Wondering about opening a savings account in Poland

ukpolska wrote:

Two years ago I was arguing till I was blue in the face with them trying to get a joint account with my wife.
This is after they told me that I could not have a joint account, because I was a foreigner and the only way the would do it is that I had a "stay visa", which was abolished after May 1, 2004 with Poland's entry into the EU.

When they finally admitted that they were wrong they said still could not do anything because head office had still not revised its rules, nearly two years after Poland's entry to the EU.

SmokeyoneThreads: 18 Posts: 63 Joined: Oct 25, 07	Jan 23, 08, 03:40 / #
Hello I nip back and forth to Poland around six times a year and with the pound zloty exchange rate getting worse (good for poland, not so much fun for me) I wondered about opening a savings account in Poland. Any particular problems about opening an account and say put 5000 zloty in it. I could give a polish address if needed and draw on the money as and when. I do not mind paying tax on the interest if the bank deducts it but did not want to start receiving letters from the polish inland revenue. Thanks

helloThreads: 37 Posts: 1,104 Joined: Dec 5, 06	Jan 23, 08, 18:24 / #
You shouldn't have any problems - there are both online and offline banks you could use. I cannot recommend anything, but just try to check this page that lists most of Polish banks: skarbiec.biz/banki/

AvalonThreads: 3 Posts: 805 Joined: Sep 11, 07	Jan 24, 08, 03:11 / #
There is no problem opening a Polish bank accounts as long as you have a Polish address. Any profit earned on interest or investments is presently taxed at 19% at source by the bank so there is no need to get involved with the Polish Tax authorities.

Bev07Threads: 5 Posts: 13 Joined: Feb 19, 07	Jan 24, 08, 04:27 / #
There was a discussion recently about same topic. Search for the following: "Banks in Poland - Any good recommendations". I use WBK. Their website is VERY English user friendly. You have to go to the bank to set up account, be sure to allow at least an hour to do so. I couldn't believe the wait, but now that I'm set up I'm happy as I do everything with online banking.

SmokeyoneThreads: 18 Posts: 63 Joined: Oct 25, 07	Jan 24, 08, 15:53 / #
Thanks for the help. Do not really need internet banking at the moment. Straightforward savings account would be okay, go into the bank and withdraw cash. Do banks have such a thing in Poland !

HarryThreads: 62 Posts: 8,508 Joined: May 2, 07 [Suspended]	Jan 25, 08, 06:02 / #
Smokeyone wrote: Straightforward savings account would be okay, go into the bank and withdraw cash. Do banks have such a thing in Poland ! Trust me: you do not want to go into a bank and do anything: customer service in banks varies from disinterested to downright rude. You can be a member of the board of PKO BP and the staff at BKO BP will still treat you like ****. I would very much recommend an account with Citibank: the automatic telephone banking is entirely in English (or Polish if you prefer), so is the internet banking, and they always have English-speaking staff available when you want to speak to a person (in ten years of using them I have never not been able speak to an English-speaking operator, no matter what time I call up). They also have special accounts in the UK for Poles marketed under the "Two countries - one bank" slogan. Would be nice to see Brits using the same accounts, then we can compare the service offered by Citibank in Poland and the UK.

ukpolskaThreads: 51 Posts: 2,236 Joined: Oct 23, 06 MEMBER	Jan 25, 08, 06:46 / #
Millennium Bank have the same facilities as you describe above Harry, and I know what you are talking about when you refer to PKO BP. Two years ago I was arguing till I was blue in the face with them trying to get a joint account with my wife. This is after they told me that I could not have a joint account, because I was a foreigner and the only way the would do it is that I had a "stay visa", which was abolished after May 1, 2004 with Poland's entry into the EU. When they finally admitted that they were wrong they said still could not do anything because head office had still not revised its rules, nearly two years after Poland's entry to the EU. That was that and off I trotted to Millennium Bank where I was welcomed with welcome arms and opened a joint and Business account within two days; not only that I got free with them as well. And as you say the internet banking and the automatic telephone banking in English is a godsend. I have a couple of savings accounts with Lukas Bank, which offer a high interest return on your savings, maybe the poster should take a look at the Bank:)

HarryThreads: 62 Posts: 8,508 Joined: May 2, 07 [Suspended]	Jan 25, 08, 07:19 / #
ukpolska wrote: Two years ago I was arguing till I was blue in the face with them trying to get a joint account with my wife. This is after they told me that I could not have a joint account, because I was a foreigner and the only way the would do it is that I had a "stay visa", which was abolished after May 1, 2004 with Poland's entry into the EU. When they finally admitted that they were wrong they said still could not do anything because head office had still not revised its rules, nearly two years after Poland's entry to the EU. The comment about even board members being treated like **** by BKO BP staff was based on the experience of a former student of mine. He was headhunted by PKO BP and when he joined the bank he decided he should have an account with the bank. So he popped into the branch inside the HQ of BKO BP to open one. One desk had a long queue but the other open desk had none, so he went to the one with no queue. The hag behind the desk refused to help him because her desk was only for VIP customers and he was not a VIP customer (because he was not a customer at all, he would be a VIP customer but only once he became a customer). Despite him showing her his security pass and business card she would not serve him and told him she would call security to remove him if he did not step away from the desk.