Innovative services

Bank Millennium’s digital channels support easy access to banking services and many non-banking options. The Bank is constantly expanding its service offering in the mobile application and the internet banking system to make more convenient and helpful solutions available.

In all its actions the Bank is guided by the idea of making clients’ lives better and easier every day. The website, the Millenet internet banking system and the mobile application have been designed with users in mind and jointly with them in the spirit of Human-Centred Design. The goal is for the Bank’s interface to be friendly, offer convenient options and for contact with the Bank to build a positive, personalized user experience. The UX, UI and Communication Teams in electronic channels are responsible for designing services in accordance with clients’ needs and expectations. More than 10 years ago the Bank was one of the first players on the market to set up a User-Experience Lab. Its team of researchers work jointly with users to test processes and the interface for digital channels. It also administers surveys, etc. In this manner the Bank would like to illustrate that there are no obstacles to gaining access to its services and no user group should feel excluded. Millennium clients spend more and more time in the digital realm and expect that the Bank will keep pace with them and offer more and more new and improved online services.

During the pandemic banking has proven to be much easier because the Bank, like the overall sector, developed digital services much earlier. However, innovation and further digitalization of client contact have become indispensable. Additionally, the Bank taps into the potential posed by open banking, by implementing and constantly developing banking services consistent with PSD2.

Retail clients

Clients always have their phones with them. That’s why the Bank is developing services in the spirit of omnichannel and is betting on mobile solutions in its processes. For instance, clients can apply for additional funds through any fully-remote or hybrid online service channel with the support of a hotline or outlet employee. Additionally, people can easily confirm their income by logging into their account in another bank using Bank Millennium’s app, even if they submit their application in a branch. In 2021 the scope of instructions clients can confirm in branches using Mobile Authorization was extended, thereby modifying branch processes into paperless processes.

In 2021 the Bank streamlined its services and new solutions were added to support clients in managing their finances on a daily basis. An option was added to the app to manage card limits and the management of other daily limits was became easier. An option was added to generate a MilleCode reminder in the portal and the app. We also refreshed the appearance of the main screen in the mobile application after login. A new solution involves shortcuts to the most popular services available immediately after login. The screen prior to login was also refreshed and the mobile application activation process was shortened by removing one step.

The Bank continued the educational efforts it launched at the outset of the pandemic to support clients who are just starting their online activity. Special emphasis was placed on clients who up till now used the Bank’s services in branches. The Digital Ambassadors project launched in 2020 was continued. This project focuses on branch employees tasked with advancing online services among other employees serving clients in brick and mortar locations. Persons using electronic channels to a limited extent were the second important group to which digitalisation efforts were directed. Educational campaigns and campaigns advancing the available online solutions, e.g. Trusted profile targeted these clients.

In 2021 the Bank continued to streamline credit processes available in online channels and in the hybrid sales model. The Bank has made it easier to make early repayment – previously clients could repay a loan solely from their main account. Now they can select the account from which the amount will be withdrawn. The Bank also introduced a satisfaction survey in the cash loan process. In this survey clients can express their expectations and evaluate the process. This survey is available to clients who finish the process of applying for a loan and to people who decide not to finish it. Clients with access to electronic banking but who do not have a current account received the option to open an account directly in the loan process.

2021 also led to changes in the process of consolidating external liabilities. Clients obtained the option of external consolidation without having to take out additional funds. The Bank also expanded the online process. It took into consideration hybrid sales – launched in an outlet or during a phone conversation with a consultant and then completed by signing an agreement in Millenet or the mobile application.

Streamlining the multiple channel consolidation process:

additional information with an explanation of how consolidation works;
spinning off the consolidation process to a separate offer, a new more accessible sequence of components, changes to the UX;
a detailed calculator showing the instalments clients pay now, the ones they will pay after consolidation for the stated term along with a calculation of the monthly savings;
other elements of the consolidation process were refined, e.g. the information displayed on loans now contains the opening date and the original loan amount.

On top of the streamlining visible to clients the Bank made other changes that make it easier for branch employees and hotline consultants to conduct hybrid sales.

Bank Millennium continued the mortgage loan service digitalization project started in 2020. In this project more digital facilities are successively being introduced for clients. Solutions in this area have been undergoing implementation for several years while the work on digitizing the application process is currently the most intensive. In this short period the Bank designed and implemented a number of facilities that have substantially optimized the processing of mortgage loans and made a positive contribution to clients’ experience.

Clients submitting loan applications may do the following:

go paperless and approve the application to provide loan information using an SMS code;
conveniently track the status of their application in the mobile application and in the Millenet internet service and in every instance when the application’s status changes they receive an update;
take advantage of an e-appraisal, or a convenient electronic process to appraise the value of real estate.

In November 2021 the Bank made available an option to upload remotely third-party insurance policies in the mobile application and the Millenet internet service. Now clients do not have to visit the branch to deliver documents.

In the mortgage loan area Bank Millennium has been recognized in the voting on the “Golden Banker of 2021” – our mortgage loan was recognized as the best one on the Polish market. In turn, it received a distinction in the Best Mortgage Service category in the ranking for Institution of the Year.

Since 2020 Bank Millennium clients can invest their savings using their computer, tablet or phone. In 2021 the Bank expanded the offering of online investment products, chiefly in the mobile application.

Presently, the Bank’s offering makes the following available:

individual investment funds of Millennium TFI and funds offered by third-party fund management companies to clients in the Prestige and Private segments,
off-the-shelf investment plans with varying degrees of risk,
structured deposits.

The MIFID survey can also be filled out and updated online. Clients may conveniently confirm some instructions regarding funds submitted in a branch in the mobile application without having to sign any hardcopy documents.

Additionally, the Bank conducts actions to make it easier for clients to take well-informed investment decisions, including:

it gives access to educational materials and online films;
it prepares a monthly summary of markets;
it administers dedicated campaigns;
it holds webinars run by experts.

Bank Millennium has tapped into the potential offered by PSD2 to support innovation in open banking services. We are a market leader in this area and we are observing that it is constantly becoming more popular. Tens of thousands of our clients have already benefited.

Contemporary users appreciate the full service available on a mobile basis and in a single spot,
while Bank Millennium’s open banking services give them a single platform on which they can manage their finance with ease. Checking balances and executing wire transfers from different banks are useful solutions in daily banking while the income verification service makes it easy and speeds up the submission of a cash loan application whether online or in a branch or using the hotline without having to deliver any additional documents or hard copies of bank statements.

Bank Millennium makes the following available through open banking:

The 360º Finance service making it possible to check your account balance and transaction history on bank accounts in 9 other banks: Alior Bank, BNP Paribas, Bank Pekao, Citi Handlowy, ING Bank Śląski, Inteligo, mBank, PKO BP and Santander Bank;
The option to initiate wire transfers through your Millenet internet service using accounts in 6 other banks: Alior Bank, Bank Pekao, ING Bank Śląski, mBank, PKO BP and Santander Bank;
Confirmation of income in the cash loan process by logging into one of 8 other banks: Alior Bank, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas, ING Bank Śląski, Inteligo, mBank, Santander Bank and PKO BP;
The process of opening a personal account using identity confirmation by logging into your account in one of 7 other banks: Alior Bank, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas,
ING Bank Śląski, mBank, Santander Bank and PKO BP;
The process of opening a company account for sole proprietors using identity confirmation by logging into your account in one of 7 other banks: Alior Bank, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas, ING Bank Śląski, mBank, Santander Bank and PKO BP;
The process of submitting an instalment loan application – clients who would like to pay in instalments for purchases in the web stores of Bank Millennium’s partners can confirm their identity when submitting an application by logging into one of the banks in which they have an account (8 banks available in this service): Bank Millennium, Alior Bank, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas, ING Bank Śląski, mBank, Santander Bank and PKO BP;
The Bank also employs open banking to propose more customized products to clients who have taken advantage of combining their accounts – based on the history from another bank we are capable of calculating loan proposals and offer savings or investment products.

The Bank is constantly working on expanding the current services to include more banks and on introducing new solutions that will tap into the possibilities afforded by open banking.

For years Bank Millennium has been collaborating with government agencies and has participated in building digital society and popularizing e-administration. The Bank’s clients may take advantage of the Trusted Profile, log into PUE ZUS and the Bank, they can submit applications for 500+ and 300+ benefits in internet banking. From January 2022, customers can also submit applications for the 500+ benefit and Rodzinny Kapitał Opiekuńczy (Family Care Capital) benefits in the mobile application.

For several years we have been observing the dynamic growth in the number of users taking advantage of mobile applications, which is simply proportional to the rising popularity of smartphones and recently to wearables. Young people who live in a virtual world treat mobile solutions as a standard. In response to these expectations bank applications transcend current services and are becoming platforms that aggregate many useful services on a daily basis.

Bank Millennium’s mobile application is a modern and convenient platform to manage daily dealings. For instance, clients can pay for parking, motorway tolls or public transport; they can buy tickets to the cinema or they can insure their car. The application supports the purchase of tourism insurance using the innovative Travel Assistance service. It also helps in updating data in identity documents and conveniently using credit products and investing savings. Access to quick assistance is also important, e.g. through live chat or block a lost card on your own. We are also developing solutions employing artificial intelligence. Clients can already use the assistance of Milli in Bank Millennium’s application. This automatic assistant is ready to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it learns quickly and it can become a loyal companion in daily banking.

In 2021 this application was integrated with Huawei Mobile Services and is available in the AppGallery – clients who have the latest Huawei mobile devices can use it.

Solutions introduced in 2021:

We have introduced a version of the app for children aged 7-12 with an exceptional function called “Ask for Pocket Money” and the option to open an account for a child in electronic channels;
We were the first bank to make BLIK contactless payments available in Poland;
We have made an innovative app available to be paired with Apple Watch – it works regardless of the handset and makes it possible to pay using BLIK and confirm transactions routed online and some instructions submitted in the branch;
We have developed access in the app to the goodie shopping platform – we have observed growing interest in the e-commerce market and we are making it easier for clients to gain access to these services with an option to benefit from special discounts, promotions and the cashback offer;
We have added the option to buy investment funds;
We uploaded new modules to recognize speech and understand intentions. They enable the Milli chatbot to understand the words uttered by users better and give advice, e.g. on how to unblock their PIN code or change their limits;
We refreshed the main screen and the screen preceding login, we added convenient shortcuts to the most popular functions and the option to manage card limits;
We added more instructions submitted in a branch that can be authorized in the app instead of using a hardcopy signature;
We have launched a contextual live chat function, e.g. on a cash loan application.

Support for business

For years Bank Millennium has blended innovation with designing services transcending the purely banking area. That is why we also give tools to people running a business to support them in building a modern competitive business.

We support the Bank’s clients and clients who have not had a relationship up till now with the Bank in remotely opening a company account. We were the first to start confirming clients’ identity in the process of opening a company account by using open banking. We are successively adding banks through which this can be done.

In 2021 we introduced a new online process to open a company FX account. Additionally, we made it easier to wire money between your own accounts and we started to create a remote cash loan process for business activities. In a pilot project we made available an option to sign a loan agreement remotely – this also applies to loans a de minimis guarantee.

One of the more important projects launched with businesses in mind was the innovative package Smart Terminal Plus, which was introduced in the latter half of 2021. Clients who run trading activity can take advantage of this package. In that case they obtain a modern sales position with an innovative terminal to handle payment cards, a sales app and a compact fiscal printer. Smart Terminal Plus supports the management of your product assortment, the merchandise base and warehouse levels, rapid sales, adding and configuring new merchandise, setting prices, discounts, issuing invoices, generating reports and thanks to the available analysis of sales, receipts and fiscal data this also supports the efficient review and optimization of costs.

The Bank also participated in the distribution of funds under the grants in the Polish Development Fund’s Financial Shield for companies that suffered damage due to the COVID-19 pandemic during this program’s first and second rounds. The processes used to apply for and make settlements on these grants were available in the Millenet system and in Millenet for Corporates.

New solutions for Corporate Banking clients

A module supporting two-way exchange of electronic documents with clients has been launched in the Millenet transaction system for Corporates. Depending on the type of document being used, the module customizes the required and possible actions to be performed by Bank Millennium and its clients, making it a friendly and intuitive solution for its users. Clients and the Bank have the option to approve or reject the documents being sent and to give comments on them until the final language is agreed upon. This modules supports the uploading of documents containing a qualified signature, while every version of the document sent to a client contains the Bank’s electronic signature. Clients are advised by an SMS when a document is made available. Documents and the history of their exchange are a convenient digital archive for clients, and this archive is accessible to authorized system users. An extension of the document exchange module is slated to be launched in early 2022 to include automatic verification of electronic signatures. It will also generate certificates and conserve electronic signatures. The digital exchange of documents will substantially reduce the usage of paper and the number of consignments and meetings needed to exchange documents with clients, which is also important in the context of the risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bank also implemented new tools to support the work done by clients in the Millenet transaction system. Currently, clients can obtain technical support from Millenet Experts through the chat function and voice calls involving the co-browsing functionality.

The extension of the FX platform’s accessibility was a very important improvement – clients can use it 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. The functionality of the platform has also been extended to include conditional orders. This was made available to clients in January 2022.

Leasing clients have received a new set of reports in the Millenet lease module, giving them convenient access to complete data pertaining to lease agreements, instalments, invoices and insurance for the leased assets.

Clients’ interest in handling electronic orders for granting guarantees and opening letters of credit on the Bank’s trade finance platform is on the rise. At the end of 2021, some 91% of the orders for extending a bank guarantee and opening documentary letters of credit under lines were submitted by clients electronically. Nearly every third guarantee took the form of an e-guarantee, i.e. an electronic version of a guarantee with the guarantor’s qualified electronic signature.

The Bank has also developed the MillenetLINK service to integrate clients’ finance and accounting systems with the banking transaction system. This solution has been enriched to include a reporting module, handle prepaid cards and international wire transfers. The creation in Millenet of a register of prepaid cards to process a large number of cards and personalize them was a major way of streamlining for clients utilizing e-commerce transactions.