ONLINE BUSINESS REGISTRATION
Now 6 banks in the CEE region, and 5 of them in Poland, offer online business registration services proceeded on bank’s websites or via online banking systems.
Nowadays in Poland, approximately 25 000 entrepreneurs register their business each month, 11 000 of which are registered online, and every fourth business is registered online with bank assistance.
From January this year Polish bank Pekao has made that fully digital process available as well, so their PI (private individual) customers do not have to go to any office or print any papers, just stay safe at their homes, and start the business!
Bank’s customer can submit all documents for registration of a sole proprietorship together with the application for a business account via Pekao24 Online banking.
The entire procedure takes only several minutes, and all documents are signed with an e-profile (trusted profile) created in the registration process.
„We are one of the few banks that has provided its customers remote business registration process. Setting up a business through a bank is very simple, fast, and – most importantly – free. The application is short, intuitive, with checkboxes, additional descriptions, and explanations. Many fields are filled in automatically, based on the customer’s information available in the bank. The possibility of signing it with a trusted profile is an additional convenience” says Marcin Kołakowski, Head of Business Clients Department at Pekao Bank.
ONLINE OPENING OF BUSINESS ACCOUNT
During business registration process, business bank account is opened automatically, which is activated after the confirmation of business registration (after receiving confirmation from CEIDG – Central Register and Information on Economic Activity). Customer receives confirmation of business registration by e-mail and SMS usually up to 2 hours after application submitted.
Next, customer is assigned with NIP (tax identification number), REGON (National Business Registry Number), reported to ZUS (Social Insurance Institution). Additionally, debit business card is issued, and additional auxiliary accounts can be opened if needed.
Such an online business registration service was implemented at the bank in cooperation with the Ministry of Development, Labor and Technology, and the Ministry of Digital Affairs.
CUSTOMERS GET ADDITIONAL BONUS
To motivate and acquire customers for that service, Bank offers additional bonus to the customer: if they register their business with the Bank till the end of March, customer receives 1 100 PLN (appr 240 EUR) as a bonus, also newly opened business account and Mastercard debit card issued for 12 months is free of charge.
Source: Pekao Bank’s press release from 11.01.2021
Bank Pekao S.A., established in 1929, is one of the largest financial institutions in the Central and Eastern Europe region and the second largest universal bank in Poland, with assets of around PLN 235 billion. With the second largest branch network, Bank Pekao serves over 5.7 million customers.
Additionally on the topic:
Watch SME Banking Club webinar devoted to the functionalities of Online Banking and Mobile Banking for SMEs (based on the materials of Online Banking for SMEs Study and Mobile Banking for SMEs Study produced for the CEE region in 2020)