I am an expat and I have been a customer of Bank Pekao for years. I wished to change to another bank due to reasons such as the limited product range, hidden costs, etc.In October 2020, I started an extensive review of banks and accounts available across Poland, and it seemed to me that Citi Handlowy's solution was the best match to my needs and, knowing its name, I guessed it was a reputable firm. But I was wrong.My misfortune began on their website where an eye-catching graphic lure the visitors to open an account online just with a selfie. And a PESEL. And something else that I’ll find out later.I click the generic blue button to go ahead with the account application. Soon after having entered my first and last name, phone number, email and PESEL, problems begin: the form does not accept any kind of ID other than a Polish National ID card which I obviously do not hold. I wonder why they did not tell me this earlier.Never mind, I contact customer service via chat and fairly soon I get a reply from someone saying that “foreigners cannot open an account online” but have rather to go to a branch. Again, I wonder if they could have been clearer on their website, but okay.Next Saturday I visit one of their branches, working until 9pm and, after being welcomed and seated in a small room by an employee of the bank, I point out that I had already started the process of opening the account online but that it was interrupted because of the ID issue that sounds well known even to that random employee.Suddenly another lady approaches and says something in Polish to her colleague who then informs me that they would not open any bank account today due to a country-wide technical issue. Funny, I say to myself, didn't you know this before?The young lady then advises me to make an appointment for a later date, but as I am not prepared for that and I have taken the event as a sign (I didn’t really, but I should have!), I prefer to leave without it.On Monday I get a call from the bank. The guy on the other end asks if I was still going to finalize the account and although I was hesitant, I say I will think about it.On Tuesday, as I am running errands nearby a branch of the bank, I decide to get in. It is after work, around 7pm and also this time it is a young lady having me. After listening to my need and the trouble I had with the website, she tells me that I should have called the help desk. Only when she learns I am there upon their recommendation, she lets me in, complaining through her teeth why they always do so. The feeling is right from the start that I am not welcome and that she is doing something unpleasant.Anyway, the young lady, now sitting at her desk, asks me to see my passport, makes sure that the photo corresponds to the person before her by asking me to take off the face mask and starts typing on the keyboard with the promise that she will "try" to open the account.The process takes about 50 minutes during which, apart from asking me a few details such as home address, phone number, my mother's maiden name, all she does is staring at the screen and clicking nervously on the mouse/keyboard.No mention of the offer, no presentation of the account I was opening, terms & conditions, additional services. Nothing!After 50 minutes, the young lady says she is going to print the documents for me to sign and after an exchange with a colleague and several attempts, finally the printer spits out the printed sheets of paper. And this is the point when something unreal takes shape.The employee asks me to sign at least three times on different sheets without explaining what I am signing (the docs are only in polish) but, even worse, once I signed the girl tells me that the signatures differ from each other, or that the initial letter of the name is different in two of the three signatures while the surname is okay. So, she reprints the pages and asks me to re-sign.Although I am already quite astonished by the scene I am witnessing, I take back the pen and sign once again. As you might imagine, the signatures are slightly different this time too.The young lady, looking at the sheets with an unpersuaded look, is worried that the "head office" will send the contract back if the signatures are not exactly the same, so she gets up to consult with her colleague/principal and back to the desk asks me to sign only with the last name.I ask if she's kidding around because, I point out, my signature is formed by name and surname and that any inconsistency could be a counterfeit.Conclusion: After wasting several hours of my time in an attempt to take my money to them, I was not only treated as if they were doing me a favor, but I was even offended by the request to sign only with the last name, as if I were an illiterate unable to draw up my own signature.I hope every expat, or anyone opening an account in Poland read this beforehand.
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