Transparent information about products and services

Bank employees are informed on an ongoing basis about any significant changes in sales and client service through the Bank’s various internal communication channels. The product sales process is executed on the basis of standardized models to make it possible to present an offer customized to a client’s needs and expectations with options that may be of interest to him/her, along with the scope of information necessary to make an informed decision about the purchase of a given product. How sales standards are followed and the scope and quality of information provided to clients are evaluated on a regular basis through Mystery Shopper surveys and as part of client satisfaction surveys. The method of sales and client service is also checked and streamlined through inquiries and client complaints.

[GRI 102-11, GRI 102-15, GRI 102-30] A client filing a mortgage loan application with Bank Millennium receives, at each stage of the process, thorough information from a Bank employee about the product and the associated risks. In 2019, the Bank conducted a large-scale training campaign in product design and the lending process, reminding its employees how to convey the details of the offering made available to the clients in a comprehensible, reliable and transparent manner. The training was attended by over 1,000 participants – both employees of the Bank’s sales network (approx. 500 participants) and the Bank’s sales partners (approx. 500 employees of all mortgage loan intermediaries cooperating with the Bank).

The Bank observes the requirements of the MiFID2 directive (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive). In accordance with them, when offering investment services the Bank is obligated to do the following before a client purchases a product:

To ensure the best possible protection level to its customers, the Bank applies some MiFID2 guidelines also to insurance and investment products, even though this is not required. All the marketing publications prepared by the Bank describe, among others, the risks associated with investments and sample scenarios related to the financial instrument or product. Clients are presented with complete and reliable information on the Bank’s products and financial instruments distributed by the Bank, including their issuers and the terms of the complaint process. Information on services, bank agreements and documents, letters sent to clients are drafted in a precise, comprehensible and transparent manner.

[GRI 103-2, GRI 417-1] All information documents concerning investment products offered by Bank Millennium provides relevant information on the following: the investment risk, legal disclaimers and the sites where information on the funds, including financial data, is published.

Before starting to sell investment products on their own, employees must have at least six months’ experience in offering them and must pass a products knowledge test. Employees also go through mandatory training on MiFID2 and product training in the form of e-learning. Product training describes detailed characteristics of a given product and defines the risks associated with investing in a given product or financial instrument.

If the law or internal regulations governing any financial products change, e-learning refresher training is made available to employees. In addition, employees regularly take advantage of periodic market and product-related conference calls and have constant access to current product presentations.