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The importance of the question about the relationship between concentration and efficiency lies in the fact that banks’ efficiency affects ability to extend loans and ensure financial stability of the banking sector. The study examines this relationship on the example of 150 banks operating between 2005 and 2019 in 11 EU and 8 non-EU countries from the SECE region. The value of profit efficiency was assessed with the stochastic frontier approach, and next regressed with the banking market concentration and bank specific and macroeconomic explanatory variables. The results for the entire sample as well as for domestic and foreign-owned banks indicate that concentration positively and nonlinearly impacts bank efficiency, both in EU and non-EU countries. Moreover, the size of a bank and income diversification help to improve efficiency of banks in the SECE region. The study shows that banks in SECE countries seem to follow the efficient structure hypothesis.

The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of the shock increase, in the value of nonperforming loans, on the equity level and profitability of 141 banks in 18 countries of Central Eastern South Europe (CESE). This study is important for assessing the financial stability of banks in this region in the face of the continuing negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the annual data, as of the end of 2020, from the S&P Global database, stress tests were carried out to check what value of NPL growth, over the next year, will lead to breach the regulatory capital requirements in domestic sectors and in individual groups of banks. The results indicate that the banks in CESE were well capitalized and had the ability to maintain capital requirements with a 12% increase in nonperforming loans. The resilience of domestic banking sectors varies, and it is higher in non-EU countries. Smaller and non-public banks show a greater ability to preserve the appropriate level of equity, although there is a risk that they may postpone the time of provisioning credit risk and additionally increase lending to lower the NPL ratio. Larger banks are more profitable in times of crisis. The results of the research are important for assessing the stability of the banking sector in CESE during the crisis and can be used by financial supervision of the region’s countries and banking market analysts.

SummarySubject and purpose of work: The aim of the article is to present selected aspects of the digitization process of the banking sector in Poland, including the role of the digital channel in the sale of banking products.Materials and methods: The research is of comparative character and is based on data from the financial website PRNews.pl, NBP, KNF and the ECB Bank.Results: Mobile banking in Poland is highly concentrated. In 2016-2019, the five largest banks serviced 82% of all mobile banking customers, and their number increased by 27% annually.Conclusions: Digitization simplifies the process of obtaining and processing information and contributes to reducing operating costs. However it also forces banks to prepare appropriate security and implement costly technological investments. It increases the availability and quality of banking services, and moves customer service from banking branches to the digital channel. Additionally it contributes to reducing the network of branches and the number of employees employed in them.

Consolidation of the Polish banking sector was greatly associated with development and expansion of the banking sectors of EU countries and followed some consolidation patterns used by US banks. Deregulation of 1989 contributed to creation of a large group of small private banks and paved the way to privatization of the state-owned banks comprising majority of the market. In the 1990s consolidation resulted mostly from takeovers of insolvent newly created banks and had a limited impact on the banking sector.At the turn of the 1990s and the 2000s, after completion of privatization, large banks controlled by the same foreign investors merged within their capital groups and harmonized operations in one entity, frequently after changing names for parent bank names. This process impacted market concentration the most.Poland`s entrance to EU resulted in cross-border consolidation relied on taking over subsidiaries by branches of their parent banks in Poland. Developments of the EU banking sector significantly contributed to mergers and acquisitions of Polish banks. Takeovers of parent banks resulted in immediate mergers of their subsidiaries, and the post-crisis recovery process resulted in a forced sale-out their subsidiaries, creating opportunities for consolidation and market expansion of some Polish medium-sized banks.