Actions taken in response to the consequences of the armed conflict in Ukraine

WE SUPPORT OUR EMPLOYEES

In this difficult time, we feel solidarity with our employees coming from Ukraine. We show it through financial, psychological and other non-financial support.

Our colleagues coming from Ukraine received an ad hoc financial allowance when the war broke out. We paid it irrespective of the type of relationship with the bank, both to bank’s employees and to contractors or suppliers providing services to our bank.

Assistance and support for workers from Ukraine

  • We have offered bank employees and contractors to receive remuneration advances for three months ahead, i.e. for March, April and May 2022;

  • We have organised their work in such a way as to provide them five days of paid leave;

  • Our recruiters and career advisors supported the families of our employees coming from Ukraine in finding jobs. The interested applicants can contact us via the dedicated email address: pomocdlaukrainy@santader.pl;

  • Employees working under permanent employment contracts can benefit from the Company Social Benefits Fund (ZFŚS).

Psychological support for all staff

We are aware of the strong emotions that the armed conflict in Ukraine evokes in all of us, which is why we have taken care of our employees by offering access to webinars on coping with crisis situations and the opportunity to receive free psychological support.

Webinar topics:

  • "Techniques for communicating with clients in the face of a crisis – how to handle anger, anxiety or excessive emotions";
  • "How to care for children in the face of crisis - supportive family communication";
  • "The different faces of anxiety - from uncertainty to understanding".

We help to help

Each bank employee involved in helping the victims of the current situation has the opportunity to take an additional 8 hours of paid leave for volunteering jobs.

On our intranet, we have created a place to make announcements – to ask for help or offer support. It is a space where employees can pass on items or offer their services.

WE SUPPORT OUR CUSTOMERS

Fee exemptions and simplified procedures

We have exempted our Ukrainian customers from paying for:

  • newly opened Accounts As I Want It with a customised card from 1 March, 2022 to 30 September, 2022;

  • existing PLN and FX personal accounts;

  • existing and newly issued debit cards.

Other concessions:

  • We introduced a simplified account opening procedure for Ukrainian citizens who arrived in Poland after 23 February 2022;
  • From 7 March 2022, Ukrainian citizens can apply for a suspension of loan repayment;
  • We reimbursed all our customers aged 26 and over the monthly fee for March and April for the ATM Package to facilitate cash withdrawals.

Activities for SMEs

  • our existing business clients who have their registered office in Ukraine or are Ukrainian citizens;
  • customers opening ”Accounts Worth Recommending” for businesses as of 1 March 2022 who have their registered office in Ukraine or are Ukrainian citizens.

  • maintenance of a PLN business account;
  • maintenance of an FX business account;
  • corporate debit cards (excluding charge cards) – issued PLN and FX accounts and new business cards issued as of 1 March 2022. This applies to:
    • monthly card fee,
    • account statement fee,
    • charges for balance enquiries at our ATMs,
    • card renewal fees.

The changes are in  effect for the period from 1 March to 30 September, 2022

Until September 30, 2022, no fee will be charged for outgoing or incoming transfers to/from banks in Ukraine (SWIFT code UA), both in the case of retail and business customers. The exemption applies to:

  • ordinary;
  • urgent; and
  • express;

money transfers in any currency and with any cost option. In this way, we want to facilitate the transfer of financial support.

Assistance provided by our partners

All our clients can take advantage of the offer of Telemedi.co. Our partner offers medical consultations in Ukrainian and Russian. Specialist doctors – paediatricians and general practitioners – are available immediately.

The CyberRescue service will keep our data safe online.

Both services can be activated by customers on Santander internet, under Partner Offers.

COMMUNITY ACTIONS - WE SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS AND INITIATIVES

We Will Double Your Impact

For the third time, Santander Bank Polska Group together with the Santander Foundation launched the charity campaign We Will Double Your Impact, this time to help Ukraine. We doubled the value of each donation, allocating PLN 1.5 million for this purpose. More than 26,500 people took part in the charity fund raiser. Together with our customers and employees, we collected more than PLN 4.25m.

PLN 2.5m from the fund raiser
– the amount of money paid to the Foundation’s account

 

PLN 1.5m
from Santander Bank Polska Group
– the amount of money allocated to double your donations

The money from the fund raiser was donated to organisations coordinating aid for people affected by the war in Ukraine – the Polish Humanitarian Action, Unicef and the Polish Red Cross. The City of Przemyśl was also supported by our donation.

Marcin Dorociński was also involved in promoting the fund raiser, encouraging people to join the We Will Double Your Impact campaign in a special spot.

  • Santander Bank Polska and the University of Szczecin have launched a free, open Polish language course for people from Ukraine

  • Together with the University of Szczecin, we have prepared a Polish language course to make it easier for people arriving from Ukraine to find a job on the Polish labour market or to study in Poland. The basic level classes were conducted online by a lecturer from the University of Szczecin.

    Anyone interested can take advantage of the online course material covering 60 hours of lessons at their convenience. The recordings of the lessons are available at www.santander.pl/kurs-polskiego.

  • Santander Bank Polska supported the UN Refugee Agency to deliver cash quickly and safely to refugees from Ukraine

  • We have partnered with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) by providing a tool to quickly and safely transfer cash to refugees arriving in Poland from Ukraine.

    The UNHCR Cash Assistance programme uses innovative technology provided by Santander Bank Polska based on the BLIK cheque system, a unique nine-digit code that can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs without the need for a payment card, bank account or smartphone banking app. The service does not require the production of any plastic cards. Refugees who registered at the UNHCR reception desk received a secure password and then an SMS code that allows them to withdraw money from most ATMs in Poland, including those operated by Santander Bank Polska, PKO BP, Millennium, BNP Paribas, mBank, ING, SGB, Euronet and Planet Cash.

  • Kilometres for Ukraine

  • We supported the activities of our employees, who collected kilometres while cycling, running, walking or exercising. Each kilometre covered increased the pool of funds that the Santander Foundation donated to orphanages housing children from Ukraine

    For the first 7,000 km travelled together, the distance between Warsaw-London-Madrid and Lisbon – which we called the crossing of Europe – the Santander Foundation donated PLN 50,000. For every subsequent 7,000 km, we paid PLN 20,000, up to an amount of PLN 100,000.

    The funds raised were donated:

    – to the City of Białystok – for the Care and Education Centre in Białystok.The money will be used to renovate four rooms and a playroom intended for orphaned children from Ukraine residing at the Centre.
    Amount donated: PLN 120 248.99. (including PLN 70 248.99 from the collection).

    – Lower Silesian Foundation for Foster Care „Przystanek Rodzina”. The money will be used to purchase equipment for the centre in Stare Volov 12, which houses children from Ukrainian foster care.  
    Amount donated: PLN 120 248.99. (including PLN 70 248.99 from the collection).

    – SOS Children’s Villages Association in Poland The money will support the SOS Children’s Villages Programme in Kraśnik, which houses, among others, children from Ukraine.
    Amount transferred: PLN 120 248.99. (including PLN 70 248.99 from the collection).

  • Gingerbread from and for Ukraine – A Trade Fair

  • As a thank you for their commitment to helping a group of children from Ukraine who were on a trip to Poland on the day the war broke out and were unable to return home, our colleagues received hand-made, artistic gingerbread cookies, straight from Odessa, from the mother of the tour leader. They decided to donate them to a charity fair to raise additional funds. The fair took place on 11 April at our Relationship Centre in Warsaw. All the money raised went towards shopping for the kids and their carers, who are now in Poland

  • We support the Aid Fund for Women and Girls from Ukraine „Hello Girls!”

  • We have announced a fundraiser to support women and girls from Ukraine. From 15 June to 15 July 2022, we will donate all the funds that come into our dedicated account to Dominika Kulczyk Foundation for a special  „Hello Girls!” Support Fund for Women and Girls from Ukraine.

SUPPORT OF THE BANCO SANTANDER GROUP

WAW-MAD humanitarian corridor

The Santander Group chartered a plane to take 180 refugees from Ukraine to Spain. We made arrangements for the initiative in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Integration, Social Security and Migration. The action was a success thanks to the great commitment of our bank’s employees, the use of local infrastructure and the support of our colleagues from the Santander Group in Spain.

Our bank helped in establishing the identity of asylum seekers at the Spanish embassy in Poland, relocating refugees, transporting them from Nadarzyn to the airport in Warsaw and providing them with accommodation in Madrid.

Together with the Santander Group banks in Europe

We have donated more than PLN 4.5 million! We supported the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Refugee Agency – UNHCR. As part of this support, among other things, we donated PLN 500,000 to the Polish Red Cross (PCK).