Access channels

The Bank’s Customers can use iPKO and iPKO biznes services as part of the electronic banking services. These services provide Customers with access to information on their accounts and products, and enable them to effect transactions through the Internet.

iPKO

The Bank constantly promotes iPKO Internet banking among retail Customers and small- and medium-sized enterprises. It includes remote self-management of accounts, banking products and other services. The Customers have fast, safe and easy access to their funds (also those entrusted to some other companies of the Bank’s Group) irrespective of the equipment used. Fees for using iPKO banking services are lower than the commissions and fees charged for the transactions in the traditional channels of contact with the Bank.

* from the second quarter of 2019 a change in the definition – the number of retail Customers who have an active relation with a product in the iPKO service

In 2021 PKO Bank Polski S.A. introduced the following new features to iPKO to make it easier for Customers to use banking services:

• transfers from the iPKO service directly to the PKO Leasing Customer Portal without the need to re-log; the new function is available for sole proprietorships or partners in partnerships;
• independent changing of paper correspondence regarding mortgage loans, cash loans and investment funds into electronic form;
• increasing safety by making available to Customers the option of adding trusted equipment for use in internet banking (Device Fingerprint);
• quick registration and purchase of Treasury bonds in the obligacjeskarbowe.pl service via the iPKO service;
• support in sales and post-sales services with regard to sending documents required in the processes to the Bank by Customers by improvements in the section “eDokumenty” (before, a visit in a branch office was required);
• making available the “mSzafir” signature – to enable the remote signing of loan contracts/annexes and selected documents relating to collateral;
• sales of payment terminals (POS) under the Polska Bezgotówkowa (Cashless Poland) programme;
• showing concrete offers from the Automarket.pl platform with the option of leaving a contact request in each of them;
• downloading the MT940 report – a detailed report with information on transactions on the account in the form of a text file with a specific structure;
• making available – as the first Bank on the market – a remote form of applying for high amount loans and using digital data from the standard audit files in risk assessment processes;
• making available applications: for subsidies under the PFR 2.0 Financial Shield, for mediation relating to translating a CHF loan into PLN and for the Dobry Start 300+ programme, and expanding the scope of remote applications for a mortgage loan;
• developing Qlips – quick payments for invoices and bills; the Customer only has to select a supplier and click on the issued invoices, and the transfer forms are automatically serviced;
• submitting applications for closing current, savings and foreign currency accounts;
• a solution enabling Customers to leave their evaluations and comments relating to the functioning of the iPKO service.

iPKO biznes

The iPKO biznes electronic banking system is addressed to all institutional Customers who wish to have online and mobile access to the standard products and specialist banking services.

In 2021 PKO Bank Polski S.A. made new functionalities available to the iPKO biznes users, such as:

• activation of prepaid debit cards;
• Express Elixir transfers which enable immediate performance of transactions;
• the mass disbursements module which enables easy management of cash disbursement orders in ATMs and branch offices, monitoring statuses and generating reports; Customers may use the service without the need to sign additional documentation;
• the Virtual Accounts module which enables opening and managing virtual accounts;
• opening and servicing tax investment accounts – in a separate account corporate Customers may accumulate finance in a special investment fund which enables quicker settlement of depreciation; the account is connected to the VAT account, Split Payments may be made through this account;
• making available securities accounts to institutional Customers – Customers gained the option to view the list of accounts, securities held, corporate events and lists of transactions;
• adapting the iPKO biznes service to the amendments to the VAT Act in the part relating to the split payment mechanism;
• enabling the SWIFT MT101 service which makes transfers from accounts maintained by third party banks. The service is addressed to companies, e.g. groups, with members in Poland or abroad, that are serviced at the same time by various banks;
• implementing PUSH messages received from the Bank.

The Contact Center (CC) of PKO Bank Polski S.A. plays an important role in serving retail segment Customers. Its purpose is to provide efficient and effective Customer service via phone or the Internet and to sell the Bank’s products during incoming and outgoing calls.

PKO Bank Polski S.A.’s hotline employs several hundred consultants who remain at the Customers’ service 24 hours a day. The consultants not only handle telephone calls but also answer Customers’ questions and requests electronically – e-mails and website requests. Customers may also send messages in the iPKO or Inteligo transaction service.

The Contact Centre also plays an important role in the amicable settlement processes relating to loans denominated in CHF. The helpline provides the requested information on an on-going basis and enables making meeting appointments for the purpose of signing the settlements. To ensure the efficiency of the process, a special IVR solution was made available which supports Customers in answering their queries.

Since 2021, each of the Bank’s Customers is greeted by AI (Artificial Intelligence) which verifies his/her intentions and connects him/her with the consultant most knowledgeable on the matter. Development of dialogues and intentions used in conversations with Customers using AI enabled the Bank to achieve the planned results of support for Customers using a voice bot. Using AI the Bank reduces its costs and increases the speed of Contact Center services in autonomic processes: cancelling payment cards, blocking identity cards, servicing security anomalies and anti-fraud services for cash loans.

PKO Bank Polski SA, with an eye to providing convenient access to its products and services, provides its Customers with a wide network of retail branches and agencies, private banking offices, corporate branches, as well as branches located abroad. The optimization of the branch network is carried out on a continuous basis, and decisions on whether to open a branch on a particular micro-market are made by reference to economic criteria, taking into account the growth potential of that micro-market (retail branches) and optimization of the coverage of business areas (corporate branches).

As at the end of 2021, the network of PKO Bank Polski S.A.’s branches comprised:

• 913 retail branches organized into 10 regional divisions, 8 private banking offices and 11 corporate banking offices;
• 23 regional corporate centres organized into 7 regional corporate branches, as well as the branches located in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech and Slovak Republics.

In relation to the end of the year 2020, the total number of retail units decreased by 30, and the number of corporate units increased by 1 foreign branch.

The drop in the number of branches is among other things the result of digital transformation which is one of the key elements of the consistently pursued development strategy of PKO Bank Polski S.A. The digital transformation supports Customers switching to remote service channels and at the same time implements the assumptions of the government project “Od papierowej do cyfrowej Polski” (From a Paper to a Digital Poland).

Operating data of the retail and corporate segment*

The branch and ATM network is complemented by the agency network. As at the end of 2021, PKO Bank Polski SA collaborated with 447 agencies. The drop in the number of agencies observed during the last two years is caused by lower profitability resulting from a lower number of Customers using agencies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021 the Bank made a pilot launch of a new outlet model – a cashless branch. At the end of the year 30 such outlets were operative. Payments to and disbursements in cashless branches were transferred to self-service devices – ATMs, cash deposit machines and recyclers. Additionally, self-service internet stands were added which enable Customers to log into the iPKO transactional banking service, and paper posters and leaflets were replaced by electronic media. Design changes were also introduced.

Moreover, the Bank launched a branch in Łódź in a new PKO Koncept format. It is a multi-business outlet characterized by a holistic approach to Customers. The nature of the design refers to the Łódź industrial and artistic traditions. In the outlet, there is a gallery of paintings of authors from Łódź, and space is available for discreet business meetings. Employees also educate Customers in using various channels and support them in using remote channels.

PKO Bank Polski S.A. is constantly developing its Private Banking and enables Customers to access a wide range of financial products and instruments.

The Private Banking Offices serve Customers in the largest Polish cities: Warsaw, Gdańsk, Kraków, Katowice, Poznań, Wrocław, Łódź, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz (the branch is part of the Private Banking Office in Szczecin), Białystok and Lublin (the branches are part of the Private Banking Office in Warsaw).

As at the end of 2021, the Private Banking Centre managed a portfolio of assets with a value of more than PLN 52.9 billion. During the year, the process of replacing agreements with Customers was executed with relation to optimizing the serviced Customer base. As at the end of 2021 the Private Banking Centre services 15.4 thousand Customers.

The Corporate Banking Centre of PKO Bank Polski S.A. is an optimum environment created for the development of businesses with revenues ranging from PLN 5 million to PLN 30 million and similar product and service needs. In 2021, the number of Customers served by the Corporate Banking Centre increased by nearly 6% to 14.2 thousand at the end of the year.

A separate Corporate Banking Centre makes it possible to build the image of PKO Bank Polski S.A. as a reliable business partner for Polish businesses, thanks to:

• its service team;
• creating a specialized group of nearly 150 mobile advisors cooperating directly with credit analysts;
• improving the advisors’ credit competence, better matching of the product offer and price range to the Customer’s needs, and reducing the waiting time for a credit decision due to improvements in the lending process;
• limiting paper documentation in relations with the Bank, remotely communicating with Customers, as well as automating the processes using iPKO and iPKO biznes.