Orange Polska, Poland’s second largest wireless provider by subscribers at end-June 2014, has launched a mobile banking service in a joint venture with one of the country’s largest lenders mBank, reports The Warsaw Voice. Under the name ‘Orange Finanse’, the companies aim to attract in the region of one million customers over the next three years. The service will involve mobile payments, currents accounts, loans, deposits, credit and debit cards. Orange Polska CEO, Bruno Duthoit, has been cited as saying: ‘Entry into new markets, including the financial market, is one of the key elements of our strategy.’ Orange will be responsible for marketing the venture and drawing in customers while mBank will establish a new branch to provide banking services. As stated in an mBank press release from March 2014: ‘Cooperation between the operator and the bank means that customers will be able to use banking services via mobile devices as well as on-line platforms, anytime, anywhere.’
Orange will offer the service as part of various telecom bundles as a means of attracting customers and says that setting up a mobile account – by opening a bank account or installing the mobile phone app – and using basic operations will be free of charge.