Simple language at Santander Bank Polska
21 February is the International Mother Language Day. This is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that it is worth caring about linguistic diversity. Santander Bank Polska is committed to ensuring that the Polish language it uses is as customer-friendly as possible.
Polish is one of the most difficult languages in the world. However, in everyday communication, it is worth using it in such a way that it can be understood. That is why Santander Bank Polska has been simplifying the language of its communication with customers since 2019. It is systematically introducing the principles of plain language in contracts and documents. Thanks to their application, the documents become more comprehensible, easier to read and clearer for customers. In addition, this reduces the number of people involved in the contract preparation process on the bank’s side.
So far, Santander Bank Polska has already simplified many of the procedures, rules and regulations, email message templates, contracts and letters it sends to customers. The bank is constantly working on introducing the plain language standards and, to this end, it regularly carries out language audits so that communication with customers becomes ever simpler.
At Santander Bank Polska, we strive to help our customers in various ways. Nowadays, with the abundance of information, it is important to communicate simply and clearly. That is why we are breaking down the stereotype of complicated bank documentation. We have introduced many changes that make reading bank documents easier. We want our customers to feel comfortable and not waste time reading complicated content.
Certificate of the Centre for Simple Polish Language
Santander Bank Polska was the first bank in Poland to receive a certificate from the University of Wrocław for its framework agreement for corporate customers. The Centre for the Simple Polish Language has confirmed that the agreement for corporate customers meets the standards of language that is simple and reader-friendly.
The bank uses visualisations and infographics instead of 'walls of text’, and presents complex data in tables and bulleted lists. It also uses supporting content and underlining of difficult words. Their explanations can be quickly found by customers at the end of the document, in a glossary of definitions and acronyms. The regulations are divided into sections, each with its own title. Instead of paragraphs, there are chapters. Online files always contain interactive tables of contents which help customers to find their way around the document more quickly.
In June 2021, Santander Bank Polska also joined the Banks’ Declaration on the Plain Language Standard: The ZBP (Understandable. Direct. Simple.) – is an initiative that changes the language of banking to one that is simpler and more understandable to customers. It was initiated by the Polish Bank Association and its affiliated institutions. Participants in the project are jointly developing Good Practices for Simple Banking Communication.
