We actively communicated with clients from the start of the pandemic to update them about our services and branches in those trying times.
We set up a special website with all key information: https://www.mbank.pl/lp/zobacz-jak-wiele/, https://www.mbank.pl/lp/zobacz-jak-wiele-bc/, https://www.mbank.pl/lp/zobacz-jak-wiele-korpo/.
Our communications stressed which operations were available remotely without visiting a branch to avoid unnecessary risks for clients and employees. We released information materials including a billboard and online campaign explaining which services are available as a self-service (including public services available with the bank login).
Corporate and Investment Banking
We addressed our Corporate Banking women clients, who used to take part in our biannual regular seminars “mBank is a Woman”, with a special letter. Some of the events took place online. They included for instance dinners for the clients and business partners. Inspired by the success of the meetings, we decided to hold a large-scale online event “mBank Blue Space”. The special guest of the meeting was a Polish scientist, researcher and Project Manager at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The meeting was attended remotely by 329 corporate and investment banking clients.
Private Banking
The outbreak of the pandemic and the resulting restrictions had two major implications: turbulences on the financial markets raised series concerns of the clients, while the face-to-face interactions between the bank and its clients have been interrupted. We quickly restored online communications with clients: initially by holding weekly webinars providing updates on financial markets and the bank’s activity, and later by offering an educational series in partnership with a third-party consultancy to share expertise about investments and related banking solutions.
During the pandemic, the bank and its subsidiaries offered many diverse initiatives to clients. We took part in the government’s business support schemes (PFR Shield) and other crisis-mitigating measures.
We have been one of the first banks to offer the service of applying for the PFR Financial Shield scheme assistance. Already starting on 29 April 2020, companies with a headcount ranging from 1 to 249 employees were eligible to file motions via mBank’s transactional service. Applications for subsidies could be filed in the retail banking transactional system and in the mBank CompanyNet for SMEs and corporations. We prepared intuitive calculators, thanks to which the interested parties could count the amount of financial subsidy for micro-enterprises and for SMEs. Such solutions made the entire process quick and transparent, and the customer reviews positive. In 2020, almost 44 thousand of corporate and retail clients have submitted applications for PFR support through mBank, for a total amount of over PLN 6.1 billion. For more information about the applications and the terms of the scheme, visit our website.
Under the umbrella of the “anti-crisis shield”, mBank provided liquidity loans for SMEs with BGK de minimis guarantees. The support package for microfirms, small and mid-sized companies included a broad range of credit guarantees which were offered free of charge until the end of the year. Accessible and affordable loans helped businesses finance their activity in the difficult pandemic times. Under the new terms of BGK guarantees, the guarantee amount was raised to 80% of the loan amount, the validity of guarantees was extended to 39 months (for working capital loans), and no fees were charged for guarantees until the end of the year, the same as for loans already granted with de minimis guarantees.
We were the first bank to enable retail (individual and business) clients to apply for deferred payment of principal or principal and interest for up to six months with the option of extending the term of the loan by the period of the moratorium. Corporate clients also could defer principal payments for up to six months. mLeasing offered a reduction of six lease payments by up to 90 percent. The process was executed fully online.
We offered a number of solutions to support clients’ remote use of our services, as described in detail below in the sections “New features in mBank’s services” and “Mobility”. mLeasing offered the option of signing lease contracts online. Using popular video call tools such as Skype, WhatsApp and Messenger, clients can sign lease and loan contracts remotely. mLeasing also launched online car sales, as described in detail in chapter Activities of subsidiaries of mBank Group.
We carried out a social campaign supporting business clients in going online and deploying e-commerce tools. In June, we opened the social campaign Digital Revolutions which supports microfirms, small and mid-sized companies in developing e-commerce operations.
Already since 2018 mBank clients can use the CyberRescue service, providing specialist assistance in secure use of the internet, free of charge. CyberRescue helps among others in the case of digital identity theft and malware attacks. Specialists are available around the clock and can be accessed by email, telephone and even Messenger. During pandemic, when everyone spends more time online, we introduced the most comprehensive security package on the market, “CyberOchrona+”. It includes 24/7 support of CyberRescue experts as well as software chosen by clients: F-Secure SAFE or BitDefender Internet Security which integrates an anti-virus package, banking security, ransomware security, and parental controls.