Meaning:
Lit. “Franc-debtors” although the word itself could also mean any other relation to Swiss Franc because of the way “-owicz” suffix works.
The phrase was coined by the media when a large wave of people in Poland decided to take their housing loans nominated in the Swiss currency and subsequently saw their debts increasing exponentially when the Franc grew against Polish Zloty they earned their money in.
These people created a movement and served class-action suits to the banks and finally managed to force some concessions and changes in the regulations. But this still remains a topic in the media.
No similar terms denoting people with debts in dollars or euros (potentially: “eurowicze”, “dolarowicze”) seem to exist.
Examples:
Frankowicze wygrywają w sądach z Bankiem Pekao. Ponad 400 mln zł rezerwy. Bank Pekao, choć nie udzielał kredytów we frankach, dziś prowadzi batalie sądowe z tzw. frankowiczami.
Frankowicze nie mają już co liczyć na pomoc rządu czy prezydenta w sprawie swoich kredytów. Prezes PiS Jarosław Kaczyński radzi im, żeby poszli do sądu.
Frankowicze: Po 10 latach spłaty z kredytu 260 tys. zł, zrobiło się 397 tys. To rozbój w biały dzień.