When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, millions of refugees began crossing the border into Poland and other neighbouring countries. Humanitarian organisations came to help but faced the challenge to distribute aid quickly to the recipients in need. Santander Bank Polska swiftly developed a payment modality to facilitate the UN Refugee Agency’s emergency transitional cash assistance program. This payment modality was built on the established BLIK system, using unique nine-digit codes to allow recipients to withdraw cash from ATMs without a card, bank account, or a smartphone banking app.

This was a project from the heart. Santander saw people that needed help, recognised the value of existing assets, and configured them for a novel use case at an incredible speed. For all those reasons, Santander bank is a deserving winner of Celent’s Model Bank 2023 award for Supporting Customers in Time of Need.