Contactless payment works essentially everywhere, down to public toilets and parking machines. Withdraw from a real bank's ATM rather than the Euronet network, and decline the DCC offer on every card transaction.
Money and paying for things
The currency is the Polish złoty (PLN), indicatively 1 EUR ≈ 4.30 PLN and 1 USD ≈ 3.70 PLN in late August 2026 - the dollar figure has moved a long way this year, so use the converter above rather than a number in a sentence.
- You barely need cash. Contactless by card, phone or watch (Apple Pay, Google Pay) is accepted universally, small shops, public toilets and parking machines included.
- Withdraw from an established bank - PKO Bank Polski, Bank Pekao, ING, Santander, mBank. Avoid the independent Euronet network, which charges high transaction fees and poor rates on foreign cards.
- Decline DCC and be charged in PLN. Choosing conversion into your card's home currency adds a markup of 8–15% on top of the exchange difference.
- Change cash at a city-centre kantor only. Airport and main railway station bureaux apply a poor spread.
- Tipping - 10% of the bill in restaurants when you are happy with the service.
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