The government application mObywatel is becoming increasingly popular, and the Ministry of Digital Affairs is expanding it with new functions. It turns out that mObywatel is not only effective as a method of confirming identity in bank branches, it is also used in other situations. At Bankier.pl we asked banks about this – the results are interesting, to say the least.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Digital Affairs, 9 million Poles are already using mObywatel . In the application, you can add an ID card (mDowod), a driving license, block a PESEL number or pay for public administration services. The electronic ID itself was initially accepted as a way to confirm identity in clinics, offices and at the post office. Banks have been required to do so since September 2023, but since then financial institutions have also implemented mObywatel in other areas of their operations. At Bankier.pl, we asked banks about how they use the application and about possible plans for the future if using mObywatel is not currently possible.
mProof is no longer a surprise
The acceptance of electronic versions of ID cards by banks is no longer surprising. Although such an obligation has existed for almost 2 years, in the initial phase of implementation, employees sometimes refused to allow customers to verify their identity through the application. Today, in virtually every bank, you can confirm your identity using mDowod in a branch – among the surveyed institutions, only Revolut and Volkswagen Bank do not have integration with the government application. In branches, you no longer have to show a plastic ID card, you just need to scan the QR code in mObywatel or enter the number provided by the employee.
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According to the current law, mDowód confirms Polish identity and citizenship in the relations of mutual physical presence of the parties. If this condition is met in PKO Bank Polski branches, we respect mDowód in all banking matters. – says Piotr Wardziak from the PKO BP Press Office.
Opening an account with mObywatel
The answers received from banks show that few institutions use mObywatel in the process of opening a personal account. This option can be found in Alior Bank, Nest Bank and VeloBank, but it is known that a current account with mObywatel can also be opened in Bank Pekao, mBank and Santander Bank Polska . Nest Bank confirms that the application is used when opening a selfie account, while VeloBank also uses it when applying for a savings account and a cash loan. Data from mObywatel is included in the application, which speeds up the process of opening the product, and the customer no longer has to additionally confirm their identity.
Access to online banking
An unobvious use of mObywatel is to unblock access to electronic banking. In this unpleasant situation, you most often have to contact the bank's hotline, but it turns out that two institutions allow you to unblock the service with mObywatel. This group includes VeloBank and Bank Pocztowy ; Credit Agricole sees the potential of the solution, but is not currently working in this direction. In Pocztowy, regaining access to the account is possible after entering the customer number, VeloBank, in turn, allows not only to restore electronic banking, but also to log into the system itself.
In Nest Bank and PKO BP, the government application is used in the very process of activating electronic banking . The first bank introduced such a possibility in April, the second declares that the option is available when submitting an application to launch the service.
Banks see the potential of the application
The banks we surveyed clearly see the potential of mObywatel and are considering various options for its use. BPS Bank is working on using the application as an alternative form of confirming the client's identity when opening an account remotely, and similar activities are confirmed by PKO BP and ING . Information obtained from Volkswagen Bank and Toyota Bank indicates that they plan to use mObywatel in remote channels, but they do not specify whether any actions have already been taken in this regard.
