Nine Hundred and Forty-Seven BranchesNarrow moat

PKO Bank Polski (PKO) — moat facet

The largest branch network in Poland is a distribution advantage and a fixed cost, and which one it is depends on the year.

PKO operates 947 branches and about 3 100 ATMs1, plus 225 agencies — the largest physical network in Polish banking.

The physical network, FY2025947branches, from 975~3 100ATMs225agencies49corporate branchesThe largest distribution network in Poland, and its largest fixed cost
The branches reach the towns no digital bank serves. They are also the reason 26 252 people are on the payroll.

The interesting thing is how little it has changed. Branches went 975, 967, 945, 944, 947 across five years2 — essentially flat, while customers rose 12% and deposits 43%. PKO is not closing branches to cut costs and it is not opening them to grow; it is holding a network it already has and putting more business through it.

That is a defensible position and an awkward asset at the same time. A network of this size is expensive, it cannot be built today at any sensible cost, and it is worth most to exactly the customers a bank most wants — older, wealthier depositors who still value a counter.

The cost of holding it shows in the efficiency ratio, and the ratio is good: cost-to-income of 31,1% in 20253, with 26 252 employees4 against a 583 billion złoty balance sheet.

The strategic question is whether it is an advantage or an inheritance. Digital-first rivals carry none of it, and PKO's own IKO application now has more than 8,7 million active installations5 — the bank is competing with itself on the cheaper channel.

Grade this on cost-to-income. Holding near 31% while the branch count stays flat means the network is being absorbed by growth. Rising toward 40% would mean it is a fixed cost the business has outgrown.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

947 branches from 975, and the direction has been one way for a decade. Each closure removes a cost and a reason for an older customer to stay.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Branches, and the rate of closure
947, from 975 a year earlier

Twenty-eight closed in a year, alongside about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies. The network still reaches the towns no digital bank serves, and it is the largest fixed cost in the business. Watch whether closures accelerate: they are the fastest available cost lever and the fastest way to lose an older customer.

Source: PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025, distribution network ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
A Network You Cannot Close Quickly
Leases, redundancy law and a state shareholder mean the branches close on the country's timetable, not the bank's.
References
  1. ReportedPKO operates 947 branches and about 3 100 ATMs, plus 225 agencies — the largest physical network in Polish banking.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - market position, distribution network and staff (PKO described as the largest commercial bank in Poland and the leading bank on its home market in terms of the scale of operations, with the most recognised brand among banks; 947 branches against 975, about 3 100 ATMs and 225 agencies, 26 252 employees against 25 657 and a seventh consecutive Top Employer certificate, the corporate network of 49 branches and 24 regional centres, seven voivodeship budgets, and the foreign branches and representative offices in Stockholm and Vilnius) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedBranches went 975, 967, 945, 944, 947 across five years — essentially flat, while customers rose 12% and deposits 43%.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the customer base (12 460 thousand customers against 11 120 thousand five years earlier, 9 764 thousand current accounts, and more than 8,7 million active installations of the IKO mobile application) — FY2021-FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe cost of holding it shows in the efficiency ratio, and the ratio is good: cost-to-income of 31,1% in 2025, with 26 252 employees against a 583 billion złoty balance sheet.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the efficiency and quality ratios (return on equity of 19,5%, return on assets of 1,9%, a cost-to-income ratio of 31,1%, net interest margin of 4,76%, cost of credit risk of 0,30% and impaired exposures at 3,34% of the portfolio) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe cost of holding it shows in the efficiency ratio, and the ratio is good: cost-to-income of 31,1% in 2025, with 26 252 employees against a 583 billion złoty balance sheet.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the efficiency and quality ratios (return on equity of 19,5%, return on assets of 1,9%, a cost-to-income ratio of 31,1%, net interest margin of 4,76%, cost of credit risk of 0,30% and impaired exposures at 3,34% of the portfolio) — FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedDigital-first rivals carry none of it, and PKO's own IKO application now has more than 8,7 million active installations — the bank is competing with itself on the cheaper channel.
    PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 - the customer base (12 460 thousand customers against 11 120 thousand five years earlier, 9 764 thousand current accounts, and more than 8,7 million active installations of the IKO mobile application) — FY2021-FY2025 · publ. 12 March 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026