Superzul
20 Nov 2014
Law / Opening a Polish Bank Account by a foreigner in Poland. Recommendations. [299]
Well mBank want me to have a PESEL number to pull dollars across the cash counter. I haven't tried this for Złotychs because the ATM does just fine.
JollyRomek, be surprised then. Perhaps PESEL is only required to withdraw foreign currency. I can't pull dollars from the ATM. The reason I like to get dollars over the counter is that I can get a better exchange rates (@ 1%) at a "kontor" (currency exchange) outside the bank.
You're right, it's not part of Polish banking regulations to be able to open an account with a PESEL as I was able to open one. I can confirm with absolute certainty from my very recent experience that withdrawal of USDs is not possible over the counter without a PESEL number. I guess the reason for this is that banking regulations and currency regulations need not be one and the same.
Unless someone can confirm (not just speculate or merely cite logic as the source) that Millenium does not need a PESEL to hand their customers foreign currency over the counter, it is fair to assume that Polish currency regulations requires one to have a PESEL number to withdraw foreign currency physically in a bank.
Additional Info: I'm not a EU citizen or a temporary resident (at least for the next 2 days ;-) ).
Well mBank want me to have a PESEL number to pull dollars across the cash counter. I haven't tried this for Złotychs because the ATM does just fine.
Regarding the "withdraw money from the cash counter", I would be very surprised if that requires a PESEL number.
JollyRomek, be surprised then. Perhaps PESEL is only required to withdraw foreign currency. I can't pull dollars from the ATM. The reason I like to get dollars over the counter is that I can get a better exchange rates (@ 1%) at a "kontor" (currency exchange) outside the bank.
You're right, it's not part of Polish banking regulations to be able to open an account with a PESEL as I was able to open one. I can confirm with absolute certainty from my very recent experience that withdrawal of USDs is not possible over the counter without a PESEL number. I guess the reason for this is that banking regulations and currency regulations need not be one and the same.
Unless someone can confirm (not just speculate or merely cite logic as the source) that Millenium does not need a PESEL to hand their customers foreign currency over the counter, it is fair to assume that Polish currency regulations requires one to have a PESEL number to withdraw foreign currency physically in a bank.
Additional Info: I'm not a EU citizen or a temporary resident (at least for the next 2 days ;-) ).