As a foreign person living in Poland for a while, you are probably going to earn some money here. So you think that opening a bank account in Poland is a good idea. Well, you couldn’t be more right! This is going to be the most practical way to get the best out of the exchange rate.
If you want to know why you should open a Polish bank account, check out our article here.
A huge majority of Polish banks allow foreign people to open an account, but some are really making a difference with foreigners, to facilitate this process. We’ve been in touch with a dozen of Polish banks, to find the best ones for foreigners, and we selected three of them. Obviously, we are not saying that this selection needs to be taken for granted and our selection is the only true one, but this top is a result of our researches.
Also, if you feel too lazy to read all the details, you can also directly go to our selection of the best banks for foreigners in Poland here.
Top 3 best banks for foreigners in Poland
MILLENNIUM Bank
To open an account with the Millennium Bank, you also just need to visit one of their banks with your valid passport.
The “Konto 360°” in PLN seems to be the best compromise for foreigners. It is available everywhere, 24/7. You receive a free Millennium Visa debit card, the cash withdrawal in all ATM’s (Polish and foreign), and the online payments without any charges.
Also, you will be able not to pay anything for the account maintenance, the debit card, the cash withdrawals from all ATMs in Poland and abroad if you meet these two conditions monthly:
- You make at least one non-cash payment with the card issued for Konto 360°
- The incoming funds to Konto 360° equal minimum 1000 PLN
But if you don’t meet those conditions, the monthly fee for Konto 360° is 8PLN, plus 7PLN for the Millennium Visa card, and some fees for withdrawing money with ATMs.
ING Bank
To open an account with ING Bank, you just need to visit one of their bank in Poland with your valid passport. The “Direct account” will permit you to get a Visa card. Cash withdrawals in ING bank and Planetcash ATMs are for free, and you can withdraw in other ATMs for free only once in a month, then they will charge 2,5 PLN.
There is no account maintenance fee. And you will be able not to pay anything for the debit card and the cash withdrawals from ATMs if you make at least one non-cash payment of at least 300 PLN with the debit card. And if you don’t, you will need to pay 7 PLN for the debit card monthly.
PKO Bank
To open an account with the PKO Bank, you just need to visit one of their bank with your valid passport. The PKO Zero account will permit you to get a debit card. Cash withdrawals in PKO bank ATMs are for free, but you will be charged with a 5PLN fee when you withdraw in other ATMs.
There is no account maintenance fee if your monthly inflows amount to minimum 1500 PLN. You will be able not to pay anything for the debit card if you make card transactions of at least 300 PLN.
Our ranking
As you can see, these different offers are more or less pretty similar, with a lot of advantages. So to help decide between these different banks, we took into account some major criteria:
- English friendly: is there an English version of the website? Can we discuss with the staff in English without problem?
- Affordability: are the fees higher comparing to each bank?
- Special extras: are there some free extras, like withdrawing abroad for free? Making international money transfers?
Millennium Bank
English friendly +++
Affordability +++
Special extras +++
ING Bank
English friendly ++
Affordability +++
Special extras ++
PKO Bank
English friendly +
Affordability +++
Special extras +
We hope that this small ranking will help you find your bank in Poland! See you soon!