Mastercard launches GdzieZamieszkac.com - an online platform which, basing on data on average housing costs and average wages from Central Statistical Office (Główny Urząd Statystyczny), aggregated with spending trends of everyday purchases, from Mastercard, determine the approximate cost of living in various cities, towns and regions of the country. Thanks to this, Ukrainian refugees looking for a place to live, can find the optimal location in terms of their family situation and budget.
WhereToStay.pl is available without registration or login. To get the most tailored results the user needs to provide some basic information in a few steps, such as the size of the household, occupation, the region where they would like to settle, and information on the preferred means of transportation.
Analyses of shopping trends from Mastercard aggregated with publicly available statistical information used in the WhereToStay.com are updated in accordance with the refresh cycle of information provided by the Central Statistical Office, thanks to which users looking for a new apartment receive results based on the current situation in the country.
"Millions of refugees who arrived in our country as a result of the war in Ukraine, needed support and care at the first moment. Now, although 56% of them plan to return to their country as soon as possible, they have to look for a home in our country and no one really knows for how long. 69% of those looking for a new place to live independently prefer cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants. However, it turns out that it is in smaller towns and cities that it is easier to find a job and manage the ongoing costs of raising a family. The tool we have launched, WhereToStay.com, makes it possible to verify the current situation and possibilities of the person looking for a place to live and to choose such an area where he or she will feel independent and self-reliant," says Bartosz Ciolkowski, General Director for Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Mastercard Europe.
The Wheretostay.com will be available in three languages: Polish, Ukrainian and English. This way, it can be used by both Ukrainian citizens and the Poles who support them. The platform was created for the benefit of refugees, but in the future, it may also serve as a knowledge base for other people changing their place of residence, such as students.