On 15 November 2010, 14 years ago, Cinkciarz.pl, a company belonging to Conotoxia Holding, started offering Poles currency exchange at very favourable rates without the need to leave the house. The new player's strong entry into the financial services market allowed customers to save considerable money, for example, when repaying mortgages in the Swiss francs. At the same time, it has hit the profits of banks, which previously imposed very high spreads, taking advantage of their monopoly position.
It appears that the banks operating in Poland have never come to terms with the losses they suffered at the time. Their scale could have been enormous. It is enough to mention that nearly 700,000 Polish families decided to take out loans in the Swiss francs. Taking an example of a monthly instalment of 500 CHF, let us go back, for example, 5 years, i.e. to the period before the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) presented its settlement proposal, which was supposed to solve the problems of the those with loans in the Swiss francs.
At the time, Cinkciarz.pl exchanged Polish zloty to francs at an exchange rate of 4.00. At the same time, the bank CHF/PLN exchange rates were as high as 4.20. If someone decided to exchange money at Cinkciarz.pl, they would spend 2,000 PLN on one instalment, while at the bank, they would have to pay 2,100 PLN. The borrower's annual savings could have amounted to 1,200 PLN in the realities presented. Multiplying this by the number of all credit repayers, we would obtain a substantial amount of 840 million PLN every year. Even if these are only exemplary estimates, the fact remains that Poles could spend less money thanks to the presence of a company such as Cinkciarz.pl in the market, followed by others pursuing the footsteps of today's global fintech.
Eye-catching signboard, revolutionary service
However, before Cinkciarz.pl went international, making various financial services available to users in the US and 30 European countries it was gaining publicity and customers as a domestic online currency exchange service. It is worth mentioning that online financial services, especially in foreign currencies, were rare at the time. However, people very quickly became convinced of the new method. Firstly, it saved them money, and secondly, it saved them time.
Cinkciarz.pl won the market and the trust of its users not only with its favourable exchange rates. High security standards and the reliability of transactions went hand in hand with further innovations on offer. Cinkciarz.pl's growing team of specialists implemented the famous quote's paraphrase in practice almost every day, completing very difficult challenges at hand and devoting a little more time to the impossible ones.
However, social transactions, a mobile version of the service, an app, currency alerts, standing orders, an expanding range of currencies, features for business customers - all this was only a prelude to the next steps, which resulted in the transformation of the currency exchange service into a financial services web portal.
On the way to the top and even further
The vision of Marcin Pioro, owner and creator of Cinkciarz.pl, went far beyond a powerful position in the online currency exchange segment in Poland and did not allow the company to rest on its laurels, which had already begun to emerge in the early years. By entering into a spectacular sponsorship deal in 2015 with the Chicago Bulls, one of the most famous sports brands in the world, the company showcased its international brand, Conotoxia. It was a clear announcement of its global growth ambitions.
Nevertheless, Cinkciarz.pl did not neglect the domestic market and did not set out to conquer the world, being content with currency exchange. The offer included forex transactions, international money transfers, the Conotoxia Pay payment gateway, multi-currency lending services and multi-currency cards, which were enthusiastically received by the market. Such a range of services finally closed the stage of the online exchange office, opening up the Cinkciarz.pl and Conotoxia.com web portals to users from other countries.
Preparations for a large and unconventional operation also accompanied the launch on the European market. On 18 December 2019, Conotoxia's American dream came true. The Polish fintech offered US residents money transfers to Europe. It started, not coincidentally, with the state of Illinois, whose residents had time to get used to the company's branding sponsoring their favourite basketball team.
Who could be hurt by the high records?
Year after year, the company consistently climbed to the top. In the prestigious lists of the largest Polish companies, it was second only to the giants with State Treasury shares. New services attracted new customers. Revenues and turnover increased steadily, and employment in Conotoxia Holding's companies already exceeded 300 people. The year 2022 turned out to be a record year in the group's operations when turnover reached 35 billion PLN (about 8 billion EUR) in the currency exchange category.
Unfortunately, this year, actions that are difficult to interpret other than bank collusion have contributed to Conotoxia's crisis. The impediments used by banks constitute a manifestation of unfair competition, and the consequent delays in the execution of customer transactions mean that the company's 14th anniversary of market activity cannot be a reason for celebration.
Together, we will stand firm and regain our strength
Still, Conotoxia does not intend to give up. To overcome the crisis and regain the trust of customers, the company's management has chosen the strategy of transforming into a joint-stock company. This will allow the company to strengthen its financial stability and open up new business opportunities. The documents necessary for this process are already being prepared.
The next step is to obtain a banking licence within the European Union. Then, all customer funds will be protected by the bank guarantee fund, ensuring the highest level of security. At the same time, the licence will enable the introduction of a full range of banking services.