Roy Hutchinson, Director of the Retail Banking Marketing Department received the award at the Paris gala. I am very happy at the verdict of the jury. The Special Award was the most important award of the evening. In their comments the jury emphasised not only the account benefits but also its market impact and sales dynamics. It is the first time this extraordinary award is given, over and above the standard categories, and it was decided based on the achievement of a large retail bank significantly increasing customer acquisition through a debit card. This may well be a first in the European cards industry and, with the visible level of commercial success, led the jury to give it a special prize that is extraordinary and not usually given - commented Roy Hutchinson.
As such, the jury felt that the standard categories ("Loyalty", "Innovation", and others) were not quite enough. For example, it was felt that Dobre Konto could win in both Loyalty and Innovation categories.
The Publi-News Trophees for Innovative Cards competition, organised since 2006, is the main event on the European cards market and one of the leading events worldwide. The card nominees are selected among hundreds of candidate products submitted from all over the world and received awards in following categories: loyalty cards, services, card image, prepaid cards, technology. In 2011, awards were given  in two geographies: France and International. The competition is organised by Publi-News, a specialised publishing house with expertise i.a. in banking sector analyses, acting together with AND'co, who provide consulting services on the payment cards and consumer credit market. The Awards are sponsored by MasterCard, Affinion International, CWI, Mondial Assistance.
When launching Dobre Konto, we were planning to open 200,000 accounts by the year's end. Since January 2011 Bank Millennium has nevertheless opened 270,000 new accounts, with Dobre Konto representing 175,000 of them. We went over the plan back in September, so we are now counting our surpluses. Sales dynamic is excellent. There are days when we open as many as 1600 account on one day. Close to 65% of customers who open an account with the Bank, choose Dobre Konto - Roy Hutchinson adds. 
The unique benefit of 3% moneyback on supermarket and grocery shop as well as petrol station spending has made the Dobre Konto card an innovative way to promote non-cash payments. Bank Millennium have actually observed significant growth of POS spend: as many as 70% of Customers make non-cash payments, with the monthly average number of transactions per customer running a third above cards issued with other accounts. Owners of Dobre Konto are more established and oriented to diversified financial products.
Dobre Konto can be opened in all Bank Millennium branches as well as online at www.bankmillennium.pl.