Polish e-commerce giant Allegro and PKO Bank Polski announced a strategic partnership that includes two new financial products embedded directly into Allegro's marketplace (PKO Bank Polski). Allegro Klik is an account-to-account payment solution that connects a customer's PKO Bank Polski account to their Allegro account (similar to open banking), with payment authorization happening directly on Allegro's platform. A new merchant lending product offers Allegro sellers loans up to PLN 500,000 (~ EUR118,000) with one-click applications and next-day funding, fully embedded into Allegro's merchant interface. Both services launch in 2025, with the bank targeting 1 million new customers and PLN 1.5 billion (~EUR 350 million) in merchant lending over three years.
PKO Bank Polski is Poland's largest bank and partially state-owned. Allegro operates Europe's largest e-commerce platform by website visits and is the biggest marketplace of European origin, with over 21 million active buyers in Poland alone.
Allegro Klik: Open Banking Payments
Allegro Klik connects a customer's PKO Bank Polski account directly to their Allegro account. Payment authorization happens on Allegro's platform through payment initiation services, eliminating the need to leave the app. The solution seems to work similarly to pay-by-bank offerings from Klarna, Trustly, and others across Europe. In addition, customers also receive cashback on purchases made through Allegro Klik.
PKO Bank Polski expects over 2 million users to adopt Allegro Klik within three years, with at least 1 million becoming new bank customers.
Merchant Lending: One-Click Business Loans
The merchant lending product targets Allegro's 160,000+ sellers. Merchants can apply for business loans with a single click, receive approval decisions quickly, and access funds within 24 hours. The initial loan limit is PLN 300,000, increasing to PLN 500,000 in 2026. The entire application and approval process is embedded directly into Allegro's merchant interface.
This mirrors Shopify Capital's model: instant underwriting, fast funding, and full integration into the seller experience. Shopify has originated over $5 billion in merchant advances and loans since launching in 2016. Few European banks have embedded lending this deeply into third-party platforms.
PKO Bank Polski projects 20,000 entrepreneurs will borrow a combined PLN 1.5 billion through this product over three years.
Allegro's Growing Embedded Finance Strategy
I've covered Allegro's Allegro Pay BNPL product extensively before (EF Review). Allegro Pay offers consumers deferred payments for 30 days or installment plans up to 20 months. In Q2 2025, Allegro Pay funded 15.3% of the platform's gross merchandise value, with PLN 3.3 billion in loan originations. The company's lending volume rivals Poland's leading banks (excluding mortgages), and 52% of Allegro Pay loans drive incremental marketplace transactions (Short term BNPL might not be well comparable to mid and long term loans from Polish banks, but still gives some indication of Allegro's BNPL scale).
This PKO Bank Polski partnership takes Allegro's embedded finance strategy further, extending beyond consumer credit into payments and merchant capital.
An Incumbent Bank Partnering with Non-Financial Brands
This is an impressive move from an incumbent bank. Perhaps it's not surprising that it happened with Allegro, given the platform's scale in both e-commerce and BNPL. Still, seeing PKO Bank Polski embed its services this deeply into a third-party platform demonstrates a genuine shift in how traditional banks approach distribution.
During the bank's Q3 earnings call, CEO Szymon Midera emphasized that PKO Bank Polski needs to "go where customers are" rather than expecting them to come to the bank. This partnership executes that vision.
In Europe, most marketplace lending comes from fintech specialists rather than traditional banks partnering directly with e-commerce companies. Amazon and ING attempted a partnership in Germany, offering consumer loans through referral links, but it was not truly embedded and was discontinued earlier this year (EF Review).
The Allegro-PKO Bank Polski partnership brings together two of Poland's largest players in their respective industries, operating on equal footing to build genuinely embedded financial services.
