At some point in your stay in Poland, you might decide to use financing from a bank. To make it easier for you, we will break the available options and explain how they work.
Among the options available on the market, those are the most popular ones:
- cash loan
- mortgage
- consolidation loan
- investment loan
- car loan
- credit card
Below we will describe each of those types of financing as per the purpose, maximum amount, period, main factors while applying, and the current prices. Please note that the information we provide is as per the official data from the banks. Often, these parameters are amended by the bank’s analyst due to the given customer’s situation.
Cash loan:
- can be used for any purpose
- the maximum amount regulated by the law – 255 550 zloty
- the maximum period cannot exceed 120 months
- most of the banks will not offer this kind of loan for the period longer than the residency card validity (does not apply to EU nationals)
- the main factor when applying is the customer’s income situation (the type of agreement, working continuity, etc.)
- the prices at the moment start from 5% nominal and around 8% real yearly interest rate (the real interest rate is the total cost of the loan per year when factors other than nominal interest rate are added to it – it is the most reliable way to compare bank offers)
Mortgage:
- can be used for housing purposes only
- the maximum amount differs between the banks, some would allow even up to 10 million zloty
- the maximum period offered at the moment, but not in every bank, is 35 years (commonly 30 years)
- the main requirement, besides residency status and income situation, is the upfront from the customer, at the moment at least 10% of the property value
- besides assessing the customer, the bank evaluates and accepts the financed property
- the prices at the moment start from above 2% nominal and below 3% real yearly interest rate
- for more information regarding the mortgage, please check here: https://loan-brokers.pl/b/a-comprehensive-guide-to-mortgage-in-poland
Consolidation loan:
- must be used to optimize the liabilities the customer currently possess (with a possibility to add some amount on top of them)
- the maximum amount and period are the same as with the cash loan
- the situation regarding the customer’s current liabilities, their structure, the history of repayment, etc., will be the main factor affecting the application, besides the basic ones
- the prices currently start at circa 6% nominal and 7% real yearly interest rate
Investment loan:
- can be used for investment purpose only and is dedicated to business customers
- the maximum amount is calculated individually as per the company’s financial situation
- the maximum period is 20 years
- the main factor, besides mentioned financial situation, is the period of activity of the customer’s company (one year is considered a minimum, but many banks require even two), but also the financed investment will be under the bank’s scrutiny
- as with the maximum amount, the price of such a loan is very individual and more of a subject of B2B negotiations, rather than a fixed bank offer
Car loan:
- as the name would suggest, designed for financing a car purchase only
- the maximum amount in some banks can go up to 400 thousand zloty
- the maximum period is 144 months
- the main factor within the application, besides the customer’s situation, explained previously in other loan types, is the car itself, as it can be new, but also second-hand, with the limitation of its age up to 12 years
- the current official prices start from above 4% nominal and around 5% real yearly interest rate
Credit card:
- as with a cash loan, you can use the credit card for any purpose
- some banks can offer a limit even up to 1 million zloty
- the card is usually for one year and then renewed automatically
- from all of the presented options, a credit card is the easiest to get, with similarity to the cash loan
- the interest rate on a credit card is in most cases tracks the ‘lombard rate’ set up by Monetary Policy Council, at the moment banks charge 7,2% per year
- when using a credit card, you can profit from ‘grace period’, which is up to 50+ days, depending on the bank, and if used correctly, can make the card free of charge for the customer
The above types of bank financing in Poland are the most popular ones, besides them, we also have less common products, like revolving limit within a bank account. Or ‘hybrid’ products, offered by companies, which are not banks per se, but are working under the banks, like leasing or factoring.
To summarize, the number and complexity of the financing options in Poland are too high to allow describing it fully within a blog article. Moreover, banks’ offer is updated sometimes on even weekly basis. When you find yourself in need of any bank financing here, feel welcome to query us to explore your current options.
Best regards,
Loan-brokers.pl Team