The author addresses an important trend currently observed among banking and insurance institutions in Poland. Bancassurance is becoming increasingly common in the country, calling for a deeper analysis of the phenomenon. The domestic market of insurance services has been fundamentally transformed over the past 10 years. The mounting competition forces agents to search for alternative strategies in order to achieve the return on capital required by the shareholders.

The cooperation between a bank and an insurer can take on many forms. It can be based on an agreement concerning joint marketing and distribution. Alternatively, a banking-insurance group may be formed, with cross-holdings between its components. The various models of bancassurance are characterised by a varying degree of integration of banking and insurance activities. The degree of this integration depends on the regulations and many other factors to be addressed when strategies are being developed.