How To Pay With Transfer (Przelew) In Poland Without A Polish Account?

Ordering in Poland with money transfer payment

Yesterday, I ordered online  fresh fruits in Poland   and was expecting to pay with credit card at reception. However, the delivery man arrived and told me he don't have a terminal for credit card payment.

He offered to pay in cash, but the invoice was higher than the cash I got with me (who's got cash with him nowadays?), so instead he offered to pay only with Przelew, which I accepted.

But, as I don't have a local Polish Bank Account, I am generally not able to make a local  money transfer   payment, or Przelew. So, what is Przelew and how to pay with  money transfer   in Poland without a Polish account?

Spoiler alert: I did get delivered and managed to pay online!

What is Przelew?

A lot of services in Poland can only be paid via bank transfer, locally called Przelew, and necessitates usually to have a local bank account available to do this transfer in the local currency, the Polish Zloty PLN.

Przelew: Direct money transfer local currency, Polish Zloty PLN

For example, it is the preferred way of paying for general services such as your electricity bill, your phone abonment or your Internet connection.

However, even if you are not residing in the country, it is possible to pay online with Przelew and order local services such as  fresh fruits in Poland   and pay online with Przelew, by using the standard local same currency  money transfer   with WISE.

Follow the detailed guide for a full example - and see how I ordered amazing  fresh fruits in Poland   and vegetables online in the evening, and got delivered the next day morning!

1. Get a Polish wallet

First of all, if you do not have a  WISE   account yet, you might want to create one - for free.

WISE is a multi currency online banking service that allows you to create wallets in local currencies, in some cases like for USD in United States or EUR in Europe even getting a real local bank account without the hassle of going to the country and filling in the form, and allows you to transfer between currencies with nearly no fee and advantageous transfer rate, store money in these local wallets, and pay online in these currencies, with no conversion fee if you have money available in target currency.

So, the first step is to create a  WISE   account for free, open a Polish Zloty wallet, and get some money on that wallet - but if you don't, you will also be offered to pay for this  money transfer   with your credit card in any currency you like.

2. Login on your WISE account

Now that you have you account up and ready, log on to the  WISE   portal if you haven't done so already.

The  WISE   system allows you to have two profiles, a private one for your own online payments and a business profile that will let you better manage VAT.

Having different profiles also is the best way to get different debit cards for both your personal and your professional payments for free (except card postage fee), and to pay worldwide in any currency you like with close to no currency fee.

Choose the right type of account to use to continue.

3. Do a local currency transfer

Then, to pay a PRZELEW online, simply select the Send Money option to get started with the  money transfer   process.

In the next screen, select local money transfer, and choose the currency in which you want to perform this money transfer, in our case the PLN Polish Zloty currency.

If you have already performed a  money transfer   to that business in the past, you should be able to select it from the existing recipients list.

However, if that isn't the case, which is most likely the reason why you are reading my guide, scroll down and select the Business or charity  money transfer   option to get started.

There, it is very important to select the local bank account option to get started with a Przelew payment.

Enter the business name and the local bank account number, which is a 26 digits IBAN without the Polish prefix PL.

4. Finalize and pay

You will then be asked to review details of your transfer and make sure that all is correct - no worries yet, you will still be able to perform any change you like in the next screen if anything isn't right.

Before finishing the transfer, you will be asked to select the  money transfer   type, which is the mean of payment of the Przelew from your side.

You will be given choice between these options:

• Balance transfer, if you have enough money in your wallet, for 3.30 Polish Zloty,
• Credit or Debit card payment, that will cost you 3.72PLN in fees,
• Low cost transfer, in which case a transfer from another bank or payment system will cost you 3.42 PLN.

After having select the currency to use and made sure that all is right, hit the Finish and pay button.

You will mostly be requested to enter your password in order to validate the payment. This extra layer of security might not appear if the beneficiary of the  money transfer   has been previously used and validated.

And that's all! Your  money transfer   should be taken care of, and usually can take a few hours.

You will even be asked to skip future approval for  money transfer   requests for that beneficiary if that wasn't the case already, which will prevent the system from requesting your password for future similar payments to the same beneficiary.

The bottom line

Using the  WISE   system, you will be able to perform a low cost Przelew payment in Poland, a local Polish Zloty  money transfer   to a local bank account, but it will cost more than a standard Polish to Polish bank transfer that would be free.

If you are given the opportunity, it usually is cheaper to pay online with credit card than with this kind of bank transfer, as the credit card fee typically is 1PLN, and the Przelew payment from another bank account costs 3.3PLN, or 3.3 times more.

However, that's a great way to get around the payment systems that only allow for Przelew, and that a foreigner can't access without a local bank account - in some cases, paying a Przelew with a local bank account even is necessary to create the documents necessary to get a local bank account!

Frequently Asked Questions

What methods can foreigners use to make a bank transfer (przelew) in Poland without having a local Polish bank account?

Methods include using international money transfer services like WISE or Revolut, which allow transfers to Polish accounts in PLN. These services often offer competitive exchange rates and lower fees compared to traditional banks.