Job Discussion Forums

[DerbyJohn]

Hi

I'm coming to Poland for a few weeks shortly and might stay and look for a job.

At the moment, I bank (in England) with firstdirect online. Would Polish employers be able / happy to pay my salary into that, or will I need to set something up, more locally? If so, what sort of documents will I need to provide?

Any advice gratefully received.
Cheers

P.S. I searched for 'bank account' and only found loads'o'stuff about taxes. Boy, that looks like fun!

But first things first ...

[Alex Shulgin]

Polish employers will be happy and able to pay you into the UK but you won't want them to. You'd have to cover the cost of the transfers and lose out on the exchange rate. Then you'd have to pay foreign charges to get money out of hole in the wall machines when you want cash and probably a charge for using your debit card abroad. Plus you'd get done on the exchange rates converting from Pounds to zloty. And if you ever needed to speak to anybody at your bank you'd need to pay international call rates (and those are not cheap from Poland).


To open a bank account as a British citizen all you will need is your passport and either your resident's card (now very easy to get) or your maldunek (proof of official address).

Tax is simple. You pay 20% flat rate but 20% of what you earn is treated as the cost of you earning money so that is tax free. Which gives you a flat rate after allowances of 16%. That money is taken by your employer as you earn.

[DerbyJohn]

Cheers for that Alex!

[expatben]

Yeah thanks Alex and thanks to John who thought to ask. I am off to Poland and never even thought of banks!
Expat

[Grrrmachine]

Whilst not the best in terms of interest rates, I've found that Pekao SA have a EuroKonto, which allows non-Polish citizens (ie, people WITHOUT a residency card OR Proof of Official Address) to open an account in PLN, EUR, USD or CHF.

I found them invaluable, especially as no landlord in Warsaw will GIVE me an Official Registered Address, which makes getting a PESEL bloody hard!

[expatben]

Thanks I'll check it out. Do you think they have branches in Gliwice?

[Grrrmachine]

I dont want to sound like Im promoting the bank, so I'll just say there's four branches there - keep your eye open for the big blue bison! It's a big international bank so you'll have no major issues with them, I think.

[Alex Shulgin]

[cezarek]

I agree completely with Alex about both PKO and sending money out of the country. He didn't mention though that money transferred into Poland is held up for a few days (often longer) while they check it isn't laundered. This is the same for your wages from the school or a billion dollars from Colombia and takes as long to get. PKO are not geared up to foreigners. I used them and they're tiresome. Citibank pretends to be geared up for foreigners but I found them to be less than brilliant. Depends probably on the branch.

I use Fortis Bank, branches in big cities only. They aren't the cheapest but are generally pretty efficient. Nordea Bank are good too. But your employer should be able to be give you a cheque (all cheques in Poland are redeemable for cash at the issuing bank). They don't always like to because it's extra work filling it in and getting the school owner to sign it.

[mique]

Just wanted to point out there is a difference between PKO, as someone referred to, and Pekao (with the Bison logo). Pronhounced the same, they are actually totally different banks. I bank with PKO BP (their full name) and have no problems. Internet banking is simple and easy to use to if only in Polish. In my own humble opinion Polish banking puts the UK system to shame. (only the amount of paperwork you have to go through on opening an account lets it down!)

[tbiehl2000]

[Mark Loyd]

for a tefl salary in Poland, why would you need a bank account?

[Alex Shulgin]

[afowles]

[zippy2k]