mBank supports open banking — its official PSD2 API is documented at developer.api.mbank.pl. A licensed budgeting app can, with your consent, read your transaction history and balances in read-only mode. The connection process takes around 90 seconds on average.
You have an eKonto at mBank. Probably a savings account too, maybe a credit card, and likely at least one account at another bank. mBank's own app shows a tidy chart — of mBank only. Everything else lives in your head, or in a spreadsheet you opened in January and never came back to. This guide shows how to connect mBank to a budgeting app that merges all your accounts into a single view — in about 90 seconds, without handing over your password and without exporting a single CSV.
Key takeaways
- mBank supports open banking — an official PSD2 API (AIS, PIS, CAF) documented at developer.api.mbank.pl, also compatible with the PolishAPI standard
- mToken Push Method — log in at mBank, authorise the consent with an mToken via SMS or a push in the mBank mobile app. Average time: about 90 seconds
- Around 4.7 million customers use mBank Group — a major retail bank across Poland, Czechia and Slovakia (mBank Q4 2025 results)
- Read-only access — budgeting apps operate as AISPs and cannot initiate payments, see passwords, or access authorisation codes
- One consent, multiple accounts — current, savings and credit-card accounts can be selected in a single flow
- Revoke in one tap — inside mBank's online banking under Settings → PSD2 → Third-party consents
What exactly happens when you connect mBank to a budgeting app?
Connecting an mBank account to an external budgeting app happens in three steps that mBank built around its existing online banking and mobile app. We call it the mToken Push Method — because that's exactly what happens between tapping "Connect" and the first transactions showing up in your budgeting app.
What is the mToken Push Method?
The mToken Push Method is a plain-English description of the process of connecting an mBank account to a budgeting app via Open Banking (PSD2). Three stages: (1) pick mBank in the budgeting app, (2) log in through mBank's official online banking, (3) authorise the consent with an mToken sent by SMS or a push notification in the mBank mobile app. The whole process takes around 90 seconds, and your banking password never leaves mBank's own pages.
Step 1: Pick mBank from the list of supported banks
In the budgeting app you tap "Connect a bank account". You see a list of supported banks — mBank, Revolut, N26, ING, Santander, Wise, BNP Paribas and others. You tap the mBank logo. End of step one. No forms, no account numbers to copy across.
Step 2: Log in on mBank's official site
The app redirects you to mBank's official login page — the same one you use for online banking. You enter your customer ID and password to the bank, not to the app. This is the core principle of PSD2: credentials never leave the bank's own domain. The app only sees whether the login succeeded or failed.
Step 3: Authorise the consent with an mToken or via mobile app
After login, mBank asks: "Do you consent to sharing your transaction history and balances with [app name]?" Authorisation requires a second factor (SCA — Strong Customer Authentication). mBank gives you a choice: an mToken sent via SMS, a push notification in the mBank mobile app, or biometric approval (fingerprint or Face ID) if you've enabled it. You pick a method, confirm. Done. Transactions start syncing in the background.
Three steps, around 90 seconds, no file exports. If you want to understand what happens after the consent is granted — the synchronisation side of things — see the guide to bank account synchronisation with a budgeting app.
mBank and European open banking, by the numbers
Sources: mBank — Investor Relations, mBank Developer Portal — PSD2 documentation
Does mBank really support open banking?
Yes — mBank publishes an official PSD2-compliant API and documents it publicly at developer.api.mbank.pl. The bank offers all three services defined in the PSD2 directive: AIS (account information), PIS (payment initiation) and CAF (confirmation of funds). In practice, this means a licensed budgeting app can — with your consent — read transactions and balances without ever touching your password.
Open Banking — a short definition
Open Banking is a European model in which banks, on the customer's instruction, share access to transaction history and account balances with licensed financial apps — so-called TPPs (Third Party Providers). It was mandated by the PSD2 directive (2015/2366). In Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is implemented via both national standards (PolishAPI, Czech Open Banking Standard) and bank-specific APIs. mBank supports both.
PolishAPI plus mBank's own API
mBank supports two technical routes in parallel. The first is PolishAPI, a shared standard adopted by Polish commercial banks. Thanks to it, a budgeting app does not need to learn a separate "language" for each bank — the same interface talks to mBank, PKO BP, ING, Santander, Pekao and others. The second is mBank's own API, published on its developer portal with sandboxes, documentation, and registration for licensed providers.
Who is allowed to ask mBank for your data?
Only licensed providers. In PSD2 terminology these are:
- AISP —Account Information Service Provider. Can read transactions and balances. Martia operates in this category.
- PISP —Payment Initiation Service Provider. Can initiate payments. Requires a separate licence — budgeting apps neither hold nor need it.
- CBPII —Card Based Payment Instrument Issuer. Card issuers confirming available balances. Not relevant for budgeting apps.
Supervision of licensed providers is carried out by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and national regulators (KNF in Poland, ČNB in Czechia, NBS in Slovakia). Martia uses GoCardless — a licensed open banking infrastructure provider authorised by the FCA (United Kingdom) and FKTK (Latvia, passported across the EU). mBank recognises GoCardless as an approved third-party provider in its PSD2 consent registry.
mBank supports open banking. See what it looks like in practice.
Martia uses the licensed GoCardless infrastructure and mBank's official API documented at developer.api.mbank.pl. Read-only access to transactions. Revoke in one tap from mBank's online banking.
What will a budgeting app see on your mBank account — and what will it never see?
A budgeting app connected to mBank via open banking sees exactly what you see in online banking under "Transaction history": booked transactions, balance, counterparty names and payment descriptions. The scope of access is defined by an EU regulation (the RTS for SCA and CSC) — the bank can neither share less nor anything beyond it.
| Data | Does the app have access? | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction history | Yes — read-only | Booked transactions, up to 90 days back |
| Account balance | Yes — read-only | Current and available |
| Counterparty names | Yes | Basis for automatic categorisation |
| mBank password | No, never | Entered to the bank only |
| mToken / BLIK codes | No, never | Not exposed through the API |
| Initiating transfers | No (AISP) | Requires a separate PISP licence |
| Changing password or limits | No, never | Done only inside mBank |
| Data from other banks | No — mBank only | Each bank needs its own consent |
Myth vs reality
Myth: "If I connect a budgeting app to mBank, someone could drain my account through it."
Reality: Budgeting apps operate as AISPs — strictly read-only. They have no access to payment initiation, limit changes or mBank's online banking. Even if someone managed to steal a token, they could do nothing beyond reading the transaction history. Oversight is carried out by the EBA, by national regulators (KNF, ČNB, NBS), and — for the infrastructure provider Martia uses — by the FCA (UK) and FKTK (Latvia).
mBank already shows my spending — why do I need an external app at all?
mBank's mobile app and online banking come with built-in spending tools: categories, charts, date filters. They are free, reasonably well-designed, and every mBank customer can use them. They have one limitation that no amount of polish can fix: they only see mBank accounts. If a single euro, zloty, koruna or pound flows through any other bank, mBank won't show it.
Let's be honest — most people have more than one account. A main account at mBank, a higher-rate savings account somewhere else, Revolut for travel, perhaps a work account in a different country. Each one is a separate fragment. To see the full picture, there are only two routes:
- 1.Open each banking app separately and add it up in your head (or in a spreadsheet).
- 2.Connect all your accounts to one external budgeting app via open banking.
Option 1 works — the way keeping a paper ledger used to work. It requires discipline that most people don't keep up for more than a month. Option 2 removes the friction: the data flows on its own, and you look at a single screen instead of six banking apps. If you're torn between an app and a spreadsheet, see the comparison of budgeting apps and spreadsheets.
What mBank does vs what an external app does
| Feature | mBank (app / online) | External app (e.g. Martia) |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-bank view | mBank only | All banks in a single view |
| Categorisation | Basic, fixed categories | AI-powered, learns your habits |
| Monthly budgets | Simple limits | Per-category limits, alerts, forecasts |
| Transfers and payments | Yes (full) | No (AIS — read-only) |
| Subscription detection | No dedicated view | Automatic recurring payment detection |
| Transaction history | Full (bank records) | Up to 90 days back (PSD2 limit) |
| Cost | Free for mBank customers | Free plan available |
Ultimately this is not an "either mBank or Martia" decision. mBank stays as your tool for transfers, cards and BLIK. An external budgeting app takes on the question of "where did my money actually go" — across all accounts, with categorisation and subscription detection. One complements the other. If you suspect money is leaking out somewhere between accounts, see the guide on finding invisible spending in your budget.
How to connect mBank to a budgeting app — step by step
Below is a concrete, screen-by-screen walkthrough of connecting mBank to a budgeting app. The whole thing takes about a minute and a half. If you usually authorise mBank actions with an mToken via SMS, make sure you have your phone with notifications enabled. If you use the mBank mobile app for authorisation — even better, one tap will do.
Step 1: Tap "Connect a bank account" in the app
Open your budgeting app (e.g. Martia) and go to the account connection section. In Martia you'll find it in settings under "Add a bank". Select your country and pick mBank from the list.
Step 2: Log in via mBank's official site
The app will open your browser at online.mbank.pl (or the relevant domain for your country). Check the address bar — as you would at any bank login. Enter your customer ID and password. This is the same form you use every day. The app does not see these details.
Step 3: Pick the accounts you want to share
After login, mBank will show your account list: current account, savings, credit cards. Select the ones you want to connect — you don't have to share everything. The current account is usually enough, but if you want full visibility, include savings and credit cards too.
Step 4: Authorise with an mToken or the mobile app
mBank asks how you want to authorise the consent. You can pick: entering an mToken sent via SMS, approving a push notification in the mBank mobile app, or confirming with biometrics (fingerprint or Face ID). You pick a method, confirm, and the browser returns to the budgeting app.
Step 5: Watch transactions land in the app
Within a few dozen seconds the app pulls the transaction history from the past 90 days (the maximum window allowed by PSD2 without additional authentication). Each transaction receives an automatic category. You can see how much you spent on groceries, transport, bills and entertainment — without typing anything by hand. Want to understand how that categorisation works under the hood? See the guide to automatic expense categorisation.
Adam, założyciel Martia
From the founder
I had an mBank account alongside five others — and zero picture of the whole. Every app showed its own slice, every one categorised things its own way. Only when I built something that brought them together in a single view did I realise I was spending a few hundred more per month than I thought. Not on anything in particular — on "everything". That's the difference between looking at a balance and looking at the truth.
Have an mBank account? Connect it in 90 seconds.
The mToken Push Method, with no password handed over. Martia brings all your accounts — mBank, Revolut, N26, ING — into a single view. The consent expires after 180 days and you can revoke it in one tap from mBank's online banking.
The mBank connection failed — what now?
The most common issues when connecting mBank to a budgeting app are a missing mToken SMS, an expired login session, push notifications disabled in the mBank mobile app, or a temporary outage of the PSD2 interface on the bank's side. None of them indicate any risk to your account — they are small, fixable things.
I'm not receiving the mToken SMS
Most common causes: an out-of-date phone number in mBank, no signal at that moment, or a mobile operator dropping the SMS. Solution: check the phone number in mBank (Settings → Personal data). If the number is correct, pick a different authorisation method — mBank will usually offer push in the mBank mobile app or biometric approval as alternatives.
No push notification in the mBank mobile app
Check that push notifications are enabled for the mBank app in your phone settings (Android/iOS → Settings → mBank → Notifications). Open the mBank app manually — the consent is usually waiting under "Pending approvals" or "In-app notifications". If there's nothing there, go back to the browser and tap "Resend".
My mBank session expired
mBank's online banking has a short idle timeout — a few minutes. If something distracted you mid-flow, the session may have expired. The app will show an authorisation error. Go back to the budgeting app, tap "Reconnect", and start again. Nothing went wrong.
Older transactions are missing
PSD2 limits access to transactions older than 90 days without additional authentication. This is not an app limitation — it is a regulatory requirement. If you need older history, mBank lets you download statements in PDF, CSV or MT940 from online banking (History → Download) and import them manually.
My consent expired after 180 days — what now?
That's normal — the EBA extended the reauthorisation window from 90 to 180 days (previously SCA was required every three months). Your budgeting app will notify you a few days in advance. Tap "Renew consent" — the flow is identical to the first time, around 90 seconds.
I want to disconnect mBank from the app
Two routes, both effective immediately:
- 1.Inside the budgeting app (e.g. Martia → Settings → Accounts → mBank → Disconnect).
- 2.In mBank online banking → Settings → PSD2 → Third-party consents → revoke.
Once the consent is revoked, the app immediately loses access to new transactions. You can also delete the historical data the app has already fetched from your account in the app's settings.
Frequently asked questions
Does mBank support open banking?
Yes. mBank provides an access interface compliant with PSD2 — both through the PolishAPI standard and its own API published at developer.api.mbank.pl. Licensed budgeting apps (AISPs) can, with your consent, read your transaction history and account balances in read-only mode. mBank supports three PSD2 services: AIS (account information), PIS (payment initiation) and CAF (confirmation of funds).
How do I connect mBank to a budgeting app?
In the budgeting app, select mBank from the list of supported banks. You will be redirected to mBank's official login page — you enter your ID and password to the bank, not to the app. Next, mBank asks you to authorise the consent with an mToken via SMS or a push notification in the mBank mobile app. You confirm with one tap. The whole process takes around 90 seconds on average. The app never sees your password.
Will the app see my mBank password?
No. Authentication happens directly on the mBank login page — the same one you use for internet banking. The app receives a one-time access token from the bank that only allows reading transactions and balances. The token expires after 180 days (an EBA requirement) and you can revoke it at any time in mBank's online banking under 'Settings → PSD2 → Consents granted to third parties'.
Can the app initiate payments from my mBank account?
No — not if it operates as an AISP (Account Information Service Provider). AISP is a category of PSD2 services that only permits reading data. Martia operates as an AISP and does not hold a payment initiation (PIS) licence. All the app can see is your transaction history and balance — exactly what you see yourself in mBank's online banking.
mBank already shows my spending — why do I need a separate app?
The mBank mobile app and online banking show transactions from a single bank: mBank. If you also hold accounts with another bank — say N26, Revolut, Wise or ING — mBank's built-in tools don't see them. A dedicated budgeting app aggregates data from multiple banks into one view, uses AI-powered categorisation that is bank-agnostic, and learns your spending patterns across all accounts.
How long does it take to connect mBank to a budgeting app?
Around 90 seconds on average. mBank uses two-step authorisation: you first log in at online.mbank.pl (or the equivalent domain for your country), then authorise the consent with an mToken via SMS or a push notification in the mBank mobile app. Once confirmed, transactions start syncing in the background — the history for the past 90 days appears within seconds.
Why do I have to reauthorise the consent every 180 days?
It is a regulatory requirement under PSD2, recently updated by the European Banking Authority (EBA) — Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) must be renewed every 180 days (previously 90). This gives you full control over who accesses your data. Renewal looks exactly like the initial connection: log in to mBank, mToken, done. Your budgeting app will notify you a few days before expiry.
Which mBank accounts can I connect to a budgeting app?
Open Banking covers all personal payment accounts at mBank: current accounts (eKonto and its variants), savings accounts (eMax, eMax Plus) and credit cards linked to those accounts. In a single consent you can select multiple accounts at once. Business accounts (mBank Biznes) require a separate authorisation flow.
Sources
- mBank (2026), Developer Portal — PSD2 documentation (AIS, PIS, CAF), developer.api.mbank.pl
- mBank (2026), mBank Group — Investor Relations and financial results, mbank.pl/en/investor-relations
- Open Banking Tracker (2026), mBank — PSD2 Provider Profile, openbankingtracker.com/provider/mbank
- European Banking Authority (2022), Opinion on the implementation of the RTS on SCA and CSC — 180 days reauthorisation, eba.europa.eu
- European Parliament / Council of the EU (2015), PSD2 Directive (EU) 2015/2366 — Open Banking regulation, AISP/PISP/CBPII categories, eur-lex.europa.eu
- PolishAPI (2026), List of commercial banks supporting the standard, polishapi.org
- GoCardless (2026), Bank Account Data — mBank and other European banks, gocardless.com
Read more
How to connect your bank account to a budgeting app →
Step-by-step guide to connecting any European bank to a budgeting app via open banking and PSD2.
Bank account sync with a budgeting app →
How automatic transaction sync works — from the user side and under the hood.
What is open banking and is it safe? →
PSD2, AISPs, consents — everything you need to know about European open banking.
Where does my money go? →
How to find invisible spending in your budget — even across multiple bank accounts.