Products and initiatives for retail customers

A new product launched in August 2017, was the Account As I Want It – a personal account coming with a Customised Card (Visa or Mastercard) and a range of services and functionalities that can be freely modified by customers according to their needs and preferences. This new account is a part of the bank’s new brand strategy: You Bank As You Want It.

Features of the Account As I Want It:

• A range of options that may be freely modified by customers add to the competitive edge of this product.
• The account is available in two options: for customers under 26 and for other customers.
• The account is operated free of charge and provides free online transfers (via Santander online and mobile services).
• Customers may choose the amount of a card fee and decide how to pay it.
• Customers may open or switch to this new account at a branch, via the internet or over the phone, without the need to change their account number.

From 21 August 2017 till the end of December 2017, 335k AccountsAs I Want It were opened.

The Account As I Want It has been recognised in industry rankings. It was voted the best personal account in the ranking published by gazeta.pl (11 September 2017) and the most customer friendly personal account in the ranking Comperia.pl (26 September 2017).

The new product is an important element of Santander Bank Polska’s strategy aimed at simplifying the range of personal accounts and debit cards.
Since 1 November 2017, customers have only been given a choice of the Account As I Want It with a Customised Card, the VIP Account with a Customised Card or the VIP Card, and the FX Account24.

We allow customers to manage card parameters on their own using remote channels.

On 3 June 2017, self-service options available to the users of Santander internet and Santander mobile were extended to include the functionality of blocking and activating debit and credit cards, and additional processes connected with the new Account As I Want It, enabling customers to choose their preferred options and fees related to the Customised Card.

As at the end of December 2017, the bank’s personal debit card portfolio (including business cards) comprised 3.6m cards.

One of the new features of the bank’s deposit range is the Regular Savings Account introduced in August 2017 as one of the products and services linked to the Account As I Want It.

This account is intended for regular savings, pays a relatively high interest and is very popular among customers. From August to December 2017, more than 50k customers signed up for this product.

In 2017, we continued our activity on the structured deposit market, allowing customers to achieve a yield linked to exchange rates, stock indices or investment fund performance, providing 100% capital protection at the end of the deposit term.

The bank offered 99 products with a wide variety of tenors in the total of 46 subscriptions.

In 2017, we introduced a number of solutions to make its cash loans more attractive to customers, such as a variable interest rate for loans with tenors exceeding 24 months, a minimum fixed interest rate of 4.99% for loans ranging from PLN 4k to PLN 15k, and a lower fee for loans with the Worry-Free Loan CPI insurance or loans up to PLN 4k obtained via the Santander online electronic banking platform.

In March 2017, the bank modified the terms of consolidation loans by extending the lending period above 72 months for the bank’s customers.

In 2017, we adjusted the range of mortgage loans in response to customers’ needs as well as statutory and regulatory requirements.

Under these activities, pursuant to Recommendation S, the minimum borrower’s deposit for mortgage loans was increased to 20%.

In accordance with an agreement concluded with PZU S.A., our bank accepts lower deposits (min. 10%) on condition of taking out a payment protection insurance from PZU in relation to home loans with an LTV above 80%.

Pursuant to the Act of 23 March 2017 on mortgage loans and supervision over mortgage loan brokers and agents, on 22 July 2017, we introduced changes to the range of mortgage loans and terms of their sanction. In particular, the bank:

• suspended EUR mortgage lending,
• cancelled an early repayment fee for fixed rate mortgage loans and equity releases,
• cancelled a charge for reminders related to untimely service of loans,
• aligned the application process, information form and credit decision process,
• modified the terms of cooperation with credit intermediaries.

In response to customers’ needs, in February 2017 the terms of self-build mortgage loans were modified to increase their availability and facilitate credit application processing

This was another year, when we took further measures to assist mortgage borrowers. Our bank:

• provided support to customers with CHF mortgage loans by:
  • applying a negative CHF LIBOR interest rate;
  • reducing the currency spread to 2% for CHF;
  • providing an opportunity to reduce loan instalments free of charge through an interest-only option, payment holidays or an extension of maturity;
  • offering loan conversion to PLN at the mean NBP rate with no additional fees charged;
  • waiving a fee for annexes made in relation to CHF loans.
• introduced a solution which made it easier for borrowers to sell a mortgaged property with a swap of collateral into a newly purchased property.
• accepted requests from home loan borrowers under the Act on supporting borrowers in financial distress, providing for a financial support of max. PLN 1,500 per month for up to 18 months.

• Our customers can submit after-sales applications for retail loans and credit cards via the Santander online platform and manage them by themselves.
  • We provided self-service option for cash loans. Customers can now order early repayment of the loan, change the account for servicing the loan and shorten the lending period and change the instalment payment date and early repayment of part of the loan.
  • Customers can change the limit in their personal account from non-revolving to revolving, lower the limit or change to a decreasing limit.
• We facilitated mortgage loan management by allowing the customers using Santander online to shorten the lending period and change the instalment payment date, apply for early loan repayment and provide a scan of the insurance policy signed for the property forming collateral of the mortgage loan or the confirmation of payment of the insurance premium.

In view of a growing share of non-resident customers, in particular customers from Ukraine, the bank prepared marketing materials and regulations in the Ukrainian language.

Customer advisors were provided with a dedicated website called “Non-residents” containing information and materials about services for non-residents. In addition, on 1 June 2017 the Multichannel Communication Centre launched phone service in Ukrainian.

For over two years now, Santander Bank Polska has been one of the partners of the Big Family Card programme. Under this programme, families with at least three children can benefit from a special promotional offer and additional preferences granting substantial financial benefits.

In 2017, we redesigned the product offer under the Big Family Card, mainly by including the Account As I Want It and Customised Card.

Benefits for the holders the Big Family Card participating in our promotion:

• Those who open the Account As I Want It will be relieved of the monthly fee for the Customised Card. In this way, large families save up to PLN 36 per year per each activated card.
• Possibility of being granted a 1|2|3 credit card, which is exempt from two fees: the annual fee and the monthly fee in the first year, and the monthly fee in subsequent years throughout the validity of the card agreement. In the first year of using this card, savings can reach PLN 240, and PLN 120 in the subsequent years.

In addition, customers using the 1I2I3 credit card in Poland to pay in supermarkets, at petrol stations or in restaurants can count on additional financial bonuses – a 1%, 2% or 3% return of the value of transactions executed. This means a maximum of PLN 760 (ca. PLN 63 per month) returning to the family’s budget.

As part of our new promotion every student above 13 and below 20 years old, who has the Account As I Want It and shows us their final school report for the previous year with a minimum average grade of 4.0, will have their account credited with PLN 50.

The prize is awarded for the 2016/17 and 2017/18 school years, so if students did worse in the previous school year, they still had a chance to win the bonus in the current school year. The most ambitious students, who always score above 4.0, can receives two prizes. Students can show their school reports in any of our bank branches or partner outlets. We are committed to promote talented students and convince young people that good grades and broad knowledge are something they should be proud of, and not a reason to be called a nerd.

The fundamental purpose of this project is to raise the level of security in educational facilities to prevent unauthorised persons from entering the premises. Each school participating in the programme has been equipped with an access control system operated also by means of contactless cards issued by our bank.

We have been executing this project since 2012. To join the program, the school has to obtain the permission of the local authorities to become our bank’s partner school. Afterwards we finance the access system, and students can use our cards.

Currently, there are approximately 300 access control systems in 107 cities and towns in Poland. The largest number of these systems have been mounted in Ostrołęka, Głogów, Lublin, Sosnowiec, Wałbrzych, Września, Zamość, Bolesławiec and Chełm. In 2017, we issued ca. 60k cards for new students. In total, we have issued 182,405 cards, with the validity date of the last card issued falling to December 2019.

We carried out the project from June to August 2017.

As part of the Holidays with a Credit Card + Priceless Specials, customers apart from money received a voucher worth PLN 100 which he could use to support the World Food Programme (WFP), for example.

The campaign was addressed to new customers, who did not have a credit card for at least 3 months, to existing customers who had a credit card but did not own a mobile card and customers who wanted an extra card.

Customers who used the card actively, could win three prizes with a total value of PLN 350:

• main prize – PLN 100
• additional reward – PLN 50
• award from Mastercard – voucher worth PLN 100 (the customer could choose a voucher to Decathlon, RTV Euro AGD, Cinema City, New Balance or to support the World Food Program).