The Current Account Nobody ChangesWide moat

PKO Bank Polski (PKO) — moat facet

9,76 million current accounts are the anchor: the direct debits, the salary, the twelve years of statements nobody wants to move.

PKO holds 9 764 thousand current accounts1, and the reason that matters is that a current account is the one financial product people genuinely do not move.

Customers by relationship depth, FY2025With a current account — 78%Other products only — 22%9 764 thousand current accounts on 12 460 thousand customers
Seventy-eight percent keep their main account here. The current account is the only banking product with genuine inertia - the salary, the direct debits, twelve years of statements.

The economics follow directly. Balances in transactional accounts pay little or nothing, so they fund the loan book at close to zero cost, which is the largest single reason PKO's interest margin reached 4,76% in 20252. A bank funded by fixed-term deposits or wholesale markets cannot produce that number.

The account count is also the best available proxy for primary banking relationships, and it has risen every year: 8 490 thousand in 2021 to 9 764 thousand in 20253. People are not just holding accounts at PKO, they are opening them.

The switching cost is entirely behavioural, which makes it both real and fragile. Polish regulation makes account transfer straightforward, and there is no contract, no notice period and no penalty. What holds the customer is that moving a salary, a mortgage direct debit and a decade of standing orders is an afternoon's work to save a small amount.

The ratio itself is worth computing: 9 764 thousand current accounts against 12 460 thousand customers4 is about four in five — high enough to say most of PKO's customers do their day-to-day banking here rather than merely holding a product.

Watch the ratio of current accounts to total customers. Rising means PKO is becoming the primary bank for more of the people it serves; falling would mean it is acquiring customers who keep their main account somewhere else.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

9 764 thousand current accounts against 12 460 thousand customers - a ratio that has barely moved. The inertia is real and it is not increasing.

The number that tests this moat
Moat Explorer calc
Current accounts per customer
9 764 thousand accounts on 12 460 thousand customers

Seventy-eight percent of PKO's customers keep their main account there rather than a savings product alone. The current account is where the salary lands and the direct debits sit, and it is the only banking product with genuine inertia. If this ratio falls the relationship is thinning even while the customer count holds.

Source: PKO Bank Polski S.A. Group Directors' Report for 2025 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Switching Is Free, and Regulators Keep Making It Easier
Every reform since 2016 has been aimed squarely at the inertia this moat is made of.
References
  1. ReportedPKO holds 9 764 thousand current accounts, and the reason that matters is that a current account is the one financial product people genuinely do not move.
    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 ↗
  2. ReportedBalances in transactional accounts pay little or nothing, so they fund the loan book at close to zero cost, which is the largest single reason PKO's interest margin reached 4,76% in 2025.
    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 ↗
  3. ReportedThe account count is also the best available proxy for primary banking relationships, and it has risen every year: 8 490 thousand in 2021 to 9 764 thousand in 2025.
    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 ↗
  4. Moat Explorer calcThe ratio itself is worth computing: 9 764 thousand current accounts against 12 460 thousand customers is about four in five — high enough to say most of PKO's customers do their day-to-day banking here rather than merely holding a product.
    Moat Explorer calculation - arithmetic on figures PKO reports: the Swiss franc charge as a share of net profit (4 365 over 10 682), financing per employee (315 953 over 26 252 against 247 572 over 25 657), current accounts as a share of customers (9 764 over 12 460), deposits less financing (460 722 less 315 953), and the levy against fee income (1 349 over 5 243), credit losses excluding legal risk (5 859 less 4 365 = 1 494), the income mix (24 223 and 5 243 over 30 370 = 79,8% and 17,3%), net profit growth (10 682 against 9 304 = 14,8%), financing per employee (315 953 over 26 252 = 12,0m), and customers against Poland's population (12,46m of 37,33m) — FY2021-FY2025 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026