In the last three decades of the 19th century Polish territories which had been incorporated into the invader countries Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia were witness to significant economic changes, including:

1. the final stage of wide-sweeping agrarian reforms (the enfranchisement of the peasants)
2. industrial revolution, leading to a manufacturing boom, particularly in the Kingdom of Poland [the Russian sector] (textile and metal industry), food processing industry in the Prussian sector and raw material industry in the Austrian sector. Foreign capital played an important part in this industrialization process.

The economic policy of the invader countries had a varied influence on the pace of the change. Russia's trade policy created privileges for the industry of the Kingdom of Poland (through the opening of the eastern markets). German trade policy contributed to the progress of agriculture and food processing industry in the Greater Poland and Pomerania regions, while the policy pursued by Austria-Hungary had a rather unfavourable effect on Galicia, which turned into a sales market for the Czech and Austrial industry.

Changes in the economy spurred development of the banking sector. The new banking sector consisted of public - including state - banks, credit and savings cooperatives as well as private banks. These evolved from the traditional banking houses. The emancipation of Jews, which had progressed in all three sectors, played an important role in the expansion of banking.

Private joint stock banks started to emerge in the 1860s and 70s, mainly in big cities such as Warsaw, Lodz, Lwow (Lviv), Vilnius and Poznan. By the outbreak of WW I the number of these banks had reached 30. The network was supplemented with branches of the invader-country banks. Initially private banks were established based on domestic capital, foreign capital was then gradually included. Credit associations, organizations of individual creditors created at the initiative of the governemnt had a particular ownership structure.

Before WW I, public banks played the crucial role in credit activity. With respect to short-term credit, savings banks and credit cooperatives prevailed in 1913 (53%), while private banks accounted for 33% of those credits. In the long-term credit market, credit associations had the dominant position (47%), while the share of private banks amounted to 37%. It should be pointed out that the role of the specific agents differed in the three sectors. Private banks had the strongest position in the Kingdom of Poland. In the Prussian sector, Polish-owned credit organisations included chiefly banks based on landowners' capital and credit unions run along the Schultze system lines. In the Galicia region, the key part was played by the National Bank - a public institution whose mission was to support the province's economic growth with public means.