In the Polish banking services market, where many organisations compete hard by reducing costs, a program of quality improvement may be the best way to maintain or increase profit. An institution which manages to establish a reputation for outstanding service quality has a chance to gain a lasting competitive advantage. The market of banking services is typified by rising customer expectations - many innovations are quickly accepted and taken for granted. With the market being very competitive, banks have little chance to establish lasting advantage by introducing innovations, as the rivals will quickly imitate it. Banking products are not protected by patents, which is why so many banks offer almost identical ones. Similarly, convergence can be observed in the prices, distribution channels, and promotional campaigns. Advertising has little effect on customers' choices. It is probably safe to say that the demand of the Polish public for a variety of banking products has largely been satisfied. It is becoming increasingly difficult to attract new customers with product range; quality of service is now becoming a key factor.

In order to determine the progress of Polish banks towards full implementation of quality management principles the authors have conducted a survey whose findings are presented in the paper. The survey seeks to establish the distance yet to be covered by banks to meet the relevant standards (the ISO 9000 series), to detect the shortcomings still present in their practices versus the methodology defined in the standards, and thus assess what remains to be done. It comprises questions concerning the attitude of selected banks towards issues such as quality, organisational structure, the treatment of internal and external clients and the quality improvement process itself. It is based on the ISO 9000 standards, and, where these overlap, on the TQM (Total Quality Management) standards.

The survey is two-tiered: it involves one questionnaire entitled "Quality of Service in Bank", delivered mainly to top-level executives in the banks (such as management board presidents) and another, called "Quality of service at Bank Branch" which was distributed among managers of selected branches of banks under study. This, in the authors' opinion, was necessary to obtain a full picture of quality-oriented activities in banks, since headquarters' policy may not always be fully implemented by the branches. This does not necessarily result from lack of discipline, but also the specific nature of a given market.

The article describes the findings of the first questionnaire, "Service Quality in Bank", addressed at main offices of selected banks. The results of the second questionnaire ("Service Quality at Bank Branch"), directed at the branches, and a summary, will be presented in the second part of the paper, to be published in the next issue of "Bank i Kredyt". As to the first part of the study, it indicates that the level of quality management does not depend either on ownership relations in the bank or the profile of its customers. There is, however, a statistically material relationship between the number of branches held by a bank and the level of quality management: the more branches, the better quality management. The authors also examine the relationship between the size of workforce and quality management. Statistically material differences were observed with respect to banks employing over five thousand people and, on the other hand, less than a thousand people: the average number of points awarded is significantly higher in banks with the largest workforce versus the ones with the smallest workforce.