ZEN cash deposits in euros: what the Ria Money Transfer deal changes for foreigners in Poland

ZEN and Ria: cash deposits at 22,000 points, now also in euros

On 3 August 2026, ZEN.COM announced a partnership with Ria Money Transfer, part of the Euronet Worldwide group. ZEN customers can now deposit cash directly onto their accounts at about 22,000 physical Ria locations across Europe, with no bank branch involved. The first phase covers 5 countries: Poland, Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

The Polish part of the launch matters most for foreigners. At Ria points in Poland you can deposit not only zloty but also euro banknotes, and EUR cash deposits are a novelty for ZEN on the Polish market. If you get paid partly in euros, bring cash from home or run a business with EUR turnover, this is the first time you can put euro cash straight onto a ZEN account at a counter in Poland.

The money moves fast. According to the launch announcement, funds deposited at a Ria point land on the ZEN account in about 15 minutes and are fully available right away. You can also deposit cash directly onto another ZEN user's account, for example to give family members immediate access to money. Lukasz Neska, ZEN.COM's Chief Growth Officer, pointed to exactly this use case when presenting the service.

How a cash deposit at a Ria point works

Ria locations sit where people already are: shopping malls, main pedestrian routes, fuel stations, airports, train stations, retail chains and post offices. The companies have not said how many of the roughly 22,000 European points are in Poland, so check the nearest location in the ZEN app before you set out.

One thing the launch materials do not include: the fee. Neither ZEN nor Ria published the commission or the amount limits for cash deposits at Ria counters. The widely quoted 1% rate applies to ZEN deposits at Euronet and Planet Cash deposit ATMs, not to Ria points. Before you hand over a larger sum, check the current ZEN price list in the app.

Also note the currency split between channels. Euro cash deposits work only at Ria counters. The deposit ATMs that ZEN connected earlier accept zloty only.

Ria points vs deposit ATMs: fees, limits, currencies

Cash-friendly is a strategy at ZEN, not a one-off. Since 17 March 2026 customers have been able to deposit zloty at more than 4,800 Euronet deposit ATMs across Poland, on top of the Planet Cash network connected earlier. At Planet Cash machines the deposit works contactlessly, with a phone or smartwatch that has a ZEN card linked, and the cash is credited within 30 minutes.

The ATM route has fully published numbers: 1% commission for individual clients, a promotional 0.5% for companies and a 60,000 zl daily deposit limit. Until ZEN publishes the Ria pricing in the same detail, treat the fee row above as the state of public information on 6 August 2026 and verify in the app before depositing.

Who is ZEN.COM and how safe is your money

ZEN.COM is a fintech with Polish roots that operates as an electronic money institution (EMI) supervised by the Bank of Lithuania, with additional licences from the UK's FCA and Singapore's MAS. According to Bank of Lithuania data for Q3 2025, it was the largest independent EMI in Lithuania with a 16.94% share of that group's revenues, and the company's 2025 revenues exceeded the equivalent of about 115 million euros. It serves more than 1.5 million individual customers and around 10,000 businesses, employing about 600 people as of January 2026.

An EMI is not a bank, and for a foreigner in Poland this distinction is worth 30 seconds of attention. Money in a Polish bank is protected by the Bank Guarantee Fund (BFG), the state-backed scheme that pays out deposits up to a set limit if a bank fails. An EMI works under different rules: client money must be safeguarded separately from the company's own funds, but there is no BFG-style deposit guarantee. For everyday spending and transfers that trade-off is usually acceptable; for larger savings, most expats keep the bulk in a regular bank account. You can compare guaranteed options in our ranking of personal accounts in Poland.

ZEN is also expanding eastwards. On 22 April 2026 the company announced the finalization of its acquisition of Ukraine's PIN Bank, bought from the Ukrainian Deposit Guarantee Fund after a tender that attracted 11 bidders (5 banks and 6 non-bank institutions). ZEN has announced plans to invest more than 20 million euros in the Ukrainian market and to add the hryvnia to its multi-currency services, which is relevant to anyone moving money between Poland and Ukraine.

Watch the price list, too. Since 8 May 2026 the DCC control feature, which protects you from unfavourable dynamic currency conversion when paying abroad, works automatically instead of being optional, and ZEN charges a 1% administrative fee (minimum 45 zl per month) on funds left in closed accounts. So if you ever close a ZEN account, withdraw the full balance first. Fee traps like this are common across the Polish market; see our guide to hidden bank fees in Poland.

What this means if you live in Poland

Typical expat scenario: you come back from a trip home with euro banknotes, or a relative hands you cash. Until now the options were to exchange it into zloty first or to find a bank branch that handles EUR cash. From August 2026 you can walk up to a Ria counter and load the euros straight onto a ZEN account. If you prefer to keep foreign currency at a bank instead, see our comparison of EUR and USD currency accounts in Poland.

The remittance angle is deliberate. Ria's regional director Alla Shelest described the partnership as giving users an omnichannel way of moving money, and the ability to top up another ZEN user's account directly at the counter fits how many foreign workers in Poland actually handle money: cash in hand, family abroad, transfers from an app.

The practical bottom line: use the Ria channel for speed and for euro cash, but verify the deposit fee in the ZEN app first, because it was not published at launch. Keep money you cannot afford to lose in BFG-guaranteed bank products; our overview of savings accounts in Poland is a good place to start.