Banks unable to finance transition projects
“The Polish banking sector is unable to take on the challenges of financing huge transition projects,” said Tadeusz Białek, President of the Polish Bank Association. He added that even if they joined forces in a consortium, Polish banks would not be able to finance a project larger than PLN 53 billion.
Source: Biznes Alert, Banki nie są w stanie finansować projektów transformacyjnych
EFC 2025: President of the KNF discusses the Polish financial market in the face of global challenges
Geopolitical turbulence will have a significant impact on the economy, including the Polish financial market, which, however, is well prepared for these global challenges. ‘The financial market is stable, banks are well capitalised, and the capital market has high development potential,’ said Jacek Jastrzębski, President of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), during the 15th edition of the European Financial Congress in Sopot.
Source: Bank.pl, EKF 2025: przewodniczący KNF nt. polskiego rynku finansowego wobec globalnych wyzwań
PZU and Bank Pekao planning to merge. A market giant is set to be formed
Poland’s largest insurer and second-largest bank have signed a memorandum of cooperation to merge. The resulting entity will be one of the largest financial institutions in Europe.
Source: Parkiet.pl, PZU i Bank Pekao chcą się połączyć. Powstanie rynkowy gigant – parkiet.com
VeloBank is acquiring the retail arm of Citi Handlowy. The banks have signed an agreement
VeloBank has signed a conditional agreement to acquire Citi Handlowy’s retail arm. According to an announcement published by Bank Handlowy, the transaction will be closed once the required regulatory approvals have been received and operational readiness is achieved, which is expected mid-2026.
Source: Interia Biznes, https://biznes.interia.pl/gospodarka/news-velobank-kupuje-czesc-detaliczna-citi-handlowego-umowa-miedz,nId,7973252#utm_source=paste&utm_medium=paste&utm_campaign=chrome
Blik plans foreign expansion; it wants to invite CEE banks to invest
Blik is set on foreign expansion. To this end, it is developing an equity strategy and intends to invite banks from the CEE region to invest, said Szymon Midera, CEO of PKO BP, speaking to journalists backstage at the European Financial Congress in Sopot.
“The Blik Supervisory Board has approved the company’s goal of conducting extensive foreign expansion. We see a chance that, in the next few years, Blik will reach similar volumes in the wider CEE region as it does currently in Poland. This expansion is necessary because it is difficult to increase market share in Poland in the long term. This is what the work on Blik’s equity strategy entails,” said Szymon Midera, PKO BP’s CEO.
Source: Strefa Inwestorów, Blik planuje ekspansję zagraniczną; chce zaprosić banki z CEE do inwestycji
The Ministry of Finance is not planning to introduce taxes on excess profits. Banks are safe
According to a response to a parliamentary interpellation, the Ministry of Finance has ruled out investigating the introduction of a tax on banks’ excess profits. The ministry stresses that the banking sector already provides significant support to the state budget through existing tax solutions. The Ministry of Finance has published a position paper noting that current analytical efforts are focused on improving the efficiency of Poland’s tax systems. The paper explains that banks have been subject to a so-called bank tax for years, which aims to increase their contribution to state spending. “In 2024, revenues of more than PLN 6 billion have been declared from this tax” the ministry reported.
Source: Business Insider, Ministerstwo finansów: nie będzie podatku od nadmiarowych zysków banków
How do Poles rate their banks? In this respect, we differ from the rest of Europe
Over the past two years, the percentage of Poles willing to recommend their bank to friends has increased by 8 percentage points, reaching 55%. Unlike in other European countries, we also prefer physical banks to digital ones.
Source: Gazeta Prawna, Jak Polacy oceniają swoje banki? Pod tym względem wyróżniamy się na tle Europy – GazetaPrawna.pl
The first bank in Poland introduces payment rings
Bank Pekao is introducing payment rings to the Polish market. This is the first solution of its kind in Poland, as emphasised by Puls Biznesu. The newspaper adds that in the mid-1990s, the bank paved the way by offering its customers credit cards, which were a complete novelty in Poland at the time.
Source: Money.pl, Pierwszy bank w Polsce wprowadza obrączki płatnicze – Money.pl
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See also
Banking today and tomorrow | An overview of the banking sector | May 2025
