Last man standing
Though no longer the CEO of mBank, Sławomir Lachowski, now president of its parent company, BRE Group, could not pass up the opportunity to be the first to announce the good results.
His golden child produced a gross profit of zł.3 million in 2004, for the first time in history.
To achieve this positive (though still modest) result, mBank obtained some 800,000 clients-more than twice its largest competitor, Inteligo, with 369,000 clients-and opened more than one million accounts. That places mBank an impressive seventh in the number of accounts among retail banks, including traditional institutions.
"A majority of internet-bank projects failed, only some reached critical mass," says Lachowski. With a new wind in his sails, he is revealing some ambitious plans, including a zł.28 million gross profit and a 20 percent return on equity (ROE) by the year's end.
A look at the market shows mBank might soon have no competition from e-banks at all. Inteligo, bought by Poland's largest retail bank, PKO BP, lost out in the client chase some time ago and is now drifting towards becoming just another service of its parent company. VW Bank Direct, operated by VW Bank Polska, is likely to meet the same fate.
All three launched about four years ago. Thanks to attractive interest rates (some as high as 15 percent initially), clients rushed to open their virtual safes, despite service offers amounting to little more than a free debit card and money transfers. That caught the competitors' attention.
"Traditional network banks started to defend themselves," says Pekao SA analyst Artur Szeski. Now all major banks offer 24/7 internet access for their customers.
That reduced the temptation for major clients to move to net banking. mBank's clients consist mainly of twentysomething web surfers mostly from large cities. These customers aren't likely to have much savings and, Szeski explains, have a tendency to change their financial service provider often. In order to improve their client base, e-banks have begun offering a wider range of services.
Inteligo customers can now invest in PKO BP funds and mBank has introduced an open finance platform-the first of its kind. It offers not only BRE investment funds but those of the competition too.
His golden child produced a gross profit of zł.3 million in 2004, for the first time in history.
To achieve this positive (though still modest) result, mBank obtained some 800,000 clients-more than twice its largest competitor, Inteligo, with 369,000 clients-and opened more than one million accounts. That places mBank an impressive seventh in the number of accounts among retail banks, including traditional institutions.
"A majority of internet-bank projects failed, only some reached critical mass," says Lachowski. With a new wind in his sails, he is revealing some ambitious plans, including a zł.28 million gross profit and a 20 percent return on equity (ROE) by the year's end.
A look at the market shows mBank might soon have no competition from e-banks at all. Inteligo, bought by Poland's largest retail bank, PKO BP, lost out in the client chase some time ago and is now drifting towards becoming just another service of its parent company. VW Bank Direct, operated by VW Bank Polska, is likely to meet the same fate.
All three launched about four years ago. Thanks to attractive interest rates (some as high as 15 percent initially), clients rushed to open their virtual safes, despite service offers amounting to little more than a free debit card and money transfers. That caught the competitors' attention.
"Traditional network banks started to defend themselves," says Pekao SA analyst Artur Szeski. Now all major banks offer 24/7 internet access for their customers.
That reduced the temptation for major clients to move to net banking. mBank's clients consist mainly of twentysomething web surfers mostly from large cities. These customers aren't likely to have much savings and, Szeski explains, have a tendency to change their financial service provider often. In order to improve their client base, e-banks have begun offering a wider range of services.
Inteligo customers can now invest in PKO BP funds and mBank has introduced an open finance platform-the first of its kind. It offers not only BRE investment funds but those of the competition too.
