WARSAW, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Banks will only survive in the changing global economy if they transform themselves, and China provides inspiration and opportunity for Polish businesses in this regard, said Michal Krupinski, CEO of Poland's third largest bank.
In an interview at the headquarters of Bank Pekao S.A. in Warsaw, the 38-year-old CEO boasts having doubled the number of clients for the bank's popular online banking application, PeoPay, to about 1.5 million presently.
The app, which last year won a prestigious global banking innovation award given by EFMA and Accenture, allows for setting up a bank account in 10 minute using a selfie - both individuals and micro-enterprises can use it, which is the shortest time available in the market.
Krupinski said he's been cutting down on back office staff and investing in hiring IT personnel, because banking is happening increasingly via electronic channels, especially via smartphones.
"Electronic banking via the phone is the present, the future is paying for water with selfies," said Krupinski, referring to a documentary he had seen the previous night about how payments are made in China.
In his view, Chinese tech companies are already global leaders in contactless payments and that developments there provide inspiration for Polish banks looking to be on top of the game like Pekao.
Krupinski visited China twice this year already, including participating in the China Development Forum in Beijing this March.
The Chinese market is important from Pekao's perspective of export financing business. The bank sees the importance of this market in foreign trade services, especially in servicing letters of credit. From the perspective of import letters of credit opened by the bank, he said the Chinese market has the first position with the largest volume of import letters of credit.
"For Polish companies, China is still an unexplored market. The opportunities are great," Krupinski added.
The former Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Treasury said he's been exploring possibilities to expand Polish exports of agricultural products, among others.
"Poland is very dependent on the German economy, which is dependent on the Chinese economy. We need to change trade patterns and cooperate more directly, instead of going through Germany," Krupinski explained.
According to the bank's CEO, there is significant potential for Chinese investments in Poland too.
"Our clients in logistics tell us there is a big shift in terms of logistics and transport from sea to land, and I only wish Poland and central and eastern Europe were a part of it, because we'd prefer to have hubs here, not in western Europe," said Krupinski, adding that Poland has already become a significant infrastructure and logistics center thanks to its location.
The CEO admitted that Poland and China face many common challenges as they move their industries up the value chain.
In Poland, Krupinski said, one of the biggest obstacles remains the shortage of labour - Poland is expected to be short of 4 million workers by 2030.
For now, Ukrainian workers are filling in the gap and Pekao claims to be the leading bank among Ukrainians in Poland. But in the long run, the country needs to increase labour market participation by mobilizing more youths and older people or having a more accommodating immigration policy.
Either way, said Krupinski, Polish companies have to move towards more capital-intensive models and invest in modern technology. This is already happening, he noted, and Polish companies in packaging, food processing and certain manufacturing areas have some of the highest uptakes of modern technology in Europe.
Pekao, in its turn, has expanded its leasing business. Progress, however, is slower among small and medium enterprises and digitalising the government could provide a much-needed incentive in this direction.
Polish businesses also have to digitalise, argues the Pekao CEO, quoting research that if it was digitalised to the extent Scandinavian economies are, the Polish economy would add another 1.5 percent to its already fast economic growth rate.
"There are many lessons to learn from the growth of the digital economy in China," Krupinski stressed. "If you can already pay by selfie for water in China, there's a big chance this will be the global market center."
