Within the framework of the Cashless Poland Program, nearly 440,000 payment terminals have been installed in Poland, and this number is steadily growing. As a result, situations where customers have no choice of payment method are much less common than just a few years ago. "The last thirty years have seen very dynamic development in the financial sector and cashless payments in Poland. We now have over 1.1 million payment terminals – of which as many as 440,000 are thanks to the Foundation's efforts – and all of them support contactless transactions," says Grażyna Ciurzyńska, president of the Cashless Poland Foundation. Experts from the Economic Analysis Team at the auditing firm EY estimated that due to the increased number of locations supporting cashless payments, over 1 million additional payment cards and 920,000 individual bank accounts were registered in Poland by the end of 2020. Education is Key to Success In May this year, the Foundation commissioned a study which showed that in Poland, nearly one-third of consumers do not use cashless payments. This is mainly due to a lack of knowledge about the benefits of using modern payment methods and the myths circulating about them. Almost 60% of people who use cash daily believe that they can be easily robbed when paying by card. Almost the same number of Poles also fear that during online payments, unauthorized individuals may gain access to their data. Among the barriers that significantly hinder consumers from switching to cashless payment systems, in addition to concerns about online security, respondents also mentioned the difficulty of remembering PINs and passwords. So, how can the level of digital literacy in society be increased and how can digitally excluded individuals gain access to verified, reliable information? "As a Foundation, we focus heavily on educational activities. We want to reach as many Poles as possible with information about the benefits of cashless payments," says Grażyna Ciurzyńska. Foundation's Activities The Cashless Poland Foundation focuses its activities on cooperation and partnerships with institutions that are actively involved in rural areas and small towns. These are organizations that support local community development and ensure integration and information flow among residents. The specialized educational portal GotowiBezgotowkowi.pl also promotes knowledge and skills related to the broad sphere of finance. Users will find information and advice on cashless payments, digital finance, online security, and even household financial management, as well as practical articles, expert tips, and educational materials and tools. "The content posted on the portal is presented in an accessible way and is divided into categories so that each user can quickly and intuitively find the topics that interest them," points out Grażyna Ciurzyńska. So far, over 306,000 entrepreneurs across Poland have joined the Cashless Poland Program. Nearly 440,000 payment terminals have been implemented. "One could say that these are just numbers. However, they translate into the actual appearance of payment terminals in places where, just a few years ago, no one expected to be able to pay using contactless methods," adds the president of the Cashless Poland Foundation. These include, for example, market stalls, small service points, florists, and churches.

The head of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) spoke with a journalist from our editorial team as part of the autumn edition of the Impact’21 conference. They discussed the impact of the pandemic on the digitalization of the financial sector, affecting both private and public institutions.
How Did the Pandemic Change the Financial Sector?
Technological innovation and digitalization have recently become an extremely significant positive "side effect" of the pandemic. This also applies to the financial sector.

But what does digitalization in the financial sector entail? Are classic banks currently competing with fintechs? – Marek Chądzyński asked his interlocutor.

When it comes to Polish banks, they were already technological leaders on a European scale – indicated Jacek Jastrzębski. Of course, the changes that were naturally occurring in the sector have been extremely accelerated by the pandemic – he added.

"Not all processes in our banking were significantly digitized" – the head of KNF also stated. Some departments functioned largely in person, but as a result of the pandemic, they developed remote work methods that were available to them.

An example could be the insurance sector, where the specifics of client contact meant that it was most often personal. During the pandemic, however, this sector developed remote communication methods.

Overall, banks operating in Poland can be called fintechs with a license to conduct banking activities – said Jastrzębski, referring to the high level of technological advancement of these institutions.
Digitalization in the Public Sector
However, the pandemic did not only bring about changes in commercial institutions. Changes also occurred in public institutions and administration.

From the perspective of the KNF, it can be said that thanks to the pandemic, we decided to implement solutions that already existed, but for which we were not previously ready due to established habits – indicated the head of the Commission.

Technologies that enabled digital supervision of the financial sector "already existed, and the pandemic forced us to use them" – he added.

However, a problematic issue regarding the digitalization of the financial sector is, of course, the issue of security. As Jacek Jastrzębski said, the problem nowadays is mainly not IT attacks, but social engineering. Instead of targeting bank operating systems, fraudsters try to extort data from us ourselves.

As the KNF chairman pointed out in a conversation with Marek Chądzyński, many institutions have a role to play in educating about financial security online – banks, the police, as well as the Commission. Classes on this topic could also take place in schools – and this would be an excellent solution, but there are no current agreements on this matter, said Jacek Jastrzębski.

During the first day of Impact, it turned out that skills acquired "during communism" are crucial for conference survival. The first day of Impact kicked off with a big "boom," a conversation with Hillary Clinton, followed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. In his address, which looked more towards the future (the Prime Minister did not refer to current problems), he spoke about how much he believes state economic policy creation is needed and emphasized the importance of statism. The speech was slightly disrupted by activists who stood in the middle of the audience with a banner directed at the Prime Minister reading "Climate first, profits later." Subsequently, the conference branched out into 5 different thematic sections. One of the most widely quoted interviews on stage was a conversation between 300Gospodarka journalist, Marek Chądzyński, and the Minister of Finance, Tadeusz Kościński, who boasted about the budget surplus in September. "The budget situation is very good. The budget surplus after September was PLN 47.6 billion," Kościński told Marek Chądzyński during Impact'21. The Minister added that all tax revenues are growing, including VAT and CIT (by 20% each) and PIT (by 15%). According to Kościński, elevated inflation (by about 1.5% compared to budget assumptions) will result in additional budget revenues of approximately PLN 4 billion this year. "This inflation is caused by various factors, many of them external. Energy prices, gas prices, oil prices have gone up significantly. We had a year of lockdown, we saved a lot because we weren't spending, so now we're starting to spend," said the minister. Another important statement came from Paweł Borys, head of the Polish Development Fund, and it concerns startups. "2021 will be a very important year in terms of venture capital fund engagement in the Polish market. I estimate the volume of financial engagement at around PLN 2.5 billion. This is a lot, considering that not so long ago, the level of fund engagement was only PLN 200 million per year. The Polish market is maturing, and increasingly larger entities are acquiring capital this way," Borys said at the conference. When it comes to less official circumstances, we know that the trip to Poznań did everyone good – panelists and moderators alike: after all, it was a conference one could physically attend, and what's more, the trains weren't even very late, and everyone was on time. Additionally, participants praised the very idea of Poznań; a modern space, strong local entrepreneurship – all the advantages of Katowice, plus you could feast on croissants with white poppy seeds, especially since the Marshal's Office was giving them away for free (and they aren't cheap things!). Hillary Clinton might have been an attraction, but let's be honest – everyone was most eagerly awaiting the appearances of Omenaa Mensah and Ania Lewandowska, because after them, with a bit of luck, you could get a selfie with the stars. The organizers ensured a good backdrop: right by the exit of the main stage was an exhibition of paintings as part of Impact Art, initiated during the spring edition of the conference. As for the evening attractions, there was a cocktail reception at the conference venue itself. Polish wine was being poured, but only for the patient, as there was a considerable queue for it. In general, the entire event was full of queues: first to show vaccination certificates, then for cloakroom, then for registration... However, everyone stood in them very correctly, and we must admit that after visiting foreign events, our compatriots always impress us with their mastery of the difficult art of queuing. Regarding fashionable gadgets, it was fashionable to carry our editor Katarzyna Mokrzycka's book "Conversations in Pandemic". The gadget was so hot that halfway through the conference, the books ran out, and they had to be procured from under the counter – another skill we learned from the golden age of 'socmodernism' in architecture. Oh, and last but not least, applause to the organizers for (as usual) arranging a professional makeup room, and especially for adding (for the first time!) a MASSAGE THERAPIST, where panelists waiting to speak could relax (a wonderful feeling, a bit painful, but the stress disappears immediately).

Our surveys indicate that the expectations of Europeans and Poles are for us to finance the fight against climate change and the adaptation of economies to these changes – said Teresa Czerwińska, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, during Impact’21. According to Czerwińska, EIB surveys show that four out of five Poles clearly declare that climate change is among the most important challenges of the 21st century facing society and the economy. The surveys indicate that Poles of all ages make such declarations. “Moreover, as many as 80% of Poles say that climate change already has a significant impact on their lives, as well as on the operations of companies,” said the EIB Vice-President. “Today, all of us at the EIB are asking ourselves how we should invest to improve people's quality of life, but we are also asking how to ensure that current resources and prosperity are also available to future generations,” she added, pointing out that these questions are addressed by the Investment Roadmap created jointly by the EIB and the European Investment Fund. “The investment outlays associated with the green transformation alone – meaning the goals outlined in Fit for 55 – amount to approximately 340 billion euros annually. If we add to this the outlays related to the digital gap, that’s another 125 billion euros per year. Such significant outlays are not possible through public financing alone – private funds are also needed. Therefore, in our strategy, we employ so-called financial leverage – for every 1 euro invested by us, we aim to mobilize at least 4 euros of private capital,” Czerwińska explained.