Banking

Steps

1. Choose your bank and check whether it accepts online account opening with a foreign identity document; otherwise, go to a branch.
2. Bring your identity document (identity card or passport), your PESEL if you already have it (factsheet PL-NIF-TOUS-001) and your address in Poland. The exact documents vary by bank (anti-money-laundering checks): ask your bank for the list.
3. Ask for the basic account if you are only offered paid packages: it is reserved for consumers (not for a professional activity) who do not already have a payment account in złoty. You request it with the bank's form, at a branch; the bank may also accept an oral or online request. The bank cannot tie it to another contract or to a minimum deposit amount. It must sign the contract or tell you it refuses no later than 10 working days after your complete application (art. 59ic of the Act on payment services).
4. Keep your home-country account if you wish: to pay bills, shop online, pay taxes or receive a tax refund or a benefit, an account from another EU country cannot be refused if the other party accepts these transactions from a domestic account (no discrimination based on the IBAN); for your salary, ask your employer.
5. For a mortgage, prepare your proof of income and residence: each bank sets its own conditions for a foreigner: ask the bank for them.

Documents

• Valid identity card or passport.
• PESEL (some banks ask for it, especially for a loan), address in Poland (residential or correspondence), telephone number.
• Employment contract or proof of income for a loan or an overdraft.

Costs and timelines

• Basic account: free maintenance for domestic transactions; 5 free domestic transfers per month, then capped fees; 5 free withdrawals or deposits per month at other networks' cash machines in Poland; debit card with no issuing fee; no linked credit and no credit card (the bank may only settle a card transaction that exceeds your balance); cross-border transfers can be charged within the limit of the bank's usual fees (KNF, art. 59ie of the Act).
• Euro transfers to another EU country: the bank cannot charge more for them than for a domestic transfer in złoty (Your Europe).
• Cash withdrawals in the EU outside your country: the withdrawal fees and any conversion fees must be shown to you before the end of the withdrawal (Your Europe).
• Deposit protection: €100,000 per person and per bank (equivalent in złoty).

Common pitfalls

• Paying conversion fees without seeing them: when paying by card in złoty with a euro account, compare your bank's rate with the conversion offered by the terminal.
• Believing the basic account is open to everyone: you are not entitled to it if you already have a złoty account. The Act (art. 59ic) lists among the grounds for refusal: another payment account in złoty in Poland, a suspicion of an offence or of money laundering (mandatory refusal), an invalid identity document, a contract not signed within the deadline, an identity that appears on a sanctions list or on the KNF warning list, an unlawful stay in a Member State and the absence of a residential or correspondence address in Poland. The account is reserved for consumers, not for professional activities.
• Borrowing in a currency other than that of your income: if the złoty falls, your monthly repayments can rise sharply; ask your bank which currencies it accepts for a loan.

What changes by country of origin

• EU residents: right to a basic account if you legally reside in the EU, and a bank cannot refuse it solely because you do not live in its country (Your Europe). But Polish law (art. 59ic) allows the bank to refuse if you have given neither a residential address nor another correspondence address in Poland: open it once you have settled, with a Polish address. If the bank refuses on this ground, it must give you the reasons free of charge: ask for them.
• British citizens and other non-Europeans: the right to a basic account applies to anyone who legally resides in the EU; without lawful residence in a Member State, the Polish bank may refuse (art. 59ic), and for an ordinary account each bank decides.
• Eurozone countries: your payments in euros remain easy, but your Polish salary will in principle be paid in złoty.