PKO Bank Polski Awarded With the “Bank of the Year 2020” Title

2020.12.04

PKO Bank Polski was honoured for the sixth time with the “Bank of the Year in Poland” title, awarded by “The Banker”, British magazine which belongs to the Financial Times Group.
A group of international experts recognized the bank’s systematic transformation which has made it mobile, innovative and digital.
The digital transformation, forming a fixed element of the bank’s DNA, has made it easier for PKO Bank Polski to operate during the coronavirus pandemic.

For the sixth time PKO Bank Polski was awarded the "Bank of the Year in Poland" title. This prestigious distinction in the financial industry confirms that the digital transformation strategy implemented by the Bank is recognized not only in the country, but also abroad.

“The year 2020 is going to remembered as the time when mass global migration to remote services took place. Several years ago, PKO Bank Polski focused on digitization, innovations and development of modern technologies. These decisions are paying off today in a more difficult economic environment. “The Bank of the Year 2020” title and the effects accomplished so far confirm that we have chosen the optimum direction of development. In the coming years, we will continue the transition, gradually transforming into PKO Banking Platform – a technological institution with a banking license.”

says Zbigniew Jagiełło, the CEO of PKO Bank Polski

Leader of Digitization and Remote Services

For several years, PKO Bank Polski has been efficiently implementing a strategy based on digitization. It is building competitive advantages using the technological potential, greatly exceeding the traditional financial realm. Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are trends which the bank is pursuing in multiple areas. Thanks to the involvement of PKO Bank Polski, technological solutions were also developed, revolutionizing the approach to e-administration services.

The Bank creates and makes advanced IT solutions available on an extensive scale. It cooperates with leaders of the fintech market and has initiated incorporation of the Domestic Cloud Provider, which is currently developed with another shareholder - the Polish Development Fund. PKO Bank Polski is using selected services of the Domestic Cloud Provider and global cloud suppliers. In the next three years, key business IT systems of the Bank will rely on cloud computing based on hybrid architecture.

5 Millions of Active IKO Apps and Car Purchases Made At Home

The mobile banking app IKO is constantly gaining popularity; to-date, it has been activated over 5 million times. Since the moment of its launch in March 2013, the users have logged into it 2.6 billion times and performed 544 million transactions with the use of it for the total amount of PLN 152 billion. Banking with spoken commands is very popular among customers – in the course of three months from launch of the voice assistant, the IKO users carried out 200,000 conversations and made transfers for PLN 1.5 million. The IKO app is continually enhanced with new functions. In the recent months, it was provided with an option of setting up a “selfie account”, setting up a business account with simultaneous registration of business activity in the Central Registration and Information on Business (CEiDG), checking the account balance in another bank or access to video-consultant's support.

PKO Bank Polski implemented durable medium 2.0, developing a solution of 2018 which allows for making digital documents available to clients. Access to electronic data was used 11 million times, which brought the bank savings of PLN 20 million. This solution was prepared by PKO Bank Polski, KIR, Domestic Cloud Provider and technological partners. New possibilities of the medium will be used in the first place for offering breakdowns of transactions for credit cards as well as documents related to cash loans.

When implementing goals related to digitization, the Bank has launched the first Polish banking platform for purchasing new and used cars - Automarket. Via this platform, clients can purchase technically verified cars that are covered by a guarantee, whereas the purchase may be immediately finalised with the use of the Bank’s Group products. Automarket moves the entire car purchase process to the virtual world: from selection of a proper offer, through payment processing or selection of the mode of financing, up to delivery of the car to the designated address. The platform was created within just half a year thanks to the use of agile approach to the project and pooling of resources of PKO Bank Polski, PKO Leasing and Masterlease.

“The Banker” monthly magazine, published since 1926, is considered a particularly valuable and objective source of information about the condition and the prospects of the global financial sector by managerial personnel of banks around the world. Winner in the category “Bank of the Year” receives a statuette named in honour of Brendan Bracken, founder of “The Banker” monthly who managed the “Financial Times” between 1945 and 1958.

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PKO Bank Polski is the undisputed leader of the Polish banking sector. After three quarters of 2020, its consolidated net profit amounted to PLN 2.02 billion and the value of assets was PLN 377 billion. The bank is the basic provider of financial services for all customer segments, achieving the highest shares in the savings market (18.4%), loans (17.6%), the leasing market (11.2%) and the personal investment fund market. physical (22.2 percent). With over 9.55 million payment cards, the bank is the largest issuer of debit and credit cards in Poland. Thanks to the development of digital tools, including the IKO application, which at the end of the third quarter of 2020 had over 5 million active applications, PKO Bank Polski is the most mobile bank in Poland. The Bank's strong position is strengthened by the companies of the Capital Group. Dom Maklerski PKO Banku Polskiego is a leader in terms of the number and value of IPO and SPO transactions on the capital market.

Szymon Pinderak

Press Center

prasa@pkobp.pl

+48 22 521 53 85

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