Bank efforts dominating Polish fintech scene

Due to an era of low interest rates, banks in Poland found it difficult to compete with prices and, thus, began competing with innovations. Unlike in other markets, Polish Fintech innovations came from established banks, rather than newcomers. For example, Poland’s most popular mobile payment service, BLIK, was created by the heads of country’s six largest banks, who came to the conclusion that the market needed a new service.

Today, services such as free real-time online payments are standard, contactless payment is available in almost every shop throughout the country and customers have a choice of apps for organizing their finances. Despite this, however, innovations developed in Poland’s domestic banking sector are struggling to spread beyond the country. In order to raise their profile as innovators in the sector, Polish banks are sharing their know-how and business models with foreign lenders and investing in start-ups seeking to sell their products to the industry.

Source: www.ft.com