Storing items of great, but not necessarily financial, value poses a serious challenge. Leaving aside the concept of burying your treasure in a box on a deserted island, there are several ways to safely guard your secrets. A popular but still possible solution is to rent a safe deposit box from a bank or private company offering such services. Alternatively, you could opt for a safe. At first glance, renting a bank safe deposit box seems to be a much cheaper solution, but actually the costs can vary. Although the whole thing seems simple, you can't keep everything in a safe deposit box and you will lose a lot of time wanting to use it. Today we will look at the differences between these solutions and try to answer the question: a safe or a deposit box?
A safe deposit box at a bank is a type of service that allows customers to store their valuables in a secure location. Deposit boxes are usually housed in safes or armoured cabinets that can only be accessed by authorised people. Safe deposit boxes can be used to store a variety of items such as jewellery, documents, money, shares, gold bars or artwork. Using a safe deposit box involves certain fees and conditions, which should be checked before signing a contract with the bank. Safe deposit boxes provide a high level of protection and privacy for customers, but are not covered by the guarantee insurance of the Bank Guarantee Fund.
To start with, only a few banks offer deposit box rental. Limited availability is one of the biggest disadvantages of a bank safe deposit box. Of the banks operating in Poland, deposit boxes are offered by:
• PKO BP – a safe deposit box is available in 125 branches of the bank;
• Pekao – a bank deposit box may be rented in branches located mainly in the largest cities, such as Warsaw, Gdańsk or Cracow, although they are also available in, among others, Koszalin, Opole or Nowy Targ;
• BNP Paribas – a bank box is available in several sizes: up to and above 13×24×36 cm and can only be rented in selected branches;
• mBank – a deposit box is available only in the Financial Services Centre No. 1 in Warsaw and can be operated independently (without the participation of a bank employee) 24/7.
Contrary to the stereotype perpetuated in spy films, weapons, ammunition and passports from more than a dozen countries cannot be stored in a bank safe deposit box without an extradition agreement. By law, you will not put these things in a safe deposit box:
• drugs,
• stolen or otherwise illegally acquired goods,
• radioactive, explosive and toxic substances,
• weapons and ammunition,
• perishable goods such as foodstuffs.
If you decide that short-term or longer-term rental is a good option for you, and there is a bank in your area that offers safe deposit boxes, you will have to deal with red tape. First of all, you have to go to a bank branch in person, and banks can vary and you may have to wait. It is worth calling beforehand to make sure that the bank has a deposit box of the size you are interested in available. Some banks may not have the deposit box you need. Don't forget to read the bank's terms and conditions carefully. If everything is in order, you will receive a key when you sign the agreement with the bank. The second key is held by the owner of the safe deposit box.
You have access to the contents of the safe deposit box assisted by an employee of the bank, i.e. the owner of the deposit box, but state services also have access. In exceptional situations, if there is a suspicion that the safe deposit box contains criminal items or documents important to state authorities, bank deposit boxes are thoroughly checked and reported to the relevant services. Institutions with access to safe deposit boxes include:
- bailiff,
- public prosecutor,
- Police,
- Internal Security Agency,
- Central Bureau of Investigation,
- Border Guard,
- Customs Service,
- Tax Office.
If you need to store certain things, such as expensive items or art specimens, you have to reckon with an expense ranging from a few hundred zlotys paid monthly to several thousand zlotys if you are interested in an annual payment. Short-term rentals are still not so terrible, but if you plan to rent a safe deposit box for several years, this will become a considerable amount. In addition, we have to pay a fee related to insurance; banks vary, and the cost of insurance can be high.
As long as you are planning a short-term rental, bank safes make sense, whereas if you want to store valuable items for a longer period of time, such as securities, bonds or works of art, it is better to buy a high-quality safe. Especially if you want unrestricted and free access to your valuables. When buying a safe, most of the difficulties associated with deposit boxes are out of the question.
Safes offer a freedom of use that is unheard of with deposit boxes. With your own safe, you decide for yourself what size, burglary or fire-resistant class or model to choose, and there are plenty of them. Safes with a combination of burglary and fire-resistant features are the most popular, providing universal and comprehensive protection against burglary and fire.
Different types of safes are adapted to the storage of various types of valuables. When purchasing a safe, you decide for yourself what you need. If you need to store certain items whose size or purpose precludes storage in a bank, a safe is better.
Some valuables must also be accessible at all times, especially documents or cash. You will not be able to access a safe deposit box in the middle of the night in an emergency, you have to turn up with your identity card during bank opening hours at your chosen branch, and you cannot open the box yourself, as a bank employee has the other key. In the case of a safe, on the other hand, you can access it at any time of the day or night.
Legal restrictions do not allow you to store weapons in a deposit box, while a safe allows you to store not only valuables, but also weapons.
Finally, when buying a safe, the expense is a one-off. You choose a safe that meets your requirements, install it in the location of your choice and you're done. A high-quality safe purchased from a reputable manufacturer will serve you for many long years without you having to worry about the cost. Spending even a few thousand zloty will pay for itself after a few years.
We recommend the article: Money safe – which one and why choose?
If you are looking for a secure way to store your valuables, a bank safe deposit box seems tempting. However, this method has a number of disadvantages that are not present when buying a safe. First of all, with a bank safe deposit box you are faced with a nightmare of paperwork, it is common practice for banks to push in extra fees, and in some bank branches you have to wait a long time for a deposit box. You also don't have the freedom to use it as you see fit and store what you want there, and the contents of the bank deposit box are regulated and monitored. With a safe it's all up to you, you own it and decide for yourself what you keep in there, when you use the safe and who you give access to.
The choice of safes is huge, you will find everything you could possibly need in our range, we are experts at meeting special requirements that a bank will not offer you. If you have additional questions – please contact our advisor, he will answer all your questions.
Check out more: In cash or in the bank – how to store money?
