.42%-5.70%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Among individual banks, PKO BP reported 3,068 ATMs at end-2024, while Bank Pekao reported 1,314 ATMs (2023: 1,306, 2022: 1,328, 2021: 1,475, 2019: 1,648, 2018: 1,708, 2017: 1,745,2016: 1,761, 2015: 1,759, 2014: 1,825, 2013: 1,847, 2012: 1,919, and 2011: 1,910).

BZ WBK had 1,732 own ATMs (2016: 1,766, 2015: 1,525, 2014: 1,365, 2013: 1,365, 2012: 1,059, 2011: 1,045). Following the merger with Santander, as of 2024, the enlarged bank had 1,372 ATM units.

ING Bank Śląski operated 889 ATMs at end-2022.

CashZone – In March 2015, Cardtronics (UK), an independent ATM service operator, announced the expansion of its European presence into Poland, partnering with Shell Poland as its first customer. The new ATM services arrangement in Poland with Shell calls for Cardtronics to initially operate at least 50 ATMs at key service stations in Poland. Cardtronics used its European consumer brand, CashZone, on its Polish ATMs. However, in 2017, Cardtronics closed down its Polish ATM operation.

As of 2024, the combined ATM networks of Planet Cash and IT Card exceeded 5,000, while Euronet had 7,000 ATMs throughout Poland.

Cash-advance Services in Poland – Competition for ATMs 

In an Open Banking ecosystem, the dominant role of ATMs for cash withdrawal services may decline as more cash-advance and cash handling services are offered at retail outlets in Europe.

Cash in-Store – In parallel to ATM cash withdrawals on cards, the Polish banks support cash-advance services on cards at POS terminals in retail outlets (see below).

Contactless ATMs – In November 2012, ING Bank Śląski launched the first contactless ATMs in Katowice and Warsaw, allowing ING customers in Poland with VISA and Debit Mastercard contactless cards to withdraw cash from an ATM without needing to insert their card. Upon a confirmation of their PIN code, customers have the choice of cash dispense in common “fast cash” values. Beyond NFC-enabled devices, ATM vendor NCR has implemented proof of concepts using contactless cards, 2D QR-code transactions, and one-time PIN authentication for ATM transactions. In 2014, the bank operated 400 contactless ATMs.

Biometric ATMs – In May 2014, the shared Polish ATM network “Planet Cash” installed ATMs in Poland equipped with Hitachi biometric finger vein readers. The biometric readers enable customers of participating banks to withdraw cash and perform other operations using their finger, without use of a card and PIN.

Biometrics has been taken up enthusiastically by the Polish banking industry. GNB and Bank BPH both use finger vein tech in branch, while several cooperative banks tap it for ATM withdrawals.

POS Network Infrastructure

Five major POS networks are operated in Poland plus three cross-border POS networks. The domestic acquirers operate their own POS networks, processed by either their own bank IT systems or by processor First Data Polska. Foreign acquirers (e.g. PAYONE (D), Worldline Merchant Services (NL), and Worldline SIX Payment Services (CH/L) have extended their own POS networks into Poland, or they use the processing services from First Data Polska. The EMV migration of POS terminals is completes, since mid-2013, thanks to the roll-out of contactless POS terminals.

Polish POS terminals are accepting cards branded Mastercard, Debit Mastercard, Maestro, VISA, VISA Debit, V PAY, Electron, American Express, Diners, Discover, and JCB. UnionPay cardholders can pay with their cards at selected locations frequented by tourists. Here, also, Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and Tax Refund services are offered.

The NBP reported 1,380,844 POS terminals (+3.35%) at end-2024, compared with 1,027,490 in 2020. According to NBP, these POS terminals were located at 874,510 outlets of 567,428 merchants. In 2024, NBP reported 1,371,036 contactless POS terminals in Poland accounting for 99.29% of the total POS terminal estate.

In 2024, there were 6.67 billion POS payments (+21.79%) with the total value PLN 473.94 billion (+20.62% from 2023) giving an average of 402.8 payments per POS terminal per month. The ATV per POS payment amounted to PLN 71.01 (€16.63). The continued significant growth rate of POS payments year-over-year is believed to indicate that the Poles have embraced contactless payments.

8 - POS Terminals in Poland
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Number of merchants458,294513,188569,543573,134567,428564,603-1.00%45.61%7.80%
Number of outlets737,446818,444886,502880,247874,510871,660-0.65%36.04%6.35%
POS terminals1,027,4901,123,0601,227,6261,336,0831,380,8441,403,9743.35%52.32%8.78%
- of which contactless POS terminals1,027,4901,123,0601,220,5971,328,4941,371,0361,392,9883.20%51.23%8.63%
Ø Number of TXs per POS terminal per month478.3521.9551.0341.8402.8403.417.84%-21.53%-4.73%
Number of POS payments (m)5,897.067,033.088,117.015,479.996,673.916,796.9221.79%19.53%3.63%
- on domestic cards (m)5,785.086,885.857,796.365,270.656,425.396,534.4621.91%18.17%3.40%
- on foreign cards (m)111.98147.23320.66209.33248.52262.4518.72%70.13%11.21%
Value of POS payments (PLNbn)384.72459.99547.28392.92473.94488.4120.62%34.47%6.10%
- on domestic cards (PLNbn)370.13440.06503.33370.08449.89463.9021.56%35.28%6.23%
- on foreign cards (PLNbn)14.5919.9343.9522.8324.0524.515.31%20.87%3.86%
ATV per POS payment (PLN)65.2465.4067.4271.7071.0171.86-0.96%12.50%2.38%
# POS Terminals per 1m capita - Poland26,789.629,428.832,505.835,499.736,833.236,789.93.76%55.96%9.30%
# POS Terminals per 1m capita - EU27 total31,503.734,817.044,815.544,815.544,815.548,528.80.00%48.89%8.29%
Number of cash advance transactions (m)17.7720.8233.52107.9326.2727.05-75.66%33.70%5.98%
Value of cash advance transactions (PLN bn)2.302.784.8617.224.845.20-71.92%102.33%15.14%
ATV per POS payment (PLN)129.14133.60145.01159.52184.09192.2715.40%51.33%8.64%
Note: some 2019 figures have been restated. From 2019, all POS terminals are contactless capable.
Source: ECB, NBP.

Cash-Advance Services (‘cashback’) at POS terminals are offered by many banks, e.g. the VISA Cashback service. Cardholders can ask their merchant for additional cash (up to maximum 200 PLN) at the POS, e.g. by adding an extra amount of money to the total purchase price of a transaction paid by card. In 2023, cash advances amounted to 26.27 million (-75.66%) with the total value PLN 4.84 billion (-71.92% from 2023).

MPOS Terminals – Small and mobile merchants have started to use their smartphone and tablet PCs as a kind of mini-POS+ECR device with added chip reader dongle. In late 2012, Square clones like iZettle, SumUp, Miura, and others have launched their MPOS services in Europe. It is very likely that Polish merchants will also demand MPOS terminals. Further, merchants can initiate MOTO like card payments on their smartphones and tablets by downloading a payment app.

In April 2014, Paymax became the first Polish MPOS terminal service provider followed by the large acquirer banks.

The mPOS (mobile point-of-sale) market in Poland has grown substantially by 2024–2025, mirroring broader payment trends in Europe:

After Paymax pioneered Polish mPOS in 2014, global and regional providers like SumUp, iZettle (now Zettle by PayPal), Ingenico, Elavon, First Data/Polcard (Fiserv), and others have brought mPOS solutions to thousands of small and mobile merchants. SumUp in particular has seen strong market share growth, offering affordable, plug-and-play card readers used with smartphones and tablets.​

Use of mobile devices for POS payments in Poland grew from 17% (2018) to 32% in Q2 2024, with rapid further expansion expected.​

SmartPOS Terminals – In 2018, POS terminal vendors launched innovative new types of POS terminals. Named SmartPOS terminals, they combine the electronic cash register functionality (ECR) used by merchants in outlets with a contactless POS payment terminal and merchant services in the cloud. For the very first time, the so far separated ECR devices and POS terminals are integrated in just one checkout solution device. From late 2018, SmartPOS terminal vendors like Castles, Clover, Ingenico, Jusp, Handpoint, PAX, Poynt, Spire Payments, Verifone, Worldline, and others have launched their SmartPOS devices and services in Europe. It is believed that Polish SME merchants will embrace SmartPOS terminals.

In June 2020, SIX Payment Services together with the Polish FinTech SOFTPOS launched a new SoftPoS mobile terminal on the market, which can be installed as an application on any mobile device with the operating system Android 8.0 or newer. In addition to plastic cards, contactless transactions are also carried out using electronic wallets (e.g. Apple Pay), which enable the authorisation of payment on the payer’s device. SoftPoS will also accept payments made using contactless BLIK.

In June 2021, PayTel launched the Android-powered NEXGO N3 POS terminal in Poland. With a dual camera in the front and back respectively, the terminal allows two options for 1D & 2D codes scanning and face scanning.

In July 2022, Polskie ePłatności (PeP) acquired a majority stake in Team4U, the owner of Simapka, a mobile POS app for merchants. Simapka allows for registering SIM cards, selling gift cards, number transfer between operators and loans and insurance features. Of the 100,000 new POS terminals added in Poland in 2021, over 30,000 of them were PeP ones. PeP has acquired other companies such as NeoTu, PayUp, TopCard, Billbird and PayLane over the past five years.

Remote Payments on the Internet – Cards & More

In 2024, Poland was one of the mature e-commerce markets in Europe with an active online shopping population. From 2015, due to EU VAT regulation, Polish merchants will have to collect the applicable VAT rate for cross-border sales based on the consumers’ residence.

KNF Security Standard Initiative – In December 2014, The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) set new security standards for the online payment systems of Polish banks. The KNF previously asked lenders to ensure that their remote payment systems are secured by a strong authentication method, which can include either permanent or one-time passwords or biometric data.

The majority of Polish banks offer clients the ability to make payments online by using static data detailed on the card, including the number, expiry date and the card verification number. A few banks including Bank Millennium, ING Bank Śląski and Citi Handlowy already comply with KNF’s new standards by using the 3DSecure system, while several other banks are in the midst of implementing the system. KNF said that any bank that does not implement 3D-Secure or a similar system by 31 January 2015 may not be able to offer remote payments.

Internet Use – In 2024, 90% of Poles have used the internet and 74% of all internet users purchased in online shops in the last 12 months. Every fourth Pole (23%) had purchased items in foreign online stores in 2020, with China being the second most popular place for online shopping after Poland. More than half of internet users have made at least one purchase on a mobile device. Shopping on smartphones or tablets is usually the domain of young people – more than 70% of those aged 18-29 have done so.

Thus, remote payments are initiated from various types of internet-capable devices. It is noted that 93% of Polish smartphone users have accessed the internet via mobile devices.

In Poland, the e-commerce market is predicted to be worth PLN 162 billion by 2026. There are currently around 150,000 Polish companies selling their products and services over the internet, either independently through their own website, or through online marketplaces. The market share of e-commerce is growing and amounted to 20% of retail sales as of 2023. In 2023, the Polish e-commerce market was valued at approximately PLN 124 billion.

According to the NBP, there were 57,000 registered e-commerce stores in 2022. As of H1 2024, Poland had nearly 69,000 registered e-commerce stores, reflecting a consistent upward trend in its online retail sector.

In 2024, the total B2C e-commerce purchase value was €43.40 billion, up by 13.3% from 2023. The online purchase value per capita amounted to €1,157.7 while it was €1,555.1 per online buyer. In 2024, e-commerce (eGDP) had a 5.17% market share in Polish GDP.

9 - Internet Use in Poland
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Households with internet access90%92%93%93%96%93%2.78%10.22%1.96%
Last internet use (individuals, 12 months)85%87%88%88%90%92%2.27%9.76%1.88%
Internet users who bought online72%70%74%73%74%77%2.36%13.05%2.48%
Last online purchase (individuals, 12 month)61%61%65%64%67%71%4.69%24.07%4.41%
Last online purchase (individuals, 3 month)47%48%48%48%48%50%0.00%17.07%3.20%
Mobile phone subscriptions per capita128.4%132.1%131.9%135.0%138.0%139.5%2.22%9.78%1.88%
Value of online B2C e-commerce (€bn)22.5029.4032.9038.3043.4047.5013.32%166.26%21.64%
Annual B2C eCommerce growth rate/year38.0%30.7%11.9%16.4%13.3%9.4%−−−
Ø B2C e-Commerce amount per capita €586.6€770.4€871.1€1,017.6€1,157.7€1,244.713.76%172.63%22.21%
Ø B2C e-Commerce amount per online buyer€817.4€1,098.8€1,179.4€1,399.2€1,555.1€1,612.811.14%141.17%19.25%
Source: Eurostat, ITU.

Cards on the Internet (CNP) – All cards with international brands are accepted in Polish online shops in the case that the merchant has signed an acceptance contract accordingly. Also, the Polish banks issue prepaid cards and virtual cards for internet use only. 3D-Secure technology is recommended when paying online with cards. Further, web-based mail order services for merchant-initiated payments and Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) are offered. In May 2015, Getin Bank was worldwide first launching a new DCVC card with dynamic CVC code for more secure internet use.

According to NBP, in 2024, there were 386.50 million online purchases on cards (+49.61%) with a total value of PLN 51.70 billion (+27.41% from 2023). NBP reported 878,553 virtual cards for internet use in circulation in 2024.

10 - Online Shops Accepting Cards in Poland
20202021202220232024GR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Internet Merchants accepting cards34,78140,33048,98852,66859,14412.30%109.94%15.99%
Online outlets accepting cards48,41558,29673,37288,70499,57512.26%94.07%14.18%
Ø Number of card TXs per shop per month354.1366.9358.8408.8544.633.22%63.33%10.31%
Number of card payments on the internet (m)147.79177.58210.94258.34386.5049.61%242.89%27.95%
Value of card payments on the internet (PLN bn)19.9325.3433.2840.5851.7027.41%264.35%29.51%
ATV per e-payment on cards (PLN)134.83142.69157.79157.07133.77-14.83%6.26%1.22%
Note: NBP reports only card payments on the internet.
Note: online bank transfer and other e-payment services on the internet are not included.
Source: NBP.

The e-payment mix in Poland – Most payments for e-commerce purchases were made digitally in Poland in 2024. The most commonly used payment methods were: card (23%), online bank transfer (30%), BLIK (25%), traditional bank transfer (20%), digital wallets (22%), instalments (3%) and others.

The COVID-19 pandemic sped up not only digitalisation across all sectors but also significant e-commerce growth in sales in 2020 across many segments. Cash-on-delivery has decreased significantly to less than 50% of the total share, and most courier companies have also implemented payments via POS at the time of delivery. Automated parcel lockers from InPost represent the favourite delivery method of Polish shoppers, and they also include the possibility to pay via card at the locker.

Remote Payments on the Mobile Internet – Since 2011, online buyers with a high affinity for smartphones have started to use their mobile phones for shopping on the mobile internet. Mobile online shops can be accessed by mobile internet, by mobile app, or by scanning a 2D QR-code displayed in a newspaper or at a bus station. Thus, remote mobile phone payments are executed either by using the e-payment page of the mobile online shop or by using payment apps of a PSP or an acquirer.

Also, Polish merchants can download a payment app from their acquirer in order to initiate MOTO payments with cards and/or online direct debits. Leading Polish merchants have started testing their own mobile apps including loyalty functions (e. g. e-vouchers, discounts, outlet finder, QR-code scanning).

Mobile Payments – Overview

In 2024, 138% of the Poles have subscribed to a mobile phone. Many Poles own more than one mobile phone and 85% own a smartphone (35% in 2013). Also, the tablet penetration has jumped from a very low level.

Since 2007, the next generation of mobile services and payments has started, pushed by the online buyers’ high affinity to smartphones and tablets and, also, by new disruptive technologies (1D-barcodes, QR-code, Bluetooth BLE, and Near Field Communication NFC).

Mobile initiatives in Poland are field testing and using new technologies either as initiating form factors to bridge to online shops on the internet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, NFC) or to enable contactless access to the retail POS outlet (1D-barcodes, QR-code, BLE, Bluetooth Low Energy, NFC Stickers, Mobile NFC Phones) e.g.:

The m-Payment Mix in Poland – There are no official m-payment mix statistics, but information from Polish online payment service providers indicates that the domestic m-payment mix is similar to the e-payment mix on the internet (see Remote Payments on the Internet section).

Mobile Payment Apps in Poland – Table 11 illustrates the leading mobile payment apps provided by the Polish banks and FinTechs as at mid-2025:

11 - Mobile Payment Apps - Characteristics
Mobile App BrandPayment Service ProvidersPayment Service appliedUse CasesTechnology appliedChannels
Apple Paymost Polish card issuing bankscards-on-filePurchase paymentsMobile app, HCE NFCPOS, online
Google Paymost Polish card issuing bankscards-on-filePurchase payments, iTaxi, UberMobile app, HCE NFCPOS, online
BLIKAlior Bank, Millennium Bank, BZ WBK,
ING Bank, mBank, PKO BP, Getin Bank		card-less bank accountPurchase payments, P2P money transfer,
cash withdrawals		BLIK code, HCE NFCPOS, online, ATM
IKOPKO Bank Polski (PKO BP)card-less bank accountPurchase payments at IKO/BLIK merchants BLIK code, HCE NFCPOS, online
Click-To-PayPolish banks, PayU, mPay, eCardcards-on-filePurchase paymentsDigital wallet, HCE NFCPOS, online
PeoPayBank Pekaocards-on-filePurchase payments, P2P money transfer,
cash withdrawals		QR-code, HCE NFCPOS, online, ATM
MoBiLetMobile Traffic Data Sp. Z.o.o.prepaid MoBiLet accountPublic transport tickets, parkingMobile appPOS
SkyCashSkyCash Poland S.A.prepaid SkyCash accountPublic transport tickets, parking, cinema,
P2P money transfer, prepaid top-up 		Mobile appPOS, online
mPaymPay S.A.,
with Santander Bank Polska, City Handlowy		prepaid mPay accountonline purchase payments, public transport tickets, parking, P2P money transfer, prepaid top-up;
sport event tickets, bill payments		Mobile appPOS, online
Note: see text under "Digital Payment Services" for full list of banks supporting Apple Pay and Google Pay, respectively.
Source: individual Polish banks and FinTechs, PCM research.

Mobile Payment Initiatives

In 2025, the various European mobile payment initiatives can be grouped into

EPI – In July 2020, a group of 16 major Eurozone banks announced the start of the implementation phase of a new unified payment scheme, the European Payment Initiative (EPI).

In 2021, the 31 founding bank groups from 7 European countries and 2 third-party acquirers had included:

In March 2022, EPI gave up on its effort to build a rival to Mastercard and VISA in Europe after more than half its members left. However, 13 shareholders confirmed on February 25th that they remain convinced of the strategic value of a unified payment solution, leveraging instant payments, and want to go ahead. Therefore, the EPI interim company is now adapting its scope and objectives to this new dimension excluding cards.

The remaining shareholders of EPI include Banco Santander, Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband, Groupe BPCE, ING Bank, KBC Bank, La Banque Postale, NETS (NEXI), Société Générale and Worldline.

In April 2023, the European Payments Initiative acquired the Dutch payment scheme iDeal and, the mobile payments app, Payconiq, both supported by a host of Belgian and Dutch banks.

In July 2024, EPI launched its mobile-first wallet and instant account-to-account payment solution, Wero, for customers of German Sparkassen and Volksbanken, Raiffeisenbanken.

Since its launch in July 2024, Wero has expanded its availability across Europe. By June 2025, the service had been introduced in Germany, France, and Belgium, with plans to extend to Luxembourg in June 2026 and the Netherlands in 2027. The wallet has gained significant traction, reaching approximately 70 million users by September 2025, with 43.5 million active users across the three initial countries.

The ambition of EPI is to create a unified pan-European payment solution leveraging Instant Payments, SCTINST, offering a card for consumers and merchants across Europe, a digital wallet, and P2P payments.

The solution aims to become a new standard payment service for European consumers and merchants in all types of transactions including in-store, online, cash withdrawal and “peer-to-peer” in addition to existing international payment scheme solutions.

EPI’s objective is to offer a digital payment solution that can be used anywhere in Europe and to supersede the fragmented landscape of domestic payment services that currently still exists. In doing so, EPI founders are responding to merchant and consumer communities that have been calling for payment initiatives to take a more pan-European approach.

EPI will first and foremost benefit European citizens, and it will also bring tangible benefits to European merchants, by offering them a seamless, competitive, and unified pan-European payment service solution that is also available to all European consumers.

The beginning of the implementation phase is expected to materialise through the creation of an interim company in Brussels, Belgium, which will set out clear deliverables including the completion of the technical and operational roadmap and initiating the implementation work. The accomplishments of this interim company will be evaluated by each bank before moving on to the EPI’s final corporate structure.

Wero – In September 2023, EPI has selected ‘Wero’ as the commercial name for its forthcoming digital wallet solution. The Wero digital wallet will be rolled out in phases, initially to support account-to-account based instant P2P and consumer-to-business payments, followed by online and mobile shopping payments and then point-of-sale payments. EPI aims to launch Wero by mid-2024 in Belgium, France, and Germany, followed by the Netherlands, and aims to extend to other countries in the years to come.

In December 2023, EPI completed its first instant A2A payment transaction in a proof-of-concept between customers from German Sparkasse Elbe-Elster and French Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne (Groupe BPCE). The inaugural transaction, worth 10 euros, was sent from a German account to a French account using SCTINST and the EPI’s digital wallet.

In July 2024, EPI launched its mobile-first wallet and instant account-to-account payment solution, Wero, for customers of German Sparkassen and Volksbanken, Raiffeisenbanken. Following its German debut, Wero expanded to France and Belgium, with launches in September and November 2024, respectively. This rollout aims to strengthen the accessibility and efficiency of payments across the continent.

Central Bank Digital Currencies, Cryptocurrency Products 

In 2024, the Polish payment ecosystem was composed of traditional cash payments, digital cryptocurrency products of independent payment service providers and research and development of central bank digital currencies, CBDC. The regulation of cryptocurrencies is becoming increasingly relevant as independent cryptocurrency products have grown more prevalent, posing challenges for regulators and national central banks.

In July 2023, the European Union introduced the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which aims to standardize cryptocurrency regulation across member states, including Luxembourg. This regulation addresses various aspects of crypto assets, such as market integrity, consumer protection, and financial stability, while also promoting innovation in the sector. Under MiCA, crypto-asset service providers will have specific obligations to protect users’ wallets and mitigate investment risks.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) – The Digital Cash Challenge 

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), also called digital fiat currency or digital base money, is a digital currency issued by a national central bank (NCB), rather than by a commercial bank. It is also a liability of the NCB and denominated in the sovereign currency, as is the case with physical banknotes and coins.

All CBDCs are under the authority of the respective national central bank, and they are part of the domestic cash payment ecosystem. Rather than a new currency, CBDC is a form of central bank electronic money that could be used by households and businesses to make payments. In addition, most CBDC implementations will likely not use or need any sort of distributed ledger such as a blockchain.

Unlike “retail CBDC,” which is generally designed as a central bank liability universally accessible to individuals and businesses within a jurisdiction’s financial system, “wholesale CBDC” refers to a digitized central bank liability designed for sizable (generally interbank) transactions, and for which access is limited to certain financial institutions.

National Central Banks (NCBs) have been providing trusted money to the public for hundreds of years as part of their public policy objectives. Trusted money is a public good. It offers a common unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange for the sale of goods and services and settlement of financial transactions. Providing cash for public use is an important tool for central banks. Yet the world is changing.

Even before COVID-19, cash use for payments was declining fast and convenient digital payments have grown enormously in volume and diversity. To evolve and pursue their public policy objectives in a digital world, central banks are actively researching the pros and cons of offering a digital currency to the public, a “general purpose” CBDC.

Central banks’ interest in CBDC has increased as a potential means of delivering their public policy objectives. Profound, ongoing changes across finance, technology and society, as well as the recent COVID-19 crisis, provided additional impetus for the research of, and experimentation related to, CBDCs.

CBDC is a national digital currency issued by the central bank that is expected to replace or coexist with fiat money and hold the same value. Mobile money, on the other hand, utilises existing commercial banking-based accounting to manage customer wallet balances based on an exchange with cash or lines of credit and loans.

CBDC is a direct liability on the central bank as it is the main issuer of the currency, whereas digital money is the liability of commercial banks and other authorised financial institutions using funds on account. Although some implementation approaches propose that CBDC can be implemented in either an indirect or hybrid form, its liability remains on the respective national central bank.

Background on CBDC Evolution

In October 2020, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a report, Central bank digital currencies: foundational principles and core features, identifying the foundational principles necessary for any publicly available CBDC to help central banks meet their public policy objectives.

The report focused on a publicly available “general purpose” CBDC (a digital payment instrument, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank).

A “wholesale” CBDC, restricted to financial institutions, is also an active area of exploration, notes the report, for central banks but one that carries different opportunities, challenges, and risks. The report explored the use cases for, and challenges and opportunities arising from, the possible issuance of a general purpose CBDC.

In September 2021, the same seven central banks and the BIS followed up with the publication of a new set of reports exploring the potential of retail CBDCs, including policy options and practical implementation issues. While none of the central banks has yet decided to proceed with a retail CBDC, they recognise such an instrument would have wide-ranging implications. Delivering on the future needs of consumers would require systems that encourage innovation, choice and competition among a diverse mix of intermediaries.

BIS reported that a 2021 survey of central banks found that “86% are actively researching the potential for CBDCs, 60% were experimenting with the technology and 14% were deploying pilot projects.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is piloting a ‘digital yuan’, known as e-CNY, in various cities, often in association with major sporting events, such as the Winter Olympics.

The ECB published a paper on the potential of a “digital euro” in October 2020, exploring the “benefits and risks” of such an initiative. It completed a public consultation in January 2021 and a series of focus groups in December 2021. Its investigation stage is expected to continue until October 2023, after which the ECB “will decide whether to start developing a digital euro.”

The US Federal Reserve reported in February 2022 that while it has made no decisions about “whether to pursue or implement” a CBDC, it was “exploring the potential benefits and risks of CBDCs from a variety of angles and was inviting public feedback on discussion papers.

The Bank of Japan said in October 2020 that it had no plans for a CBDC and was committed to maintain the cash system as long as there was public demand for it. It nevertheless intended to explore technical feasibility through a proof of concept, consider institutional arrangements and coordinate approaches with domestic and international stakeholders. In 2023, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced that it will begin a pilot for its digital yen with commercial financial institutions. In February 2023, Bank of Japan has embarked on a CBDC trial.

In June 2023, the BIS and BoE said they completed a CBDC pilot project involving CBDCs jointly run by the Bank of England (BoE) and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). Project Rosalind was designed to explore how a “universal and extensible API layer” could connect central bank and private sector infrastructures and enable retail CBDC payments. The project also sought to develop a number of retail-CBDC use cases.

According to the BIS and BoE, the project has successfully demonstrated that “a well-designed API layer could work with different private sector applications and central bank ledger designs and that a set of simple and standardised API functionalities could support a diverse range of use cases”.

In all, the project led to the development of 33 API functionalities and examined 30 retail CBDC cases including peer-to-peer transfers, retail payments for goods and services and small-value business transactions.

While CBDCs are still in experimental phases across major economies, 2024 has seen increased momentum towards real-world implementation, with several countries, notably China and the ECB, moving closer to full-scale rollouts. Public-private collaboration, technological innovation, and privacy concerns remain central to future CBDC development. Central banks worldwide continue to balance innovation with maintaining public trust and financial stability in this rapidly evolving space.

Global Status of CBDCs 

Most National Central Banks (NCBs) are involved in different stages of a CDBC project. Especially, the NCBs have different views on which kind of CBDC they would intend to launch as a digital currency:

As of 2023, the global CBDC status reveals that four central banks – Nigeria (e-Naira), Eastern Caribbean (D-Cash), Jamaica (JAM-DEX), and the Bahamas (Sand Dollar) – have introduced a domestic CBDC scheme.

Six countries have launched a CBDC pilot: France, Canada, China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Ghana.

The NCBs of most other countries are involved in either a CBDC proof-of-concept phase – including Norway, Hungary, and Sweden – or they are still in a CBDC research stage.

So far, Ecuador is the only country that has cancelled its CBDC ambitions, Dinero electronico.

CBDC, the European Union and the Digital Euro

In July 2021, the Estonian Central Bank released a report about its experiment with the ECB and the central banks of Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, and the Netherlands to assess the functionality of the digital euro. The project was able to conduct 300,000 transactions per second, with an average rate of less than two seconds per transaction.

In June 2023, the European Commission (EC) has published its legislative proposal establishing the legal framework for a possible digital euro, stressing that the CBDC would be a compliment to, not replacement for, cash.

A digital euro would be available alongside existing national and international private means of payment, such as cards or applications. It would work like a digital wallet, with people and businesses able to pay with it anytime and anywhere in the euro area.

The digital euro would be available for payments both online and offline. While online transactions would offer the same level of data privacy as existing digital means of payments, offline payments would essentially be like paying with cash – with nobody able to see what people are paying for.

The digital euro would be distributed by banks and other payment service providers, with basic services provided to people free of charge. Merchants would be required to accept the digital currency unless they are cash-only firms.

The EC’s proposal still needs to be adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council before the European Central Bank decides whether to roll out a digital euro. Notably, the European Central Bank (ECB) is involved in the preparation phase, which will run until 2025. During this time, technical experimentation and legal discussions are ongoing before any formal rollout decisions can be made​.

CBDC and Poland

Although the NBP has not yet initiated any blockchain-related projects in Poland, in April 2020, several Polish retail banks rolled out a blockchain-based customer data platform developed by the Polish Credit Bureau, also known as Biuro Informacji Kredytowej, or BIK. BIK, the biggest credit bureau in Central and Eastern Europe, has enabled banks in Poland to send notifications of commissions and fees changes on blockchain via its new document management product. Previously, in mid-2019, Alior Bank began using public Ethereum blockchain technology to authenticate its client documents, while PKO Bank Polski partnered with blockchain company Coinfirm to launch a blockchain-based verification system for bank documents.

In May 2021, a representative of the NBP said that currently, the central bank is not working on a CBDC project but was observing such efforts by its peers across the region, including Sweden’s central bank Sveriges Riksbank.

The NBP has conducted analyses that show no clear benefits from introducing a digital zloty, given the current state of Poland’s payment system. The existing payment options, including cash, payment cards, and other non-cash instruments like BLIK, Autopay, and mPay, are deemed sufficient to meet the needs of consumers and businesses.

Pros and Cons of CBDCs

According to research by the Bank of England, BIS, and by several other central banks, the benefits of CBDCs include supporting increased innovation in the payment system with:

Possible challenges related to use of CBDCs could include:

The ECB commissioned multiple exploratory reports on the feasibility of a digital euro in 2020 and 2021. The ECB’s working paper suggests a two-tier system for a “general purpose” CBDC. In July 2021, the ECB announced that it would launch a 24-month investigation phase for the digital euro project, which aims to address key issues regarding the design and distribution of a digital euro. The investigation phase will include focus groups, prototyping and conceptual work. In February 2022, the European Commission announced that it will propose a bill that would serve as the legal foundation for the issuance of a digital euro by the ECB. In May 2022, Christine Lagarde stated that she would be willing to back the digital Euro. By June 2023, the ECB and European Commission had significantly advanced their legislative and technical work, moving closer to launching a pilot phase for the digital euro in 2024. The pilot phase is expected to assess the practical implementation of the digital euro, following the completion of the current investigation period​.

The working paper states that the use of CBDC for retail payments is the primary use-case for the development of a digital Euro. The paper also rejects the motivation of using CBDC as a store of value, which would involve consumers switching deposits from commercial banks into CBDC. The working paper also recommends that a CBDC should be interest-bearing, with attractive interest rates offered for smaller sums suitable for payments and lower rates available for larger amounts.

Cryptocurrencies EU

The regulation of crypto assets and related services across Europe is not standardised and is highly fragmented. While no nation has outright banned usage of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others, regulators have not formed a consensus over how to legislate such a quickly fluctuating market, where new cryptocurrencies emerge faster than regulators can catch up to.

The current approach across Europe is to adapt existing legislations to encompass cryptocurrencies, however, this is unlikely to be efficient as consumer and business usage changes.

In the European Union, the fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) covers certain crypto assets under the term “virtual currencies”, but it does not provide a harmonised approach. As a result, each Member State has created its own regulatory regime for transactions related to “virtual currencies” or crypto assets.

In response, the European Commission proposed the Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation in 2020 as part of the Digital Finance Strategy, with MiCA expected to come into force in 2022 and will be directly applicable in all Member States after an 18-month transition period. MiCA will result in a harmonised set of rules for products and services and legal certainty related to crypto assets throughout the European Union in 2024. This would enable a larger number of investors to be active in this area and to use distributed ledger technology (DLT).

MiCA is to apply to all persons who want to issue crypto assets or provide services related to crypto assets in the EU.

The MiCA proposal is intended to lay down uniform rules on transparency and disclosure requirements for the issuance, offer to the public and the admission to trading of crypto assets. In addition, there are rules on the authorisation and supervision of crypto asset service providers and their issuers.

The main focus lies with the issuers of asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens. The Regulation intends to regulate the operation, organisation, and governance of issuers of asset referenced tokens and e-money tokens and crypto asset service providers. There will also be investor protection rules for the issuance, trading, exchange and custody of crypto assets. In addition, measures to prevent market abuse are to be included in the Regulation to ensure the integrity of the crypto assets markets.

In June 2022, the EU Council President and European Parliament reached agreement on MiCA regulation, ruling that crypto asset service providers will require authorisation to operate in the EU, not including NFTs or media-related digital assets.

Under the agreement, the regulatory framework will protect investors and consumers, while ensuring financial stability and enabling innovation and growth. The regulations will help protect consumers from fraud and scams, as crypto asset service providers will be liable if they lose assets and fail to protect investors’ wallets. The European Banking Authority (EBA) will form a public register of non-compliant crypto asset providers.

The regulation will also implement restrictions on stablecoins, with stablecoin issuers to be supervised by the EBA and their “holders will be offered a claim at any time and free of charge.”

Unregulated Cryptocurrency Products – Background 

Regulators and national central banks are challenged by unregulated independent cryptocurrency products. Whereas CBDCs are under the authority of the central bank, almost all cryptocurrencies are decentralised, and not controlled or managed by any central authority.

Obviously, financial market authorities and the national central banks are not in favour of unregulated cryptocurrency products, and they see them as a systematic risk for the financial system. Their intention to regulate the respective cryptocurrency exchange platforms has gained momentum.

Cryptocurrencies, originally designed as a store of value, are digital assets, developed and maintained on decentralised blockchains, and they can be used as a medium of exchange or payment method. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular forms of cryptocurrencies worldwide used by consumers and businesses for transactions.

As of 2022, over 400 million people worldwide used cryptocurrencies, with merchants and businesses in more sectors accepting it as a form of payment. The major payment schemes VISA and Mastercard, PayPal and along with a growing number of financial institutions, have launched services allowing consumers to purchase or use cryptocurrencies for a range of applications.

According to a 2022 Deloitte survey, around two-thirds (64%) of surveyed merchants indicated that their customers have significant interest in using digital currencies for payments, and 83% expect consumer interest in digital currencies for payments to increase or significantly increase over the next 12 months.

In addition, merchants are motivated by the prospect of enabling immediate access to funds (40% of respondents), taking advantage of blockchain-based innovations in decentralised digital finance (39%), and allowing in-house management of the revenue cycle/treasury/finance department (39%).

Over half (54%) of large retailers (with revenues of $500 million and up) have invested more than $1 million on enabling digital currency payments, while only 6% of small retailers (with revenues of under $10 million) did so.

A 2022 survey from Checkout.com found a sharp rise in people wanting to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, with 40% of 18-35-year-old consumers citing their desire to experiment with using crypto as a payment method, up from less than 30% in 2021. Meanwhile, over 80% of businesses say offering crypto has attracted new customers, led to a decrease in chargebacks, while just over 60% have seen higher authorisation rates accepting crypto payments.

A recent report by Triple-A for 2024–2025 reports estimate cryptocurrency ownership in Europe has climbed to approximately 50 million people, up from around 30 million in 2023. Crypto adoption in Europe grew to 8.9% of the adult population in 2025, driven by greater institutional access, major regulatory changes (like MiCA), and clearer frameworks for exchanges and wallet providers. This keeps Europe’s ownership rate ahead of previous years, though still trailing regions like Asia and the Americas in terms of total share and growth rate.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are a type of asset-backed cryptocurrency, whose value is typically pegged to the value of an underlying asset such as USD, GBP, or commodities like gold. Stablecoins are partially backed by real assets, and they are designed to have a value pegged to real-world assets, therefore avoiding the extreme volatility that affects cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoins offer the potential benefits of cryptocurrencies, like transparency, security, immutability, and decentralised control, while maintaining the guarantees and stability that come with using fiat currency. Stablecoins have potential to be used in cross-border payments, providing a secure, online environment for peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions to take place without needing decentralised cryptocurrencies or to pay fees to convert money into local currencies.

As of mid-2025, there were more than 200 stablecoins globally, comprising a market that’s worth about $230 billion.

A survey of central banks in January 2021 found that two-thirds of respondents are actively researching the potential impact of stablecoins on financial stability. However, some regulators in the US and China, consider stablecoins as a potential serious risk to financial systems. The risk is especially high with centralised coins, such as those backed by fiat and issued by private organisations, as economic power would be disproportionately concentrated on a single entity.

The widespread use of stablecoins in payment platforms could also pose a systemic risk, in relation to the validation and confirmation of stablecoin transactions which could interfere with payment systems. If stablecoin users couldn’t access money in their e-wallets and businesses couldn’t receive payments, economic activity would be greatly disrupted. However, these risks have not deterred major institutions like JP Morgan and VISA to explore stablecoin use cases via partnerships and internal R&D.

Tether As of mid-2025, Tether remains the largest stablecoin globally, holding a market share of over 60%. This dominance is driven by its massive liquidity, broad adoption across exchanges and blockchains, and large reserve holdings, especially in U.S. Treasuries. Its nearest competitors include USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), and decentralized stablecoins like DAI, although Tether’s market share far exceeds them. Recent reports have shown Tether’s involvement in major financial markets and even Bitcoin mining, further reinforcing its stronghold on the crypto landscape.

Regarding Facebook’s Diem (formerly Libra) project, it was officially abandoned. Diem’s assets were sold off to Silvergate Capital in early 2022, marking the end of the initiative that once aimed to create a globally accessible digital currency. Regulatory pressures and internal challenges led to the dissolution of the project.

Market Size and Dynamics

Cards in Issue

With a population of 37.48 million, there were 1.23 bank-issued cards per capita at end-2024, indicating considerable potential for future growth even after the expansion of the recent years.

Based on NBP figures, there were in total 46.29 million debit, delayed debit, and credit cards in Poland by end-2024, up by 2.37% from 2023. NBP reported 45.25 million contactless cards amounting to 97.74% of all Polish cards in circulation.

As of 2024, there were 40.96 million debit cards (88.48% of all cards), and 5.16 million credit cards (11.15%), with virtual cards comprising 878,553. The smallest category present on the market is charge cards, with 170,594 in circulation, which constituted 0.37% market share.

Between 2006 and 2009, the market focus switched towards credit cards peaking at 32.7% compared with 11.15% in 2024. Most credit cards have revolving credit function. Delayed debit cards (0.37%) continued to decline slowly.

12 - Cards Issued in Poland
(000s)202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Cards with ATM function41,212.742,450.743,669.944,713.245,765.946,627.92.35%11.84%2.26%
Cards with a payment function43,675.243,261.944,483.145,224.946,295.345,368.82.37%7.69%1.49%
- Cards with a debit function38,061.937,900.739,143.640,114.540,960.940,096.72.11%10.75%2.06%
- Cards with a delayed debit function196.5182.3179.089176.691170.594166.4-3.45%-22.12%-4.88%
- Cards with a credit function5,416.95,178.95,160.34,933.65,163.85,105.64.66%-10.76%-2.25%
Cards total43,675.243,261.944,483.145,224.946,295.345,368.82.37%7.69%1.49%
- thereof EMV chip cards39,497.440,845.342,715.243,872.945,303.847,175.43.26%16.31%3.07%
- thereof contactless cards38,361.240,174.341,637.844,141.945,249.945,817.82.51%21.42%3.96%
- thereof virtual cards2,238.4727.3653.5779.8878.6995.012.67%-50.89%-13.26%
Payment cards per capita - Poland1.141.131.181.201.231.192.77%10.27%1.97%
Payment cards per capita - EU27 total1.661.721.781.781.781.820.00%13.63%2.59%
Note: there are a few payment cards without cash function.
Source: ECB, NBP.

Card Fraud

Card fraud is one of the most fascinating aspects of the payments industry, not least because it is relentless and mutating. EMV implementation and 3D-Secure, combined with Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), have done much to reduce domestic losses from lost and stolen cards in Europe. However, the war against fraud losses and the changing face of fraud continues to be a threat for the payments industry, including Poland.

The global card fraud challenges are Card-Not-Present fraud (CNP), cross-border fraud and counterfeiting on non-EMV cards. CNP fraud accounted for 80% of the total value of card fraud losses in 2020. From 2017, a new payment fraud category are fraud losses on contactless card payments. International card fraud continues to be smaller in scale than domestic card abuse but is proportionately far more common. And of course, fraudulent cross-border transactions on cards continue to grow on all purchase channels.

Losses from card fraud on the internet and cross-border fraud on domestic cards have grown significantly. Following EMV implementation, card fraud has moved increasing to countries where POS terminals or online shops have not yet been migrated to EMV and SCA, respectively, and to cross-border fraud with compromised cards.

The breakdown of card fraud losses by method of compromise already indicates the importance of distinguishing between domestic and cross-border fraud losses. The method of compromise covers the means by which fraudsters obtain payment cards or card details. Notable methods of compromise in a complex payment world are CNP fraud based on theft of card credentials and card lost and stolen fraud followed by growing ID fraud and by cross-counterfeit fraud.

The main method of compromise responsible for losses in many European countries is now the theft of card credentials. A high proportion of these card fraud losses are caused by the growth in e-commerce, and still the lack of use of strong customer authentication methods such as 3D-Secure.

In a post data-breach world, identity information, payment credentials, account credentials and responses to security questions are widely available for purchase in bulk. Complete fraud exploits and zero-day attacks are also easily available on the black market for outright purchase or as a hosted / fully managed service.

In the digital payments world and having the changing face of fraud in mind, there are significant challenges for card issuing banks, payment service providers and their supporting processors.

Fraud basis points overall for Poland are quite good. However, Poland has seen a steady increase in fraud over the last couple of years. Counterfeit card fraud (32.1%) and CNP fraud (57.0%) continue to be the dominant fraud types within the total losses. Losses from these two types are six-times higher than in 2006, and CNP is higher than counterfeit for the first time since 2014. Around 80% of the counterfeit was cross-border. ID Fraud could be the one to watch, as criminals test all areas of banks defences, though new biometric ID defences are being developed and introduced by Polish and pan-European banks currently (2022).

According to FICO, the international fraud prevention specialist, card fraud losses in Poland showed continued strong growth, since 2011, and in 2022 they increased by 4.14% compared to 2021. Overall, card fraud losses are 13.79% higher than in 2018.

Poland saw a notable increase in card fraud losses in 2024, but the overall fraud rate remains moderate by European standards:

Total Card Fraud Losses: In 2024, losses reached approximately 115.8 million PLN (about €26.5 million), representing a 21% increase from the previous year.​

Fraud Rate: According to ECB/EBA reports from 2023–2024, the card fraud rate in Poland is estimated at 0.024% of total card transaction value, which remains close to the EU average.​

Main Types of Card Fraud: As in most European markets, nearly 90% of card fraud in Poland is card-not-present (CNP), primarily targeting e-commerce and online transactions. Card-present fraud (e.g. skimming, lost/stolen) has steadily declined thanks to widespread EMV chip and contactless card adoption.

Trends: Card fraud rates saw a spike in 2024 after relative stability, with most cases tied to phishing, social engineering, and increasingly sophisticated e-commerce scams. Polish banks implement strong customer authentication (SCA), significantly lowering risk compared to global figures.​

13 - Card Fraud Losses on Polish Cards
(in PLN million)20182019202020212022GR 21/22GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Counterfeit card fraud18.324.516.517.518.66.06%53.39%8.93%
Card lost or stolen fraud4.54.74.54.74.94.44%48.75%8.27%
ID fraud1.11.21.21.31.48.33%28.03%5.07%
Card not present fraud15.623.731.132.032.92.89%172.12%22.17%
other losses0.00.00.00.00.00.00%0.00%0.00%
Value of card fraud losses39.654.253.455.557.84.14%90.76%13.79%
Counterfeit fraud in%46.2%45.2%30.9%31.5%32.1%1.84%-19.59%-4.27%
Card lost or stolen fraud in%11.4%8.7%8.4%8.5%8.5%0.29%-22.02%-4.85%
CNP fraud in%39.4%43.7%58.2%57.7%57.0%-1.20%42.65%7.36%
Source: FICO, Euromonitor International.

According to ECB figures published in mid-2020, the total value of as a share of transactions in Poland was 0.005% in 2018. From an issuing perspective, 93% of the value of all card transactions was domestic with 7% coming from cross-border transactions. According to ECB figures for H1 2023, the value of card fraud as a share of transaction value in Finland was 0.015% (EU/EEA average: 0.031%) and 0.003% (EU/EEA average: 0.015%) by volume. A significant update on Fraud numbers across Europe is expected from the ECB in 2026.

Also from an issuing perspective, 6% of fraud came through the ATM channel, 79% through CNP fraud and 15% from the POS channel.

From an acquiring perspective, 4% of fraud came from the ATM channel, 46% from CNP fraud, and 50% from the POS channel.

As most POS card transactions are authorised online-to-issuer, acquirer fraud rates in Poland are under control except for offline vending machines, e-commerce and a few other hotspots. Obviously, EMV implementation has contributed significantly to declining fraud rates.

Polish banks are pushing 3D-Secure, offer PIN-change services at ATMs and SMS notification to inform cardholders about the use of their credit card. The increasing numbers of chip technology cards, contactless cards and display cards have led to improved safety of payment transactions. Credit card fraud prevention measures taken have been pushing 3D-Secure, updating banks’ fraud prevention systems and real-time-scoring, and implementing more rule-based fraud control mechanisms.

According to the NBP, the total number of payment transactions executed by commercial banks in 2020, and which turned out to be a fraudulent transaction, amounted to 322,451 transactions, an increase of 52.7% from 2019, for the total amount PLN 264.7 million, a fall of 7.7% from 2019. The average fraudulent payment transaction value was PLN 820.02 in 2020. By 2021, there was an increase of 8.4% in the number of fraudulent transactions made with payment cards, with a simultaneous increase of 20.9% in their value (according to data provided by banks), and an increase of 11.5% in the average value of fraudulent transaction made with a payment card,

In H2 2024, NBP reported 180,300 fraudulent transactions, a decrease of 7.2% compared to H1 2023. The value of these transactions decreased by 2.7% to reach the level of PLN 47.6 million. The vast majority of fraudulent transactions was carried out outside Poland, which demonstrates the high level of security of the Polish payment system, including the national payment infrastructure. According to data reported by both issuers and acquirers the scale of card fraud is still relatively limited compared to the total of transactions with payment cards and, according to data acquired from banks, card fraud amounts to just 0.003% of the number and 0.007% of the value of payment card transactions, while according to agents – to 0.0002% and 0.002%, respectively.

Card Use

According to NBP, card payments have shown a five-year compound growth rate of 12.83% and surpassed the number of ATM withdrawals for the first time in 2009. Card payments outnumbered ATM cash withdrawals by a factor of 34.67 times based on figures for 2024. The movement towards the use of contactless cards at the POS is significantly high. According to Mastercard and VISA Europe, Poland is believed to boast the highest use of contactless cards in Europe.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen in the usage of remote and cross-border payments and cash withdrawals over the year. In 2024, cards accounted for 9.44 billion payments (+10.25%) with a total value of PLN 688.17 billion (+12.95%) amounting to an average of 221.25 payments per card per year (+14.89% vs 2022). The ATV per card payment amounted to PLN 72.86 (€16.04). Of the total card payments, debit card payments accounted for 94.42% by number and 90.47% by value respectively.

The significant growth rate of payments on cards year-over-year clearly indicates that the Poles have embraced contactless payments. In 2021, the schemes reported that around 93% payments on Polish cards were contactless card payments. By H2 2024, the share of contactless card transactions in the total number of cashless card transactions reached 97.6%.

Included in the card payments total for 2024 were 386.50 million remote payments on the internet (+49.61%) with the total value PLN 51.70 billion (+27.41% on 2023). The online card payments total is quite small compared to other European countries, proving that Poles prefer online/mobile bank transfers like BLIK and P24 as online payment means.

The use of Polish cards abroad accounted for a significant 1,494.47 million payments worth PLN 164.71 billion, accounting for 14.29% and 20.56% of the total card payments, respectively.

14 - Payments with Polish Cards
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Cards with a payment function43,675,23143,261,90244,483,05345,224,87746,295,27945,368,7672.37%7.69%1.49%
Ø payments per card per year139.45168.27192.59209.64225.94238.337.77%69.78%11.17%
Ø payment value (PLN) per card per year9,334.311,393.313,697.116,275.517,300.118,190.26.30%100.44%14.92%
Payments (m)6,090.667,279.778,566.789,481.1110,459.7910,812.5810.32%82.84%12.83%
- thereof remote payments (m)147.79177.58210.94258.34386.50578.2249.61%242.89%27.95%
- thereof POS payments (m)5,942.877,102.198,355.849,222.7610,073.2910,234.369.22%79.62%12.43%
- thereof cross-border payments (m)305.58393.92534.441,226.291,494.471,657.8721.87%427.81%39.47%
- with debit cards (m) 5,648.57 6,804.89 8,062.65 8,917.95 9,625.35 10,247.267.93%83.61%12.92%
- delayed debit cards (m)6.957.108.288.458.177.89-3.32%-25.23%-5.65%
- with credit cards (m)435.14467.78495.85518.83541.36557.434.34%15.75%2.97%
Value of payments (PLN bn)407.68492.90609.29736.06800.92825.278.81%115.86%16.64%
- thereof remote payments value (PLN bn)19.9325.3433.2840.5851.7065.8727.41%264.35%29.51%
- thereof POS payments (PLN bn)387.75467.56576.00695.48749.21759.397.73%109.95%15.99%
- thereof cross-border payments (PLN bn)37.5452.8376.68132.28164.71184.9024.52%328.36%33.77%
- with debit cards (PLN bn)360.71441.31549.42622.56692.06750.2111.16%117.42%16.80%
- delayed debit cards (PLN bn)1.812.053.123.533.383.22-4.50%-11.68%-2.45%
- with credit cards (PLN bn)45.1549.5456.7662.0867.3771.838.53%37.77%6.62%
ATV per card payment (PLN)66.9367.7171.1277.6376.5776.32-1.37%18.06%3.38%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Cash withdrawals – NBP figures in Table 15 show ATM withdrawals on cards with cash function, including debit, credit, delayed debit, and ATM-only cards. Cash withdrawals on cards have started to decline, by number, since 2013.

In 2024, cards accounted for 301.70 million cash withdrawals (-15.22%) with a total value of PLN 299.43 billion (-8.51% vs 2023) amounting to an average of 6.59 cash withdrawals per card per year. The ATV per cash withdrawal amounted to PLN 992.46 (€232.35).

15 - Cash Withdrawals with Polish Cards
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Cards with a cash function41,212,69042,450,69243,669,94844,713,19345,765,93046,627,9482.35%11.84%2.26%
Ø withdrawals per card per year11.7710.9410.827.966.596.07-17.17%-56.19%-15.21%
Ø withdrawal value (PLN) per card per year7,731.87,801.68,276.17,319.56,542.56,256.7-10.61%-21.80%-4.80%
Cash withdrawals on cards (m)485.07464.39472.33355.88301.70283.01-15.22%-51.00%-13.30%
- domestic (m)474.21453.23460.63350.55296.97278.82-15.28%-50.64%-13.17%
- abroad (m)10.8511.1611.705.334.734.19-11.33%-66.55%-19.67%
Value of cash withdrawals (PLN bn)318.65331.18361.42327.28299.43291.74-8.51%-12.54%-2.64%
- domestic (PLN bn)311.33322.82356.17322.84295.23287.65-8.55%-11.65%-2.45%
- abroad (PLN bn)7.328.365.254.444.204.08-5.45%-48.71%-12.50%
ATV per cash withdrawal (PLN)656.91713.16765.18919.63992.461030.847.92%78.49%12.29%
Total cash withdrawals per capita12.612.212.59.58.07.4-14.89%-49.83%-12.89%
Total withdrawal value (PLN) per capita8,308.08,678.39,569.88,695.87,987.07,644.7-8.15%-10.45%-2.18%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Card Use per Capita

In 2024, card payments per capita were 271.4 (+8.15% from 2023), up by 12.74% from 158.8 in 2020. The significant increase year-over-year documents the rapidly increasing use of contactless cards for low value payments.

According to the NBP, there were 256.8 debit card payments per capita and 14.4 credit card payments per capita. In addition, there were 8.0 cash withdrawals on Polish cards per capita.

16 - Card Payments Per Capita in Poland
20202021202220232024GR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Debit card payments per capita147.3178.3213.5236.9256.88.36%88.00%13.46%
Debit card value per capita€2,116.8€2,533.1€3,104.5€3,818.2€4,321.913.19%122.10%17.30%
Delayed debit card payments per capita0.20.20.20.20.2-2.94%-23.44%-5.20%
Delayed debit card value per capita€10.6€11.7€17.6€21.7€21.1-2.76%-9.78%-2.04%
Credit card payments per capita11.312.313.113.814.44.75%18.52%3.46%
Credit card value per capita€265.0€284.4€320.7€380.7€420.710.51%40.74%7.07%
Total card payments per capita158.8190.8226.8251.0271.48.15%82.11%12.74%
Total card value per capita€2,392.4€2,829.2€3,442.8€4,220.6€4,763.712.87%110.02%16.00%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Debit Card Use

Debit cards are the main payment instrument, accounting for 88.48% of the total card base according to NBP figures. In 2024, there were 9.62 billion debit card payments (+7.93%) with a total value of PLN 692.06 billion (+11.16% vs 2023). The ATV per debit card payment accounted for PLN 71.90 (€16.83), and there were 235.0 payments per debit card per year, up by 5.70% from 2023.

Debit card payments have grown rapidly with a compound growth rate of 12.92% between 2020 and 2024. The significant growth rate of payments on debit cards year-over-year proves that the Poles have embraced contactless payments. It is also striking that this rate of growth has not subsided over the last seven years, suggesting a deep and permanent change in the way Poles pay for goods and services.

17 - Payments with Polish Debit Cards
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Debit cards38,061,88237,900,73139,143,64640,114,54140,960,89140,096,6842.11%10.75%2.06%
Ø payments per card per year148.4179.5206.0222.3235.0255.65.70%65.79%10.64%
Ø payments value (PLN) per card per year9,477.011,643.814,035.915,519.616,895.718,710.18.87%96.31%14.44%
Payments (m) 5,648.57 6,804.89 8,062.65 8,917.95 9,625.35 10,247.26 7.93%83.61%12.92%
Value of payments (PLNbn)360.71441.31549.42622.56692.06750.2111.16%117.42%16.80%
ATV per debit card payment (PLN)63.8664.8568.1469.8171.9073.212.99%18.41%3.44%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Delayed Debit Card Use

Delayed debit card payments have declined by 19.6% between 2009 and 2015. In 2024, there were 8.17 million delayed debit card payments (-3.32%) with a total value of PLN 3.38 billion (-4.50% from 2023). The ATV per delayed debit card payment was PLN 413.38 (€96.78), and there were 47.9 payments per delayed debit card per year (+0.14% vs 2023). The ATV per delayed debit card is around five-times higher than the ATV per debit card.

18 - Payments with Polish Delayed Debit Cards
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Delayed debit cards196,497182,292179,089176,691170,594166,435-3.45%-22.12%-4.88%
Ø payments per delayed debit card per year35.439.046.247.847.947.40.14%5.47%1.07%
Ø payments value (PLN) per dd card per year9,226.611,218.417,401.620,004.719,787.419,369.3-1.09%35.64%6.29%
Payments (m)6.957.108.288.458.177.89-3.32%-22.94%-5.08%
Value of payments (PLNbn)1.812.053.123.533.383.22-4.50%-0.89%-0.18%
ATV per delayed debit card payment (PLN)260.90287.95376.34418.50413.38408.33-1.22%28.60%5.16%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Credit Card Use

The decisions of the Monetary Policy Council (MPC) to reduce interest rates, significantly affected the level of credit card revenues. The Lombard rate, which indirectly defines the maximum interest on loans, including credit card loans, was reduced by the MPC decision of March 2015 to 2.5%, which means that the interest rate on credit card debt must not exceed 10%.

Credit card payments have grown strongly by a CAGR of 2.97% in the last five years, despite fluctuating card numbers. In 2024, there were 541.36 million credit card payments (+4.34%) with the total value PLN 67.37 billion (+8.53% from 2023). The ATV per credit card payment accounted for PLN 124.45 (€29.14), and there were 104.8 payments per credit card per year (-0.31% vs 2023).

19 - Payments with Polish Credit Cards
202020212022202320242025FGR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Credit cards5,416,8525,178,8795,160,3184,933,6455,163,7645,105,6474.66%-10.76%-2.25%
Ø payments per credit card per year80.390.396.1105.2104.8109.2-0.31%29.70%5.34%
Ø payments value (PLN) per credit card per year8,335.59,566.010,998.512,582.613,047.614,069.43.70%54.38%9.07%
Payments (m)435.14467.78495.85518.83541.36557.434.34%15.75%2.97%
Value of payments (PLNbn)45.1549.5456.7662.0867.3771.838.53%37.77%6.62%
ATV per credit card payment (PLN)103.76105.91114.46119.65124.45128.874.01%19.03%3.54%
Source: ECB, NBP.

Leading Card Issuer Details

PKO Bank Polski (PKO BP) is the largest issuer of bank cards in the Polish market, with the total number amounting to 10.7 million, including 934,000 credit cards, at end-2024. PKO BP issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards.

As a former member of the UniCredit Group, PKO BP issues Diners Club cards in partnership with DC Bank (A), the Diners Club Polska owner and former subsidiary of UniCredit Bank Austria (A). Since 2015, DC bank is part of card complete (A).

PKO BP enhanced its retail credit card offerings by the promotional sale of cards with new designs. These featured images based on sports graphics, such as PKO VISA and PKO Mastercard FIFA World Cup and an image created especially for women, ‘Card with a Lady.’ It has also issued mini-card debit cards measuring 6.5cm x 4cm to retail clients.

20 - PKO BP Key Figures
20202021202220232024GR 23/24GR 5YCAGR 5Y
Number of branches1,004975967945944-0.11%-15.34%-3.27%
Number of ATMs3,0222,9763,0113,0563,0680.39%-0.39%-0.08%
Total cards (000s)9,5109,81510,40410,68010,7530.68%15.84%2.98%
- of which credit/charge cards (000s)9679729539279340.76%-4.79%-0.98%
- of which debit cards (000s)8,5438,8439,4519,7539,8190.68%18.27%3.41%
iPKO e-banking customers (000s) 10,900 11,100 11,322 11,548 11,779 2.00%9.07%1.75%
Current accounts (000s)8,2578,4909,0499,2799,4601.95%18.07%3.38%
Active IKO mobile banking apps (000s)5,2106,1247,2117,7978,3186.68%97.58%14.59%
IKO number of transactions (000s)3024684915165425.00%206.43%25.10%
Note: the number of debit cards is assumed to be total cards less credit/charge cards, but this is not specifically stated by PKO BP.
Note: PKO BP launched its mobile banking service in 2013.
Source: PKO BP.

PKO reported 2.4 million BLIK users in 2021, who conducted 1 million contactless transactions during the year, or 30,000 contactless BLIK transactions per day. In 2023, PKO reported 31% more payments using BLIK or BLIK contactless cards than in 2022 and 60% more transfers to phones via BLIK compared to 2022.

Bank Pekao – In 2021, Bank Pekao reported that its number of cards exceeded 5 million for the first time compared to 4.6 million in 2021. The number of non-cash transactions was nearly 24% higher than in 2021. In 2022, the bank introduced the “Credit Card with Żubr” to its offer. It is the first credit card in Poland in the subscription model, available in three packages to choose from – Standard, Gold or Platinum.

Bank Pekao said 2009 saw successful migration to a new IT platform for cards issuing, with full implementation of EMV chip cards completed in 2010. Issuance of chip-enabled Maestro cards began in 2009, giving Pekao SA Maestro cardholders commission-free cash withdrawals across the EU at UniCredit ATMs. From 2012, however, the debit cards issued are branded Debit Mastercard.

In 2015, Pekao issued new card products with innovative functionalities: multi-currency card, Flexia credit card with the opportunity to reschedule selected payments, and multi-functional electronic student card with the payment function. The multi-currency Mastercard Debit card enables execution of transactions in PLN as well as foreign currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, CHF) without FX conversion thanks to card’s connection with corresponding currency accounts.

Bank Pekao’s core retail offering is the Eurokonto giro and savings account, linked to a Maestro card. In October 2008, the bank released an add-on service, ‘Dobry Zysk’ (Good Profit), a savings account which allocates interest on any credit balance in the account in the most positive way for the client.

The bank also offers Mastercard-branded Silver and Gold credit cards.

ING Bank Śląski reported more than 3.3 million payment cards in circulation by end-2021, with credit cards comprising 225,000. In 2023, the bank reported 1.39 million mobile cards, an increase of 9% from 2022.

ING Bank Śląski has issued 2.6 million contactless cards and NFC stickers by end-2015. The number of virtual cards grew to 36,700 as at end-2013. From 2016, all ING cards issued are as contactless cards. In 2019, ING launched Apple Pay, Google Pay and Garmin Pay for both debit cards and credit cards. It also reported +24% y/y more debit card transactions (686.1 million in total). In digital banking, the bank reported 447,900 mobile cards, three times more than in 2018.

A major project in 2020 was payment card digitisation through the Moje ING app. After ordering a contactless VISA debit card, the customer can immediately activate card payments on their mobile phone. In addition, the card is immediately visible in the Moje ING online banking system after ordering, so that the customer can immediately assign it to payment by phone. In H2 2020, around 18% of customers digitised the newly ordered cards.

In 2021, ING made the Mastercard Corporate credit card available to corporate clients. In the area of cards for corporate clients, ING added the possibility of attaching foreign currency accounts for the card to the PLN account. The currencies available for connection are: EUR, USD, CZK, HUF, SEK, and GBP.

Santander Bank Polska (formerly BZ WBK) is one of Poland’s top issuers. Following the merger with Santander Bank Polska, it had 5.0 million debit cards at end-2024. Credit card numbers were 0.9 million in 2024. During 2020, Bank Santander increased the limit for contactless payments without a PIN from PLN 50 to PLN 100 for debit and credit cardholders. It also enabled customers to open personal accounts based on a photo, and launched a new e banking platform iBiznes24, along with the use of electronic signatures.

Santander issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA), prepaid cards and virtual cards for internet use. Co-branded cards, except the PAYBACK cards, were removed from the bank’s offer.

To increase the attractiveness of its debit cards, BZ WBK introduced a number of changes in its schedule of fees and charges. The changes included elimination of a fee for the cash-advance service (‘cashback’), introduction of uniform charges for cash withdrawals from ATMs abroad and account balance checks in the ATMs of BZ WBK and other banks.

BZ WBK Payback cards – In 2011, BZ WBK introduced Superkarta Mastercard PAYBACK, a debit card covered by the PAYBACK loyalty programme and addressed to employees of financial institutions. The banks’ customers were also offered the Mastercard PAYBACK sticker for contactless payments. This is a modern version of the contactless card tied to the personal account. It enables customers to make fast contactless payments and gather PAYBACK points.

The bank said the rise in its card portfolio resulted from upgrading its range of debit cards, including a Maestro savings card attached to the ‘a la Lokata’ savings account. Another 2009 innovation was the VISA Electron card ‘Aktywni 50+’ for the older generation, with discounts on products from the ‘Dbam o zdrowie’ pharmacy chain. Finally, the ‘High-heeled’ account bundles a VISA card (including contactless functionality) with 1% cashback on all purchases. Since April 2010, BZ WBK offers a new contactless co-branded Payback Mastercard card with 3D-Secure function.

mBank had another period of dynamic growth of issued cards, both credit and debit. At end-2024, the number of cards issued in Poland stood at 4.51 million, with 326,700 being credit cards. In its cards segments during 2020, the number of non-cash transactions with payment cards reached 185.1 million, a fall of 6% from 2019, while total non-cash transaction value on payment cards reached PLN 13,013 million in 2020, compared to PLN 12,631 million in 2019. In 2022, mBank consequently moved on to the cards manufactured from recycled plastic. Over half a million (695,000) cards have already been delivered to customers. In 2023, mBank also further developed existing solutions, such as virtual payment cards. In spring 2023, mBank clients were given the option to choose a virtual card instead of a plastic card, when the date of expiration of their old card was approaching. mBank has issued over 100,000 virtual payment cards in the year and a half since the launch.

mBank issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit and Electron), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards. Most cards are now issued with added PayPass or payWave contactless function.

Examples of initiatives in this area include issuance of 30,000 prepaid cards for Korona Kielce football club and of 14,000 eMoney Cards for the participants in Poland’s largest music festival, Open’er. Futher, mBank sells an American Express Centurion card in foreign denomination. In addition, mBank issues co-branded Miles&More Mastercard and VISA cards together with airline LOT.

Alior Bank – In November 2016, the card portfolios of the demerged Bank BPH were transferred to Alior Bank. The enlarged bank issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit) and contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA). In 2021, total card number stood at 1.20 million, with 150,000 being credit cards.

Alior Bank offers a full range of transactional services (including cash deposits and withdrawals, cash deposits to accounts with the Bank and with other banks, instant transfer, and card transactions). Customers may use mobile payments with BLIK, Google Pay, as well as HCE NFC payments introduced in 2017.

In 2019, the bank added new functionalities to the existing products. Under the Konto Jakże Osobiste current account, the customer is able to adapt the offering in online banking or mobile app to his or her needs, by selecting from among ten advantages. The new functionality allows for card payments without extra currency conversion costs.

The Mastercard Bezcenne Chwile loyalty programme, initially available as one of the advantages of the Konto Jakże Osobiste account, was made available in H1 2019 to all customers in the online banking system, and thereafter in the mobile app.

As part of its range of credit card products for retail customers, in 2020 Alior Bank continued to promote the MasterCard OK! and TU i TAM credit cards. For the most affluent customers from the private banking segment, the range of offered products and services includes the World Elite Card, coupled with a concierge services package, i.e., the assistance of a specialised call centre, insurance and Priority Pass airport lounge services.

BPH Background – Gdansk-based Bank BPH reported more than 1.1 million cards issued in 2012 and claimed market leadership in credit cards (2012: 486,000) but provided no subsequent update. Bank BPH offered credit cards based either on a money-back formula or low interest rates. It also issued Platinum and World Signia products. In line with its GE strategy, the bank discontinued co-branded card co-operation with the remaining retail partners, Saturn, Media Markt and Makro Cash & Carry, by end-2011.

Finger vein biometric pilot – In September 2012, Bank BPH said it was to install ‘Finger Vein’ biometric scanners across its branch network to provide customers with secure money transaction services without the need for PIN entry. Bank BPH has been running pilot trials of the technology, supplied by Hitachi Europe, since June 2012. BPH placed an order for 1,800 of the devices which were to be installed across its network of 287 branches in Poland by the end of the year.

Citi Handlowy issues contactless credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards all branded Mastercard or VISA. As of 2024, the number of credit cards was 461,800, a decrease of 4,600 during the year. The total debt on credit cards amounted to PLN 2.0 billion as of end-2024 and decreased by 6.2% from the end of 2023. Citibank maintained its stable position in the credit card market in terms of the value of loans on credit cards, with the market share of 20.5% as at the end of 2021.

In 2024, the number of cards activated at the end of the year was higher by 5% and 4% for credit cards and debit cards, compared to 2023. At the same, the number of cashless transactions made with credit cards increased by 3% and the number of transactions with debit cards decreased by 18%. The value of cashless transactions went up 2% for credit cards and decreased by 6% for debit cards versus 2023. The main reasons for the decrease in the number and value of transactions in debit cards are related to the decrease in the number of transactions involving typical expenses incurred on employees’ business trips. This change results from the transition of this type of employee activity to a “remote” meeting mode as well as changes in business expense policies. Total debit cards increased by 6,800 to 270,800 in 2024.

Millennium Bank became the first Polish bank to offer cards from Mastercard, VISA, and American Express. The bank issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA debit, Maestro), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA), and prepaid cards. In 2017, Millennium had to withdraw American Express credit cards following the decision by American Express (US) to issue American Express cards directly in Poland.

According to Millennium Bank, acquisition results and transaction rates for payment cards in 2020 were strongly affected by COVID-19 constraints, which resulted in reduced activity of card users. In Q4 2020, the bank’s actions focused on acquiring cards with higher credit limits and higher revenue potential.

Consequently, the end of the year brought a drop in the number of sold credit cards and simultaneously an improvement of qualitative parameters of new cards. In 2020 the credit card portfolio grew by over 12,000 cards (a rise of 2.6%). At the end of 2020 the credit card portfolio amounted to 477,000 cards. Flagship products continued to be Impresja and Alfa cards, which provide their holders with a 5% cashback for spending at the partners of such cards.

The number of debit cards went up along with the growth of the number of personal accounts, where the main sales product was the debit card issued for the Konto 360 account. The debit card portfolio in the bank at the end of 2020 reached over 3 million cards, growing by 145,000 (+5% from 2019).

At the end of Q3 2020, Bank Millennium’s market share in the number of issued cards was 8.7% for credit cards (vs. 8.0% at the end of 2019) and 8.3% for debit cards. In terms of the value of card transactions the share was at the level of 9.3% for credit cards and 7.7% for debit cards.

In payment cards, the bank reported 4 million debit cards (+1.6%) and 518,000 credit cards (+4.9%) in circulation in 2024.

BGZ BNP Paribas issues contactless Debit Mastercard cards, contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards. In 2016, the bank had 1.44 million cards in circulation, over 541,000 more than a year before. The reported increase primarily due to the merger of Bank BGZ BNP Paribas with Sygma Bank Poland relates primarily to credit cards retail customers, prior to the consolidation of the credit card portfolio in 2017.

In 2024, BGZ BNP Paribas had 2.20 million cards in circulation (246,000 lower than in 2023), with 584,000 being credit cards.

Raiffeisen Polbank, now absorbed by BGZ BNP Paribas, issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards. In addition, clients can use a digital wallet, MasterPass. At the end of 2017, the bank had almost 650,000 cards in circulation. In the area of online payments, the value of transactions made with Raiffeisen cards grew by 23% on 2016.

In 2016, the Bank implemented mobile HCE NFC payments based on the new Mobile Wallet app, Mobilny Portfel. By the end of 2016, the Raiffeisen Polbank had issued 2,100 HCE NFC cards. As at the end of 2017, the Mobile Wallet was installed on 6,300 active devices, and the clients stored 4,400 debit cards and 1,100 credit cards) in the app (+163% on 2016).

In 2016, Raiffeisen Polbank migrated its card handling services to First Data Polska and terminated in-house card procesing. Debit cards were migrated in February 2016, and credit cards in June 2016. The migration helped the bank to substantially reduce operating costs by switching off internal card handling systems.

Raiffeisen’s Mobile Banking app, Mobilny Bank, allows the clients to manage their accounts from mobile devices. As at the end of 2017, Mobile Bank was available to 135,100 retail banking clients.

Getin Noble Bank (GNB), owned by Polish entrepreneurs, has grown rapidly in credit cards and consumer lending in recent years. GNB issues contactless debit cards (Debit Mastercard, VISA Debit), contactless credit cards (Mastercard, VISA) and prepaid cards. In 2021, GNB reported more than 800,000 cards in circulation, with 35,000 being credit cards.

Finger vein biometric pilot – In June 2013, GNB, together with Hitachi Europe and Wincor Nixdorf, announced that GNB is implementing finger vein biometric authentication in its new Getin Point branches. GNB claimed that biometric technology is setting the new standard of identity authentication in the Polish banking sector. In February 2014, GNB started roll-out of its VTM services.

Display Cards – In August 2013, GNB launched a contactless Debit Mastercard card with a built in LCD display. To check their balance on the small LCD screen, cardholders enter their PIN using a mini keypad on the card. The display card can also be used to generate one-time passcodes for online banking services. GNB says that it had issued 15,000 cards at end-2013, despite charging customers for the privilege. Customers with the card also carry out more and bigger transactions. GNB is now planning to improve the display’s quality so that it can be used for letters as well as numbers enabling more features such as personalised promotions and exchange rate data.

DCVC Cards – In May 2015, GNB with Mastercard launched a new dynamic card verification code (DCVC) on the back of its payment cards in Poland. GNB plans to replace the static three-digit security code on its cards with a dynamic, changeable code that can be constantly altered electronically in order to enhance security. The dynamic CVC security code is displayed on an integrated mini screen that is automatically refreshed every hour.

For a cardholder, the use of the DCVC card in online transactions does not differ from a regular card with a static card verification code. While paying online, the payer enters the requested data and the verification code that is displayed in the card’s mini monitor into the Internet form. Upon authorisation, the payment acceptance is automatically transferred to the online shop. GNB said that the solution is intuitive and much faster than other security protocols for securing online transactions such as 3D-Secure.

Appendix

Significant Events in Polish Banking

Western banks were behind several acquisitions in Poland. The following M&A activities have reshaped the Polish banking sector since 2000:

2020 Idea Bank was forcibly taken over by Pekao.

2019 Bank Millennium acquired Euro Bank (May)

2018 BZ WBK became rebranded as Santander Bank Polska (September).

2018 RBI Group (A) agreed to sell the core banking operations of Raiffeisen Bank Polska for €775
million by way of demerger to Bank BGZ BNP Paribas (April).

Poland Joins e-Invoicing Initiative PEPPOL

PEPPOL is the Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) project. After Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Ireland and other countries which are currently implementing the specifications, Poland is the latest Member State to adopt PEPPOL for e-invoicing. The Polish Ministry of Economy will become the PEPPOL Authority with the role to oversee the governance of the network and the implementation of the PEPPOL-based solutions at the national level.

The draft directive on electronic invoicing in public procurement recognises that the multiplicity of non-interoperable standards results in excessive complexity, legal uncertainty and additional operating costs for economic operators using e-Invoicing across Member States. The scope of the Directive which applies to electronic invoices received by contracting authorities, issued as a result of the performance of public contracts, stresses the key role of the public sector in ensuring interoperability and standardisation.

The goal of the Open PEPPOL community is to continue spreading adoption of e-procurement amongst European governments, promoting simplification through implementation of the PEPPOL specifications and by connecting previously isolated islands of e-procurement to form the PEPPOL network.

After one year of operation, the Open PEPPOL Association counts almost 80 member organisations from the private and public sector across 17 countries, with over 60 Access Point providers available to connect suppliers and contracting authorities to the open network where standards-based documents are exchanged.

Digital & Card Payment Yearbooks