Poland - Polish zloty - Currency Guide

General Currency Info - Polish zloty

The Polish zloty, which is subdivided into 100 groszy, has an interesting but troubled history, beginning as early as the 14th century. It was once replaced as Poland’s currency and later reintroduced, and has also been redenominated several times. In Polish, the word “zloty” means “golden”.

The most recent redenomination of the zloty followed a period of hyperinflation in Poland in 1990, a year in which the annual inflation rate reached nearly 600% and monthly inflation exceeded 50%. After a period of price stability in the early 1990s (we use “stability” loosely as inflation was still above 30% in 1994), a redenomination took place in January 1995 and the old polish zloty (ISO: PLZ) was changed to the new zloty (ISO: PLN) at a rate of 10,000-to-1.

One of the conditions of Poland’s acceptance into the European Union in 2004 was that at some point it adopted the euro as its national currency. Since Poland has not yet joined ERM-II (a requirement for euro adoption), it is unlikely that the single currency will be used in Poland earlier than 2020. Poland’s former Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński said as much in 2014.

Since 1995, the zloty’s valuation has remained relatively stable. Against the US dollar, the currency was weakest in both May and October 2000 when USD/PLN reached 4.73. The currency was strongest in July 2008 when USD/PLN fell to just 2.01. Since the euro's introduction in 1999, EUR/PLN has traded between 3.19 and 4.94.

US dollar to Polish zloty - Historical Rates

Travel, Currency and Money saving tips for Poland

Travel money for Poland

Save money and time by Ordering your Polish zloty online from Travelex, you get better rates and can pick up the PLN cash locally or even on travel day at the airport.

Another popular option is to use a Pre-paid Travel Card. Your Debit/Credit Card provider will charge you 2% from market mid-rate, but your bank may also charge an extra 3% as an “Overseas Transaction Charge” plus “Overseas ATM” fees for withdrawing cash.

For card purchases if offered a choice of currencies always select to Pay in Polish zloty otherwise you may get much worst exchange rates.

Send Money to Poland - Best Rates

To get a good (and fair) exchange rate when sending money to Poland you need to find and compare exchange rates for International Money Transfers (IMTs).

The available FX rates for sending money abroad can be very different to the mid-market (wholesale) rate which you see reported online and in the News.

You should especially compare your own bank's exchange rates to those available from Money Transfer specialists to see how much you can save - we make that calculation easy in the below table.

Get a better deal for foreign transfers to Poland

When sending money to Poland it’s important to compare your bank’s rates & fees with those we have negotiated with our partner money transfer providers. To get a better deal you should follow these 4 simple steps :

1. Open an account with a BER reviewed FX provider (id docs may be required)
2. You specify the local or Polish zloty amount you want to transfer
3. Make a local currency domestic transfer for the requested amount to the provider's bank account in your country
4. Once your funds are received by the provider the converted PLN amount will be transfered to the recipient account you specify in Poland.

Use the above Send to Polish zloty calculator to compare the exchange rates of FX specialist providers rates versus your bank's standard rates you can hopefully save around 5% and maybe more - end result is more Polish zloty deposited into the recipient bank account and less margins and fees kept by the banks!