The third quarter of 2025 brought a symbolic confirmation of the changing of the guard in Polish banking. While the number of mobile application users is constantly growing, online banking “in the browser” is losing active customers. The latest data from the Polish Bank Association show that nearly 27 million Poles use the bank on their phones. Who wins the fight for a digital customer?
The latest NetB@nk report of the Polish Bank Association (ZBP) for the third quarter of 2025 leaves no doubt: the computer is becoming the second choice device for bank customers. Although the number of accounts with access to the network is at a record high, user activity has moved almost entirely to smartphone screens.
“Mobile only” is the new norm
Sector data presented by the Polish Bank Association show that at the end of September 2025, 26.8 million users were actively using banking mobile applications. This is an increase of 2%. on a quarterly basis and by as much as 15 percent compared to the same period last year.
The situation is even more interesting when we look at how many customers give up logging in via a web browser. The number of people actively using traditional online banking decreased by 3% in the third quarter, shrinking to 22.5 million.
This means that we already have a huge group of 20 million “mobile only” customers in Poland. These are people who manage their finances only from their phone, completely bypassing logging in on the computer. They already constitute 75 percent. all mobile users in the country.
– The number of “mobile only” users is growing at a similar rate to the previous quarter, and the number of customers actively using online banking decreased by 3%. – comments Włodzimierz Kiciński, vice-president of the Polish Bank Association, in the report, pointing out that digital channels remain the basic way of contact with the bank.
PKO BP is the king of applications, fierce fight for the podium
ZBP data show the picture of the entire sector, but how are individual institutions doing? Thanks to the data collected by Bankier.pl, we can look at the statistics of specific banks.
PKO Bank Polski remains the undisputed leader of mobile banking in Poland. At the end of the third quarter of 2025, over 6.26 million customers actively used its IKO application. This is an increase of over 130,000. users within three months.
Behind the leader, there is a fierce fight for second place. Although mBank is historically associated as an icon of mobile banking (3.52 million application users), its advantage over the competition is decreasing. Bank Pekao is hot on its heels with 3.48 million PeoPay users. Importantly, Pekao is growing faster than its rival – in the last quarter it gained 2.7%. users, while mBank 1.4 percent
The leaders are complemented by Santander Bank Polska (3.3 million) and ING Bank Śląski (3.1 million), which are also gradually building their mobile base.
Dead souls in the statistics
The analysis of Bankier.pl data also sheds light on the so-called “dead souls”, i.e. customers who have signed an electronic banking agreement but do not use it.
ZBP reports that the total number of individual customers with access to electronic banking exceeded 45 million. This number is larger than the population of Poland, which is due to the fact that one person often has accounts in several banks.
PKO BP also dominates in this category, serving over 11 million customers with e-banking agreements. However, when we look at real activity (logging in at least once a month), this number drops to 7.7 million.
The difference is even more visible in the case of Bank Millennium. It has nearly 5 million “contractual” customers (third result in Poland, ahead of Santander Bank Polska), which is the result of a dynamic growth of over 13%. y/y. However, the sheer number of contracts does not always translate linearly into daily transaction activity.
The twilight of the PC era?
The conclusions from the third quarter of 2025 are clear. A bank on a computer becomes a specialized tool – perhaps used for more complex operations or by an older generation of customers. Everyday finances – transfers, BLIK, checking balances – have been completely taken over by applications.
For banks, this is a signal that investments in UX (user experience) of mobile applications are no longer just an addition, but a matter of “to be or not to be” on the market. Looking at the growth rate of Pekao or the dominance of PKO BP, it is clear that Polish players have learned this lesson perfectly.
