What is the worst bank in Poland that I should avoid at all costs?

What is the worst bank in Poland that I should avoid at all costs, in your opinion?

Many of my friends have complained about ING Slaskie,
they say ING is commissioning absolutely anything,
they have very high monthly "administration fees" for every type of account,
and they have the worst exchange rates in Poland.

Any other opinions?

thank you all

OMG you don't want to know ;)

If you know what to do: Alior Kantor and PKO BP.

Not sure which ones to avoid. The selection is decent...
But Alior is one that I personally do not like for some odd reason - probably their hopeless adverts...

ING is great for that actually - they offer free accounts in foreign currencies and free transfers between ING accounts. Combine that with a free service like walutomat.pl and you'll be getting the best exchange rates and transfers between your accounts.


PKO BP charge for everything, but omnipresent and has a good app. Getin Bank was also OK some time ago offering some money back each month, high rates, and with a nice app - probably the most Polish (in terms of capital) of all banks in Poland.

But all depends what you will need the account for - no one size fits all, I am afraid.

Seriously, Jardinero, you sound like an ING employee, I heard only horrible opinions on ING services

Well, you've the one who has asked for opinions and you're claiming my experience is false just because it's different to yours!?

edited

my question was very simple and straightforward. I already opened account with Idea Bank, I am only half satisfied so far.

edited

Few SKOK have bankrupted and it's known that few more have bad balance sheet, so If you don't want to loose your interests (up to 100 000 eur is insured by the state) better stay away from them:

pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sp%C3%B3%C5%82dzielcza_kasa_oszcz%C4%99dno%C5%9Bciowo-kredytowa

Recently this one has one of the best conditions:
bankmillennium.pl/individuals/current-accounts/konto-360

Perhaps better is what bank can we recommend. I can give you many reasons why I like ING bank, despite a few minor issues, and recommend it for most people, but I don't bank at bad banks so I can't tell you what to steer clear of. The only real advice I can give you is avoid the SKOKs because too many are failing recently and you don't know which one will be yours (it's not a normal bank). I know WBK is stronger now than it used to be, but it does charge a lot of fees if you're not careful. Also, if you don't speak Polish, stick only to well-known brands with dual-language websites and try to find a branch where you can speak English with at least one person in case of a problem (or if someone there knows another language you use). Another key aspect is wide, free ATM usage, which ING, WBK and other major banks offer if you watch for the right symbols on the machines. Good luck.

Agreed in avoiding them, although strictly speaking SKOKs are not banks but member-owned financial cooperatives (credit unions), so they are not obliged to abide by the same banking regulations - which obviously many people fail to realise...

Douglas Monarch Bank.

Douglas Monarch Bank - never heard of them, so would not use.

I perosnally stayed with BZWBK for 15 years of my life until 3 years ago they introduced fee for foreign ATMs (everything else was fine).
Since then moved to ING and it's fine too, although they also removed free ATM's from their offer lately. Have some free ATMs with them in my city, and some other accounts, so will stay with them some more. Everything seems ok for now, didn't see anything terrible with them yet.

Don't like Alior somehow (small brand), used mband for a while, was ok. PKO seems to be very old fashioned, maybe it changed now.

@Jardinero Yup, but not exactly like US credit unions either. They seem to be some sort of franchised credit union network and badly capitalized. Plus, they have had a political connection to the current ruling regime.

The problem with the SKOK started under the previous government.

It started long before that even, and yes there are current issues. Personally I would avoid them.

There's a new bank out there (Nest Bank - looks to be British held) that offers what is advertised as a completely free account with a card, including free use of any ATM in Poland - and apparently no minimums to spend and without any strings attached:

nestbank.pl/indywidualny/konta/nest-konto.html?utm_source=2&utm_campaign=in&utm_content=main_nestkonto&utm_medium=www

I would avoid BZWBK. Outdated systems and attitude, high commissions, dishonest exchange rates.

I opened a USD account, when I tried to withdraw another currency (in Czech republic) they charged me as follows: commission + USD => PLN => CZK.

Why would coverting from a USD account to CZK go through PLN? One reason: simply the good old fashioned "screw your client as much you as can".

Avoid avoid avoid.

@groovyg
I bet it's stated there in your contract with BZ WBK. Read what you sign.

Read. Read. Read.

Personally, Credit Agricole is the absolute worst bank in Poland. French banks belong in spoiled France. They always have computer problems and are impossible to converse with. Takes weeks for written replies.

Always been happy with them - and they've always backed me when my businesses had poor cash flow. Now that I'm a lone operator, there is one main thing that matters to me....

They are extremely dog friendly - as a bank (and a pub) bloody well should be.

Bank Pekao is fantastic, decent online application in english, lots of features and security. Excellent english speaking call center. Go for the gold option its only a few pln a month extra and you get a multi ccy debit card. I have put quite a few transactions through them without any issues.

And most importantly...from what I could make out, a very good credit rating and Polish owned

Don't allow dogs. What is the bloody use of a bank when you're out and about that wont let you bring your best friend in as well?

Avoid.