Deregulation of the Polish banking sector is essential to restoring competitiveness, which has been undermined by an excessive number of regulations, says Agnieszka Wachnicka, Vice President of the Polish Bank Association (ZBP). The government has already taken first steps, and the financial sector’s proposals are being positively considered. At the same time, banks are actively adopting innovations and digitalization to streamline processes and improve customer experience. The challenge, Wachnicka stresses, is to maintain a balance between ensuring financial stability and allowing banks to operate more freely and competitively.
“Deregulation is a much-needed step. In recent years, we have seen a major inflation of laws and regulations, both in Poland and at the EU level, and this has significantly lowered the competitiveness of our businesses. We need to simplify regulations, though the government has chosen not to push through one sweeping law, but to process each deregulation project separately. It will take time, but from the financial market’s perspective, the proposals we submitted have been positively addressed, so we are on the right track,” Wachnicka told Newseria news agency.
Modernization Through Deregulation and Digitalization
The deregulation effort in the financial sector aims to improve banking operations, enhance customer safety, and modernize services through digital tools. Examples include allowing banks access to PESEL data (Poland’s personal identification system), access to images from the national ID database, and the digitalization of promissory notes (e-weksel). Other measures simplify reporting obligations and routine banking operations.
Despite the need for regulation and supervision to ensure safety, Wachnicka emphasizes that over-regulation restricts banks’ ability to compete and to offer attractive products. A recent example of innovation is PKO BP’s introduction of a digital mortgage in autumn 2024.
Government and EU-Level Actions
Deregulation work, coordinated by Rafał Brzoska’s team, began in February 2025. Within its first 100 days, the government adopted 125 deregulation proposals from stakeholders and submitted 63 draft laws to parliament. Alongside domestic reforms, the team is also preparing recommendations for changes at the EU level, since much of the regulation affecting financial services originates in Brussels. However, once transposed into Polish law, EU rules are often tightened unnecessarily.
“Simplification must also come from the EU level, since banking is largely governed by EU regulations. Unfortunately, in Poland we often practice so-called ‘gold-plating’—implementing EU law but adding our own extra rules. This makes our sector more heavily regulated than competitors in other EU countries,” Wachnicka said.
Key Proposals from the Banking Sector
Initial demands from banks included:
- introduction of electronic promissory notes,
- simplified corporate lending by granting leasing, factoring, and debt funds access to credit registers,
- bank access to verify a customer’s photo against public databases,
- eliminating the need for citizens to notify banks when changing ID cards,
- and lowering barriers to financial services.
Later proposals focused on eliminating over-implementation of EU law, simplifying accounting rules, adjusting creditworthiness assessment requirements, and updating regulations for custodian banks.
Banking Innovation and Customer Benefits
“Banks are taking steps to cut bureaucracy. A great example is the digital mortgage, which completely digitizes the mortgage loan process so customers no longer need to deliver piles of paper documents in person. Poland’s banking sector is highly innovative: today you can open an account without ever visiting a branch. These innovations are meant to make banking simpler and more convenient for clients,” Wachnicka explained.
