Safebox24 builds the first fully automated vault – the most advanced vault in Poland
- Bartłomiej Dmitruk
- Dec 18, 2025
- 6 min read
A Brief History of Vaults and Safe Deposit Box Services
Vaults and safe deposit boxes have been with us for hundreds of years. We associate them with specially constructed strongrooms, usually poured from thick concrete, large and heavy vault doors that command respect, and safe deposit boxes that are opened with two keys – one for the banker and the other for the customer. Many such facilities are still in operation around the world and serve their purpose.
Vaults and safe deposit boxes have always been a service provided by banks. Monumental bank branches built in the 19th and 20th centuries were typically designed with a vault or vaults located in the building's basement. Often, these rooms were designed exclusively for the bank's internal needs, such as storing cash or gold, and sometimes, safe deposit boxes were offered as an additional service to customers.
Selected banks still offer safe deposit boxes, but in recent years, bank vaults have been gradually closed in many countries. This is happening for several reasons:
First, banks are closing down branches and abandoning monumental buildings in favor of lightweight customer service offices in shopping malls or office buildings. Branches that housed bank vaults are being closed, and the properties are being converted and rented out for other purposes.
Secondly, traditional bank vaults were built many years ago and are usually not suitable for modernization.
Thirdly, banking regulators in many countries are restricting the services provided by banks and ordering banks to focus on core banking activities – loans and deposits, and cash flow management.
Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, the vault and deposit service provided by banks is inadequate to meet customer expectations and requirements. This particularly concerns discretion and confidentiality, vault availability, lack of insurance, and incomplete customer service.
Private Vault Operators and a New Standard of Service
In 1865, the NEW YORK TIMES published an advertisement on behalf of the first independent Safe Deposit Box company, announcing that it offered "Five hundred safe deposit boxes with their own locks, giving customers complete control over their safe deposit boxes." Thus, the concept of an independent safe deposit box service was born.
For over a decade, vaults have been built and operated by private operators outside the banking sector. These are increasingly specialized companies that, like Safebox24, build modern vault facilities and offer top-quality service and customer support.
What should a modern vault look and function like? Above all, a vault facility should be certified and have the appropriate security class. Today's vaults are constructed using lightweight technologies and assembled from modules, similar to prefabricated buildings. They are also much more durable and secure than concrete vaults constructed using traditional methods. Every true vault is assigned a security class according to the standards of a given country or region and should have a valid certificate from a body certifying such facilities.
A modern vault should provide customer identification based on modern methods that allow for reliable and error-free identity confirmation, ensuring secure access to the vault and safe deposit box. One of the most advanced, modern identification methods, highly secure and virtually unforgeable, is biometrics. Hand and facial biometrics have become a permanent part of our everyday lives, primarily thanks to mobile phones (Face ID and Touch ID). They are now becoming a fixture in many situations and are increasingly being used by governments to identify citizens, for example, with biometric IDs or passports.
A modern vault service provides constant and virtually unlimited access to the vault and safe deposit box. Modern vaults provide access to customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is crucial because in critical situations such as a pandemic, a state of emergency, or war, the vault should be available to its customers and prepared for critical scenarios. A modern vault facility is autonomous and available continuously.
A modern vault service also ensures appropriate discretion and confidentiality. The facility should ensure appropriate discretion and limit customer contact with staff and security. Customers value discretion, and during the coronavirus pandemic, security and limiting contact with staff are crucial.
The final crucial element of professional vault and depository services is insurance. A properly drafted vault policy should protect each safe deposit box against all risks within established limits. The best vaults offer insurance for each safe deposit box up to a specified amount without revealing its contents, as well as individual insurance for unusually large amounts. This is one of the key differences between professional vaults and bank vaults, which typically offer no insurance whatsoever.
Safe deposit box – market development in the world and in Poland
It is estimated that there are currently approximately 26 million rental safe deposit boxes in the US. In Western European countries, particularly in the DACH region, the use of safe deposit boxes as an alternative to home or business safes is widely accepted – it is estimated that one in three individuals or businesses owns a safe deposit box. Similarly, in Asian countries, the concept of using a rented safe deposit box is common practice.
There are no official estimates of the number of available and rented safe deposit boxes in Poland. Furthermore, the number of bank vaults and safe deposit boxes has decreased dramatically in recent years. Bank customers in many Polish cities have had their safe deposit box contracts terminated in the past year due to the closure of bank branches and, consequently, vault facilities. This has led them to seek alternatives in the non-banking market.
Until now, safe deposit box services were not offered by private operators in Poland; this has changed in recent years. Customers seeking safe deposit boxes are slowly accepting private vaults and carefully analyzing the offer, security, quality, and scope of the service. Market education and the preparation of facilities and services in line with international market standards should be a priority for companies engaged in the vault and deposit business.
Safebox24 will build the first fully automated vault in Poland
Idealbox Sp. z o. o., owner of the Safebox24 brand, has developed a project to build a smart, automated vault, a breakthrough solution in the industry. The automated vault will be built in Krakow thanks to the involvement of VALUE FIZ and INVENTO CAPITAL funds, as well as funding from the National Centre for Research and Development. As part of its research and development efforts, Idealbox is developing proprietary solutions and technologies, including:
design and manufacture of a vault panel for the construction of a vault based on modern composite materials and high-security nanoconcrete;
design and construction of a prototype of vault automation for storing, issuing and receiving a safe deposit box from the vault to a discreet room and back to the vault;
development of a proprietary system for managing an automated vault facility, customer service and event monitoring using biometrics and other technologies supporting customer identification and vault security.
What is an automated vault? An automated vault differs significantly from traditional vaults. Below are the main differences:
Always Locked Vault – An automated vault is a facility that is always locked and accessible only during emergencies or service. Safe deposit boxes are issued from the vault by a robot/automatic device that releases the customer's safe deposit box after a valid biometric identification. The safe deposit box is then delivered to a discreet room. Once deposited, the safe deposit box is retrieved by the robot and returned to the vault.
Always-On Vault – The automated vault is available to customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The service can be compared to an ATM;
Unmanned vault – from the moment the client signs the contract, the vault is a self-service facility that does not require contact with staff;
Error-free vault – an automated vault eliminates human error. The precision of modern automation, combined with the monitoring of all vault activity, eliminates staff errors that were and continue to be problematic in traditional vaults;
Secure vault – automated vault technologies are rated by insurers worldwide as the safest and are subject to lower risk weights than traditional vaults. This means superior security for customers and lower insurance costs for both the vault operator and customers.
Highest confidentiality and discretion – thanks to the maintenance-free technology and in combination with the selection of the vault’s construction site and the facility’s logistics (separate entrance and exit from the facility), the vault operator can ensure that customers use the facility in complete discretion.
We believe that automated vaults are a breakthrough technology in the industry, gradually replacing traditional vaults. Currently, technologies from several manufacturers are available worldwide, but not all of them meet the stringent security requirements and standards in force in Europe.
Safebox24, based on the experience gained during the construction of the first vault facility in Warsaw and a review of the market and available technologies, decided to develop its own solution that would ensure compliance with European standards, flexibility in the construction of subsequent facilities and be competitively priced.
We chose a location in Krakow, at 16 Świętego Sebastiana Street, for the first automated vault. As in Warsaw, the facility will be built in a beautifully renovated tenement building, ensuring the highest level of security, 24/365 accessibility, and discretion for customers. The facility is scheduled to open in the second half of 2020.
We invite you to cooperate.
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