Santander Bank has partnered with universities in Poland as part of the bank's Santander Universities branch to issue as many as 100,000 student smart cards, combining academic and payment functions on campus.

The issued smart cards are part of the Santander Universities program with which Poland's Bank Zachodni WBK wants to promote the idea of entrepreneurship among students and increase their mobility. The bank is working with five campuses in the country as part of the initiative.

The new smart card serves not only as students' identification while on campus, but also enables them to access free parking, reserve books and other materials from the campus library, and reserve time slots for exams. The cards are also being combined with a discount program that, among other offers, is tied in with Apple stores and Spotify.

Since 2013, Santander Universities has regularly organized meetings of the International University Smart Card Congress. The Congress serves as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and cooperation between universities and the private sector. This past March saw, for the first time, a Congress event organized and hosted in Poland at the Warsaw School of Economics.

Santander Universities, meanwhile, is focused on implementing innovative technologies to support learning and better prepare students for the requirements of the world market. It is believed that Polish universities can benefit from Bank Zachodni WBK's expertise and offer more services to students, faculty and staff based on the bank's technologies.

The new smart card initiative in Poland is a part of the global project implemented by Group Santander, the main shareholder of Bank Zachodni WBK within Santander Universities.