Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises account for a significant share of economic activity in Poland and are therefore one of the banking sector’s most important customer groups.
Despite this, they have for years financed their operations primarily from their own resources, turning to bank loans mainly to maintain day-to-day liquidity.
According to banking sector representatives, greater use of investment financing could help companies expand more quickly. However, their relatively limited willingness to invest, regulatory instability and economic uncertainty remain significant barriers.
“Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are a very important segment from the banking sector’s perspective. The vast majority of businesses in Poland belong to this group, which generates approximately half of the country’s gross domestic product,” Agnieszka Wachnicka, Vice-President of the Polish Bank Association, told the Newseria news agency.
“This is an important customer segment both in terms of maintaining bank accounts and providing financing through loans,” she added.
Polish companies continue to rely on retained earnings
Polish micro, small and medium-sized businesses base their development primarily on retained earnings and capital provided by their owners.
The structure of corporate financing sources has remained almost unchanged for two decades.
“This is unfavourable because credit financing could allow microbusinesses to scale up more quickly and benefit from financial leverage,” Wachnicka said.
Another problem is the relatively low level of equity held by Polish companies. As a result, businesses carry out smaller investments than the potential of their operations would otherwise allow.
Greater use of external financing could increase the scale of investment projects, but it would also require a change in the attitudes of business owners themselves.
SME lending increased in 2025
There have nevertheless been signs of improvement in SME financing.
According to data from Poland’s Credit Information Bureau, the SME loan portfolio increased by 11.5% in 2025, reaching PLN 126.6 billion.
Investment loans rose by more than 34% year on year to PLN 28.9 billion.
Figures presented by the Polish Bank Association during the European SME Financing Forum indicate that only around 17% of Polish microbusinesses use bank credit, one of the lowest rates in the European Union, even though their total loan portfolio is worth almost PLN 70 billion.
Working capital loans remain the most popular form of bank financing among microbusinesses. They are generally used to cover operating expenses and manage liquidity.
Loans intended for the purchase of machinery, technology and property, or for increasing production capacity, are used far less frequently.
“Investment loans are currently used relatively rarely. However, this is not solely a matter of demand for credit. It is primarily linked to companies’ overall willingness to undertake investment,” the Polish Bank Association’s vice-president explained.
“A large proportion of businesses asked about their investment plans say they do not intend to launch any projects in the near future.”
SMEs account for almost all Polish businesses
Data from Statistics Poland illustrate the importance of the SME sector.
In 2024, micro, small and medium-sized entities accounted for 99.8% of all non-financial enterprises operating in Poland.
There were more than 2.37 million such businesses, including almost 2.31 million microenterprises.
Nearly 7 million people worked in the SME sector, representing more than two-thirds of all employees in non-financial companies.
The sector also generated approximately 54% of the total revenue of non-financial enterprises.
However, the large number of SMEs is not reflected to the same extent in the scale of their investment activity.
Although they account for almost the entire business population, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are responsible for only 43.5% of expenditure on tangible fixed assets.
Large companies account for the remaining 56.5%.
Regulatory uncertainty discourages long-term investment
According to Wachnicka, increasing investment activity will require not only suitable banking products but also a stable business environment.
Rapidly changing regulations and economic uncertainty make it more difficult for companies to assess whether long-term projects will be profitable.
“Until businesses are encouraged to invest through appropriate public policies and greater regulatory stability, it will be difficult to expect them to use investment loans more frequently,” she said.
“Business owners point out that regulatory instability and a rapidly changing economic situation make investment decisions difficult.”
Cooperative banks can improve access to capital
Cooperative banks could play an important role in improving microbusinesses’ access to capital.
Their main advantages include their local presence, direct relationships with business owners and familiarity with the characteristics of the markets in which their customers operate.
“For microbusinesses, cooperation with local banks is fundamental,” said Grzegorz Michalecki, Vice-President of Bank Spółdzielczy in Szczytno.
“Entrepreneurs who expect an individual approach are most likely to receive it in an environment where a banking community also operates and where both sides can draw on shared business experience.”
“This allows us to tailor our offer individually to the needs of business owners, particularly microentrepreneurs,” he added.
The basic requirement for obtaining financing remains sufficient creditworthiness.
However, the way it is assessed may depend on a bank’s operating model, the information available to it and its familiarity with the circumstances of a particular business.
“It is very important for an entrepreneur with a business idea to speak to a bank at an early stage and look for solutions together,” Michalecki said.
Local banks can assess companies individually
Assessing risk can be particularly difficult in industries that are more exposed to an economic slowdown, regulatory changes or rising operating costs.
Large financial institutions take the risk associated with an entire sector into account in their credit assessment models.
Local banks, by contrast, may be able to place greater emphasis on the individual financial condition of a particular company.
“Because of their local character, cooperative banks know business owners better and do not have to base their decisions exclusively on the situation of an entire industry,” Michalecki said.
“We believe that by knowing our customers, we can identify leaders in every sector who are capable of achieving strong results and high profitability even during more difficult periods.”
Loan portfolio quality remains relatively good
According to the Polish Bank Association representative, the quality of the microbusiness loan portfolio remains relatively good.
“Data from the Credit Information Bureau indicate that the impaired loan ratio remains at approximately 15%, based on payments overdue by more than 90 days,” Wachnicka said.
“However, it should be remembered that microentrepreneurs also frequently use leasing products. In this segment, the impaired contract ratio is very low, at around 3%.”
