Bank commissions in Poland - are there some standard fees, and where can I find them

I have among other cards a VISA card I use for purchases and withdrawing money in Poland. The card was issued by a non-Polish bank.

I noticed that usually the commission for withdrawal is up to 20% (or 20zł when I withdraw 100zł), 15% for larger withdrawals (for instance 50zł when I withdrew 400zł).

I also had a bad incident with Euronet ATM's (they spread like mushrooms in Kraków), where the fee for withdrawing 100zł was... almost 100zł.

So my question is, are there some standard commission fees for Polish banks when using a foreign credit card?

Many thanks!

It's the fault of your card issuer rather than the Polish bank. Some Polish ATM's are to be avoided for certain transactions - Euronet is one of them , but most are much of a muchness. The card issuer sets their own rates.

You don't say which country you're from, however: moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money publish a list of the best ones and the worst offenders among the UK card issuers.

If you pick up cash in the UK and change it at a kantor, that's often the best way. Just be careful to know the day's rate and make sure they don't pull some stunt like giving you therate for dollars otr euros instead of pounds hoping you won't notice. A Warsaw kantor did that to a lady of my acquaintance recently.

Thank you, it makes sense! It was actually relieving to find that out, because while I wouldn't apply for a credit card in Poland, I can, indeed change my credit card issuer back in my home country. I found one who offers better plans for international withdrawals, so it makes total sense to change.

I however do not recommend to anyone to use Euronet ATM's or Idea Bank ATM's, should anyone query this thread.

I had to laugh when I saw the subject of this thread. Recently moved from US to Poland to live with my parents (I'm British though) and last week I needed to pay some $$$ to the port in Gdynia to have my belongings released. The shipping agent I used in California conveniently "forgot" to tell me about the destination charges. Anyway, it turned into a total fiasco. Visiting a few banks in Zywiec and trying to get them to tell me how much it would cost to pay in dollars to Nordea bank resulted in a bunch of "I don't know, it could be 50 PLN or it could be 152 PLN - we'll know after we run it!" I ended up going to Bielsko Biala and making the payment directly from a Nordea branch and the fee turned out to be a big fat zero which was rather a pleasant surprise, especially since I ended up having to pay an additional $500 to get my stuff released from the port.

Hi! But you're talking indeed by a direct payment. I was talking about withdrawal fees (i.e. taking real money out of a real ATM) and jon357's feedback was more than helpful - I had a clue where to look for such fees. And Nordea may indeed charge nothing for such payments made for a local (i.e. Polish) account, but they still charge according to the issuing bank's guidelines when you withdraw money. I have just withdrawn some PLN yesterday from a Nordea ATM; and it resulted into the same commission fee, which proves that jon357 was indeed right.

Oh yes I agree there are ATM fees. I have credit and debit cards through Bank of America since I wa living in the US before coming to Poland. Unfortunately it appdars the ATM fees are only waived for the parent company where the bank is located, so Barclays branches in the UK or BNP Paribas in France. The sad truth is banks will screw you any chance they get. It was just frustrating not to get a definite answer about my transfer question from the original bank I visited. No one seemed to know for sure.

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Bank loan in Poland - processing fee

Hi, I am a foreigner living in Poland for last 3 years. I want to apply for a personal loan, I spoke to my bank and they offered me a good rare but said there would be a 4% processing fee. Is that common in Poland? Does it work if we negotiate this few?

Go to another bank and ask - it costs absolutely nothing.

Arrangement fees or provisions are common here but without knowing what kind of loan it is, what collateral etc then it's not possible to make a meaningful comparison. However almost every bank has a website that allows you to calculate an all in interest rate including the annual rate and the arrangement fee. Alternatively use sites like Money.pl to get a comparison. 4 percent would be very high for a business loan - arrangement fees are about 0.5 up to 1.2 depending on how much ongoing business you give the bank. For an unsecured personal loan then Four percent might be standard if they are giving you a very low ongoing rate.

It differs a lot depending on loan type, amount of money, your connection to a bank (do you have an account there ? is your salary going to that bank ?), risk factors (collateral ? mortgage ? loan for a car ? all different), the way you earn in Poland (salary ? self-employed?)

Just to give you a hint - go to any bank website and look for "Kredyty". Just by example go to BZWBK (disclaimer: I'm not in any way connected with that bank, I just have the account there) and click "Kredyty" - you'll see 3 different things typically in bank's offer:

- kredyt gotowkowy - just cash for anything
- limit kredytowy w koncie - a loan "inside" of your bank account. In UK similar thing is called "Overdraft" - and this has nothing to do with credit card,

- kredyt mieszkaniowy - typical mortgage

Now, if it's not enough, click a small button below saying "wszystkie produkty" (all products) - you'll see how many different loans they have in offer.

This is typical for any bank in Poland I believe.

So, you said "personal loan" - with 4% it may be a not bad, what's the rate after that (what you mean "good rate" :) ) ?

Also, before actually taking the loan, look for two things they HAVE to provide (by law):
- RRSO - it's a very important number, a summary rate for all fees and rates of a loan. This is your biggest important factor to compare loans. RRSO is "Roczna Rzeczywista Stopa Oprocentowania" which roughly means "Real Annual Rate". When they'll charge you any fees, rates etc. and it will become more than the RRSO declared - you will be covered

- the re-payment schedule - the list of your payments month-by-month. Get that on print - and compare with some online loan calculator calculla.com/loan or something similar