Building societies interest rates and huge commissions on services criticized

Building societies have been criticized for the huge commissions levied by the banks on the service. The banks are also accused of attracting huge deposits while paying interest lower than that on other commercial bank deposits. The law on building societies envisages an interest rate of one quarter of National Bank of Poland's (NBP) discount rate. Clients would be entitled to mortgages amounting to as high as 150% of their deposits after three years of consistent subscription, charged at a very favorable interest rate of half the NBP discount rate. The societies, operating under three commercial banks, have jointly managed to attract 3,300 members in the first half of this year. The largest building society is the one under bank Pekao S.A. which has accumulated revenues of zl. 576 million since its inception in 1996. (Rzeczpospolita, page B1) S.M.