A step-by-step guide to finding Polish companies that operate across Central and Eastern Europe, and turning Erste Group's nine-country banking network into your strongest selling point.
Thousands of Polish companies run subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, and beyond. They deal with separate banks in each country, different currencies, different relationship managers, different systems. Most of them don't know that a single bank can serve them everywhere.
Since January 2026, Erste Group owns what used to be Santander Bank Polska. That means Erste now has its own subsidiary bank in nine CEE markets. No other bank offers a Polish company this kind of regional coverage with local presence in each country.
The play is simple: find Polish companies that already have operations in Erste markets. Then call the CFO and say something no competitor can say.
The line that opens doors: "You have subsidiaries in four countries where we have our own banks. We can give you one treasury, one cash pool, one relationship across all of them. Who else can do that?"
Every cell below is a country where Erste Group operates its own licensed bank. Not a correspondent. Not a partner. A fully owned subsidiary.
The more of these markets a Polish company operates in, the stronger your pitch. A company in two Erste countries is a good lead. A company in four or more is a gift.
Orbis by Bureau van Dijk (Moody's) is the most comprehensive corporate ownership database in Europe. It maps who owns whom across borders. Here is exactly how to use it to pull your prospect list.
Log in at orbis.bvdinfo.com. Click "New search" in the top navigation. You will see the search builder with criteria categories on the left.
We want to find companies where the ultimate parent is Polish.
Ownership → Global Ultimate Owner → CountryIf you cannot find the GUO filter, look under "Corporate structure" or "Ownership & management" depending on your Orbis version.
Now add the key filter: the subsidiary must be in one of Erste Group's countries.
Ownership → Subsidiaries → CountryDo not include Poland in the subsidiary filter. We already know the parent is Polish. We are looking for their foreign footprint.
Raw results will include dormant shell companies and holding SPVs. Add these filters to clean the list:
Status → Active onlyOperating revenue → min EUR 5,000,000 (at parent level)Number of employees → min 50 (at parent level)
Before exporting, configure the output to include everything you need for scoring and outreach:
Company name · KRS number · NACE code · Operating revenue · Number of employeesSubsidiary name · Subsidiary country · Subsidiary operating revenue · Ownership % · Subsidiary employees
Export to Excel. This is your raw prospect universe.
In the exported Excel, for each parent company, count how many distinct Erste Group countries they have subsidiaries in. This is the most important number. Sort descending.
A company with subsidiaries in Czech Republic + Romania + Hungary = 3 Erste markets. That is a high-value target.
Expect 300-1,500 companies depending on your revenue/employee thresholds. The top 50-100 by Erste-market overlap are where you should focus first.
Not every company on the list is worth a call. Use this tiering system to prioritize your time.
Highest priority. These companies manage banking in four or more countries where Erste has banks. The pain of fragmented banking is acute. Call the CFO directly. Prepare a tailored pitch with specific country-by-country analysis.
Strong leads. The multi-country angle still applies, but the urgency is lower. Good for structured outreach campaigns. Lead with the specific pair of countries they operate in.
Lower priority unless the subsidiary is large or the parent is growing fast. These companies may expand into more markets. Worth a softer approach: "As you grow in the region, we can grow with you."
These Polish companies are known to have broad CEE operations. Verify each one in Orbis for current data, then build your pitch around their specific footprint.
Brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito, Sinsay. Six Erste markets. Massive retail network with store-level cash collection in every country. Lead with cash pooling and multi-currency POS settlement.
Largest auto parts distributor in CEE. Six Erste markets. Thousands of daily B2B transactions across borders. Lead with payment efficiency and working capital optimization.
Brands: Tymbark, Kubus, Lubella, Puchatek. Four Erste markets with production facilities. Lead with trade finance and supply chain financing for raw materials.
Largest IT company in CEE by revenue. Six Erste markets. Software licensing revenue collected in multiple currencies. Lead with automated multi-entity cash management and EUR/local currency hedging.
Brick-and-mortar + e-commerce across CEE. Seven Erste markets. Online payments in multiple currencies plus store cash. Lead with omnichannel payment processing and treasury consolidation.
ERP and loyalty systems vendor. Three Erste markets with potential for more. Software subscription revenue in multiple currencies. Lead with FX management and multi-entity accounting support.
Major chemical producer with European trading operations. Two Erste markets. Capital-intensive business with large trade finance needs. Lead with commodity trade financing and LC/guarantee issuance.
Third-largest trailer manufacturer in Europe. Two Erste markets with manufacturing plants. Lead with equipment financing and working capital for production operations.
Gloves and medical supplies distributor. Four Erste markets. Healthcare procurement cycles with public tender participation. Lead with guarantee/tender bond issuance across jurisdictions.
Automotive plastics and copper products. Two Erste markets with manufacturing. Just-in-time supply chain means high working capital intensity. Lead with revolving credit facilities and FX forwards.
This list is a starting point, not the full picture. The Orbis search in Step 3 will surface hundreds more. These ten are here so you can start making calls while the full list is being built.
Different industries have different banking pain points across borders. Match your opening to their business.
Stores in multiple countries collect cash in local currencies. Each country has its own POS acquirer, its own bank account, its own daily settlement. The CFO's team spends hours reconciling.
Production plants in CEE need local working capital lines, equipment financing, and supply chain finance. They also import raw materials and export finished goods, creating trade finance needs.
Software and IT services companies collect subscription or project revenue in multiple currencies. Development teams may be distributed across CEE. Payroll and contractor payments cross borders frequently.
Thousands of daily transactions with local customers and suppliers. High accounts receivable. Frequent need for guarantees in public procurement or tenders.
The decision to consolidate banking across countries is made at the group level, not by local subsidiary finance directors. You need the CFO, Group Treasurer, or VP Finance of the Polish parent.
Keep it short. Lead with the insight, not the product.
Template: "I noticed [company] operates in [Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, and Croatia]. Since January, Erste Group has its own bank in Poland alongside all of those markets. We are the only bank that can serve your entire CEE operation from within. Would it make sense to compare what you are paying in banking fees across those four countries to what a unified setup could look like?"
The ask is not "switch your bank." The ask is "let us show you the comparison." That is a much easier yes.
| Objection | Response |
|---|---|
| "We already have banks in each country" | Of course you do. The question is whether managing four separate banking relationships is adding value or just adding complexity. We are not asking you to fire anyone. We are offering a benchmark. |
| "Our local subsidiaries choose their own banks" | That is common. But group treasury usually sets the framework. If the parent relationship extends to subsidiaries, you unlock cash pooling and group-wide credit pricing that no local bank can match. |
| "Erste just acquired Santander, you are still integrating" | The Group has operated across CEE for 30 years. Ceska sporitelna, BCR, Erste Hungary -- these are established market leaders. What is new is Poland, which means we can now include you in the regional network. |
| "We use a global bank (Citi, HSBC, Deutsche)" | Global banks cover 190 countries. We cover nine, with deep local market leadership. In Czech Republic, Ceska sporitelna is the largest bank in the country. That local depth matters for working capital, guarantees, and local currency operations. |
| "What is the price?" | Let us do the work: give us your current fee schedule for two countries and we will show you side-by-side what the unified pricing looks like. No commitment, just transparency. |
Once you have the basic list, these additional searches can surface hidden opportunities.
Ownership changes filter to find Polish companies that acquired or established new CEE subsidiaries in the last 12-24 months. These companies are actively building their regional footprint and making new banking decisions right now.
Some Polish companies own their CEE subsidiaries through a Dutch or Luxembourg holding company. In Orbis, use the Ownership Explorer tool (the tree/graph view) to trace the full chain. The Polish company may not appear as a direct shareholder, but it will appear as the Global Ultimate Owner.
Ownership tab → Ownership ExplorerCompanies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange publish annual reports with full subsidiary lists. Search their investor relations pages for the most current data. Orbis can lag 12-18 months for private companies, but listed company filings are current.
In Orbis, once you find a strong prospect in a particular industry, use the "Peer analysis" or "Similar companies" feature to find their competitors. If one auto parts distributor has CEE subsidiaries, chances are their top three competitors do too.
Orbis has a programmatic API called the Web Services Kit (WSK). It is not included in every license -- it is an add-on. If your Orbis subscription includes WSK access, this entire prospect search can be automated: scheduled to run weekly, new companies flagged automatically, results pushed into a CRM.
orbis.bvdinfo.comWeb Services or API in the top menu or account settingsPOST /api/orbis/ownership/explorer -- traverse corporate treesGET /api/orbis/companies/{bvdid}/ownership -- parent/subsidiary dataOffset parameter. Response format: JSON.developer.moodys.com (requires login).
If the API is available, the search from Section 3 can be turned into a script that runs on a schedule. Every week, it pulls the latest ownership data and flags new Polish companies entering Erste markets. That means you hear about a new Czech subsidiary before the company even announces it publicly.
Worth asking: Contact your Moody's account manager and ask specifically about WSK/API access. Some institutional licenses include a quota of API calls. Even a small quota (a few thousand calls per month) is enough to automate this entire prospecting workflow.
Even without the Orbis API, several free data sources can supplement and verify your list:
The Czech and Slovak APIs are the most powerful free tools here. If you have a list of Polish company names from Orbis, you can search those names in the Czech and Slovak registries to verify and enrich the subsidiary data at zero cost.
Do not wait for the perfect list. Start with these actions today.
| Day | Action |
|---|---|
| Monday | Run the Orbis search from Step 3. Export the full list to Excel. Sort by number of Erste-market subsidiaries. |
| Tuesday | Identify the top 20 companies (most Erste-market overlap). Check their annual reports for current subsidiary structures. Note the CFO name. |
| Wednesday | Pick the top 5 and use Ownership Explorer to map their full corporate tree. Build a one-page brief for each: which Erste countries, what the subsidiaries do, estimated revenue. |
| Thursday | Draft personalized outreach for each of the top 5 CFOs. Use the pitch templates from Section 6. Send via LinkedIn or email. |
| Friday | Move to the next 15. Repeat the process. Set up a tracker for responses. |
The math: If the Orbis search returns 500 companies and even 10% are strong A/B-tier prospects, that is 50 highly targeted leads. Converting just two or three into multi-country banking relationships would be a significant win for any quarter.