In 2021 the Bank made a number of new electronic banking solutions available as described here to support the idea of safe banking from home and it actively educated clients on how to take advantage of online banking services.
The digital exchange of documents substantially reduces the number of meetings needed to exchange documents with clients in Corporate Banking, too.
Branches serve clients while observing the sanitary guidelines in force. The Bank’s branches employ safeguards in the form of shields and personal protection equipment.
Since the very beginning of the pandemic, the Bank has taken part in the distribution of public aid programs, dealing with individual and corporate clients with the same care and attention. In 2021 the Bank along with the entire banking sector supported the aid program under the Financial Shield 2.0 by making available the process of applying for grants and the process of submitting declarations on the settlement of grants.
The Bank ensures a safe work environment for its employees. The measures undertaken in connection with the pandemic, including a special employee support fund are described in the sub-section entitled “Measures continued in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic”.
In April 2020 the Bank Millennium Foundation and Bank Millennium joined the battle against coronavirus by endowing the amount of PLN 500,000 to the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences which designed the first Polish tests to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2. More information on this subject can be found in the section referred to above.
The program #słuchaMYwspieraMY (#WElistenWEsupport) is our response to the needs of local communities and clients ensuing, among other things, from the circumstances related to the pandemic. Information regarding this program can be found in the sub-section “Charitable campaigns and employee volunteerism”.
In collaboration with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego Bank Millennium ran three guarantee programs in 2021 to secure loans extended to companies: de minimis guarantee, liquidity guarantee under the Liquidity Guarantee Fund and Biznesmax guarantee.
De minimis guarantees are designated for small and medium enterprises. This program functioned throughout 2021 according to modified rules to make it easy for companies to obtain access to credit and amortize it – the term of the guarantee was extended, the cap was raised, the commission paid to BGK for granting a guarantee was suspended and it became possible to secure loan amortization in a foreign currency using the guarantee.
The Biznesmax Guarantee Program in the formula in force in the Bank pertains chiefly to financing companies focused on carrying out environmentally-friendly projects and is described in the sub-section entitled “Environmentally-friendly products and responsible financing”.
We also continue to pursue the FGP Liquidity Guarantee Program launched in 2020. It forms an element of the government’s anti-crisis shield. Its purpose is to support the financial liquidity of medium and large economic entities. These guarantees secure up to 80% of the loan principal with a maximum guarantee amount of PLN 200 million.
The FGP Liquidity Guarantee Program and the more favourable terms and conditions of the de minimis and Biznesmax programs will be in place at least until 30 June 2022.
Millennium Leasing was one of the first companies in Poland to join BGK’s guarantee program for lease transactions to increase the accessibility of financing during the pandemic for clients in the SME segment.
