ING Bank Securities is preparing to launch retirement investment accounts and expand into foreign markets this year, adding pressure on XTB and other Polish brokerages competing for the country's growing pool of retail investors.
The brokerage unit of ING Bank Śląski will prioritize rollout of IKE and IKZE tax-advantaged retirement accounts, according to Marcin Słomianowski, director of BM ING BSK. The firm operates more than 200,000 brokerage accounts, ranking fourth in Poland's retail trading market.
"We want to complete work on making IKE and IKZE brokerage accounts available as our first priority," Słomianowski told Polish financial newspaper Parkiet. The move puts ING in direct competition with XTB, which launched IKZE accounts in mid-2025 and has captured roughly one-third of Poland's brokerage market.
Last year, ING added just under 10,000 new brokerage accounts. By comparison, XTB opened around 40 times more, driven by a surge in popularity of IKE and IKZE accounts.
Retirement Accounts Fuel Polish Industry Growth
Polish brokerages opened 168,000 new IKE accounts and 94,000 IKZE accounts in 2025, both up more than 130% year-over-year, according to Parkiet estimates. The surge reflects growing interest in tax-sheltered investing among Polish retail traders.
XTB added 442,000 Polish accounts during 2025, with much of the December rush driven by year-end contributions to retirement products. The publicly traded broker now controls about 32% of all Polish brokerage accounts, though its Warsaw Stock Exchange trading volume represents just 1.7% of total market turnover.
Institution | Accounts (December 2025) | Monthly Change | Annual Change |
XTB S.A. | 821,748 | 63,498 | 441,526 |
mBank S.A. Brokerage | 532,928 | 27,952 | 62,225 |
BM Pekao | 206,636 | -162 | 4,026 |
ING Bank Śląski S.A. Brokerage | 202,147 | 322 | 9,707 |
Dom Maklerski BOS S.A. | 190,283 | 5,902 | 17,402 |
BM PKO BP | 178,873 | 65 | 19,001 |
Santander Brokerage | 120,246 | 1,366 | 5,317 |
BM Alior Bank S.A. | 100,941 | 1,307 | 4,922 |
BNP Paribas Bank Polska Brokerage | 43,820 | -212 | 1,005 |
Others (26 institutions) | 136,984 | 905 | -214 |
TOTAL | 2,534,606 | 100,374 | 564,917 |
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ING's retirement account launch follows the bank's November 2025 strategy announcement, which emphasized investment products.
"2026 will be a time of vigorous development in the area of investment solutions, including brokerage services," Słomianowski said. "This year is a period of very intensive work on implementing many initiatives."
Foreign Markets and Family Foundations on Roadmap
The brokerage also plans to introduce accounts for family foundations, a legal structure gaining traction among wealthy Polish families for legal tax evasion. Access to international markets, now standard among Polish retail brokers, remains on ING's agenda though no launch date has been set.
"We are preparing to expand investment opportunities through our services by making foreign markets available, although the timing of this service implementation has not been decided," Słomianowski said.
ING will refresh its "Makler" module within the Moje ING mobile app and is monitoring legislative work on OKI accounts, another potential retirement product.
"We are closely following legislative work on OKI accounts," Słomianowski said. "Although their implementation depends on the final shape of regulations, we are already preparing for this change, working based on draft provisions."
The Polish brokerage market has seen increased competition from international players. German fintech Trade Republic entered Poland in September 2025, offering commission-free trading and access to private markets from one euro in its first non-eurozone expansion.
"Will the brokerage break through to investors with its offer? The brokerage market remains competitive," Parkiet noted. "The strength of brokerages operating within bank structures is the potentially easy access to the bank's client base, which BM ING BSK has also relied on in recent years."
