Distribution channels

As at 31 December 2020, the Bank had

As a part of a network optimization project, 236 retail and business banking branches were closed from 31 October 2018 to the end of 2020 (in 2020, 56 banking branches were closed and a one branch was opend – Kęty ul. Kościuszki 23).

In the first half of 2020 a transformation of the branch network, which begun in 2017 was continued. A new branch design was introduced, and a new customer service model based on moving basic everyday transactions to self-service channels was further developed. In total, as at 31 December 2020, the Bank has 179 branches operating in the new format (including and 161 branches transformed and 18 without changes in design).

In 124 branches, (including 2 partner branches), cash services are provided only in self-service devices.

• As at 31 December 2020, the Bank had 51 branches with the „Facility without barriers” Certificate, issued by the Integration Foundation for good practices in providing services for the disabled.
• All Bank branches obtained the OK SENIOR® Certificate, which confirms that senior (60+) customers are served in a safe, easily comprehensible and accessible manner.
• The sales network for Corporate Banking consists of 9 Regional Corporate Business Centres, within which there are 25 Corporate Business Centres located in the largest business centres in Poland.
• For the SME segment, the sales network includes 8 SME Banking Regions comprising 50 SME Business Centres, located on 37 local markets with the highest potential.

As at 31 December 2020 the Bank had:

In 2020 the Bank continued an intensive development of remote channels, implementing a number of functionalities to strengthen its competitive position, reduce service costs and improve the quality of customer service while ensuring the highest security standards.

In addition, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank’s focus in the Internet banking system was also on providing customer support in remote access to banking services and products.

BNP Paribas Bank Polska has consistently introduced, into its e-banking offer, new self-service processes, which allow customers to fulfill their most important needs on a daily basis without the need to visit a branch – starting from the application for additional products, through after-sales service – from any device and at a time convenient for them.

In October 2020 Bank won second place in the Remote Banking category in the „Newsweek’s Friendly Bank” ranking.

In the area of transactions, numerous improvements have been introduced to increase the functionality and attractiveness of the system and to improve the transparency of the presented information, such as:

•  BNP Paribas Bank Polska is the first bank on the Polish market to offer its clients a possibility of automatic collection of an Individual Tax Account by filling in a transfer form in online banking, which significantly shortens the time of PIT, CIT and VAT payments.
• Possibility to verify whether the contractor is registered as an active VAT taxpayer – the so-called „white VAT list”.
• Split Payment” transfers can be duplicated from the transaction history – the data of a previously made transfer are automatically completed.
• Extension of the PayByNeT Internet transfer service with a possibility of quick transfers from an account maintained by BNP Paribas Bank Polska under the government administration services, e.g. paying taxes (podatek.gov.pl).
• Possibility to suspend/resume a standing order without the necessity to delete and re-create.

• Faster process of setting up a standing order when submitting a domestic transfer order.
• Credit card debt repayment form – presentation of the upcoming payment date of the minimum amount.
•  Possibility to make a transfer in a currency other than PLN between customer’s own accounts in GOmobile.
• GOonline:
  • presentation of information about upcoming scheduled payments in the transaction history view,
  • Express Elixir transfers are counted – while filling in the transfer form in GOonline, the customer receives information about the number of free Express Elixir transfers remaining to be used,
  • GOonline users have been given the possibility to quickly and automatically verify the recipient’s account number on the domestic transfer form and the „Split Payment” transfer,
  • setting the default authorization method (mobile token).

Development plan in the area of Internet and mobile banking is based on the client’s voice. Regular feedback e.g. through a customer satisfaction survey allows for more efficient identification of advantages and disadvantages of offered services and better understanding of individual customer needs.

• New product list in GOmobile. Refreshed, ergonomic interface makes it easier for customers to satisfy their most important everyday needs such as. e.g. verification of the balance, transfer, change of the card PIN, verification of points in the mamBONUS loyalty program or sharing the account number. The interface has been made compatible with the GOonline internet banking, so the customer receives the same information regardless of the channel. Finally, the new view will enable customers to initiate the process of applying for new products, such as cash loans, foreign currency accounts and credit cards.
• The possibility to immediately call a consultant in the Call Center from the GOmobile – „click-to-call”. The new service gives the customer logged in to GOmobile application a chance to quickly and conveniently connect with the Bank’s consultant and obtain information about products and services, omitting the authentication stage in the IVR automatic service and reducing the number of verification questions compared to the traditional connection path with the consultant.
• 3D Touch and Long Press. Customers using the GOmobile application while holding the application icon on their phone’s screen for a longer time can benefit from quick shortcuts to the most frequently used functions: BLIK code generation, domestic transfer, phone top-up, transaction history.
• Dedicated information section in GOonline containing, among other, answers to frequently asked questions about the use of electronic banking.
• Possibility to send a message to the Bank’s consultant at any time – the customer can describe his/her case and send a message to the Bank (with an attachment) at any time via GOonline – regardless of the Bank’s working hours.
• Select the default profile in GOonline. Customers with access to more than one relationship (e.g. own accounts, power of attorney, company accounts) can indicate which view should be displayed automatically each time they log in to online banking.

• Adding to the transaction history the option to download a statement in PDF format in accordance with filters defined by the customer.
• Presentation of historical transactions in the form of a calendar in GOonline.
• Possibility to download transaction confirmation for new types of transactions – e.g. direct debit, commissions and fees, BLIK transaction, IKE transaction, credit operations, interest.
• Summary of expenses and inflows over a given period in the form of an intuitive „Transaction Calendar” view in GOonline.
• Additional languages for SMS notifications – Ukrainian and Russian.
• Management of the notification package of card transactions.
• Possibility to receive push notifications of transactions for all co-account holders.
• Presentation of information about rejected transactions in GOonline. It is possible to filter and download the list.
• Push notifications and SMS sent automatically after rejecting the transaction.
• Push notifications and SMS sent automatically after rejecting the transaction. § Possibility of activating notifications for selected events – the customer can select events of interest regarding the products he or she owns and security for which he or she would like to receive SMS and e-mail notifications – without the need to activate a package covering all possible events.
• Presentation of the number of free money transfers from the savings account made by a client.

Customer security is a basic element of the Bank’s e-banking development strategy; therefore, the GOonline system has been supplemented with additional mechanisms to prevent possible consequences of unauthorised access and campaigns promoting modern authorisation methods and responsible use of remote channels.

In May 2020, the Pl@net internet banking system was deactivated for individual customers from Retail Banking segment, and therefore all customers were transferred to the modern GOonline platform (along with their existing history of communication with the Bank, transfer templates, future-dated transfers and subscriptions to notifications).

In the second half of 2020, however, further customer migrations to the GOonline system were conducted:

• September – migration of Carrefour customers from Pl@net system to GOonline, Carrefour customers are logging into GOonline, where their products are presented in their personal profile: credit cards, instalment and cash loans. Customers who are both BNP and Carrefour Financial Services customers, regardless of the login they log in to GOonline with (BNP login or Carrefour login migrated from Pl@nety) have the same view including BNP and Carrefour products. Additionally, users of mobile application Carrefour My Finance were migrated to GOmobile application.
• December – almost 200,000 Optima customers were migrated from Pl@net system to GOoptima, a modern system dedicated to customers from this business line, allowing among others on: closing accounts, transferring to a related account and changing a related account. A GOoptima Customer can log into a GOoptima profile with a dedicated view. A BNP Paribas Customer who also has a GOoptima Account after logging in to BNP Paribas banking can switch to the GOoptima profile.

As regards the issuing and servicing of payment cards, BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. cooperates with MasterCard and Visa. The card portfolio includes debit, credit and deferred payment cards.

As of 31 December 2020, the number of cards issued amounted to 2,433.8 thousand and was 100.8 thousand higher than a year before. The recorded growth in debit cards is mainly due to the introduction of new products to the bank’s offers: My Premium Card (Moja Karta Premium) – issued to dedicated My Premium Account (Mojego Konta Premium) (Q2 2020), Starter Bank (Starter Bankowy) – a card offered at Shell petrol stations (Q3 2020), Family Banking offer (Q4 2020) – Adult Card (Karta do Dorosłości) issued to persons aged 13-18, Karta Samodzielniaka and Mikrokarta Samodzielniaka Microcard issued to children aged 7-13.

At the end of December 2020, as regards Retail and Business Banking, the Bank actively cooperated with 13 nationwide intermediaries on the basis of outsourcing contracts for the acquisition of banking products, as well as 339 local intermediaries (based on marketing agreements).

As regards Personal Finance, the Bank cooperated with 13 nationwide intermediaries and 1 online intermediary, on the basis of outsourcing contracts for the acquisition of the cash loan product.