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Payments/FI

Finland

ISO FI · 3 schemes

Summary

  • Siirto is Finland's real-time mobile payment system (1.4+ million users)
  • Pivo (OP Bank) is a major mobile wallet with QR payment support
  • MobilePay (Vipps MobilePay) also available since Nordic merger
  • TIPS connected via Bank of Finland (Eurosystem member)
  • Three major banks (Nordea, OP, Danske) hold 70% market share

Banking landscape

Central Bank

  • Name: Bank of Finland (Suomen Pankki)
  • Website: https://www.suomenpankki.fi/
  • Role: Eurosystem member, TARGET Services national center

Major Banks (2024)

Rank Bank Name Total Assets (EUR) Market Share Type
1 Nordea Bank Abp 623,360 M 63.11% Domestic (HQ in Finland)
2 OP Financial Group ~161,000 M ~16% Cooperative
3 MuniFin (Kuntarahoitus) 53,092 M 5.38% Municipal
4 Danske Bank Finland ~40,000 M ~4% Danish subsidiary

Market Structure

  • Big Three: Nordea, OP Financial Group, Danske Bank
  • Combined Share: 70% of market (per EBF)
  • Nordea: Largest by assets (63.11%), HQ relocated from Sweden 2018
  • OP: Largest by customer market share (cooperative model)

Corporate Banking (2023 Survey)

  • Nordea: 100% penetration among top-tier companies
  • Dominant position in Finnish corporate banking

Payment infrastructure

National Payment Systems

System Operator Type Status
TARGET/T2 Eurosystem/BoF RTGS Active
TIPS Eurosystem/BoF Instant payments Active
Siirto Automatia (Loomis) Real-time mobile Active

Bank of Finland's Role

  • National center for Eurosystem TARGET Services
  • Supports Nordic TARGET participants
  • 51 participants in Finland/Nordics use Bank of Finland TARGET component (end 2024)
  • Supported Nordic countries' migration to TIPS in 2024

TIPS Status (2024)

  • Finland connected as Eurozone member
  • TARGET Services operated without significant incidents in 2024
  • Bank of Finland supports instant payment introduction per European standards

Finnish Instant Payments Rulebook (Autumn 2024)

  • Joint market output completed
  • Rulebook + governance model established
  • Enables instant payment compatible with European standards
  • Bank of Finland prioritizing instant payment service introduction

EU Instant Payments Regulation

  • January 9, 2025: PSPs must receive instant credit transfers
  • Non-bank PSPs can join TARGET directly (per July 2024 ECB policy)

QR code standards

Siirto QR

Attribute Value
Standard Name Siirto
Type Real-time mobile payment
Operator Automatia (owned by Loomis)
Users 1.4+ million
Compatible Banks Nordea, OP, S-Pankki, Ålandsbanken

QR Payment Features

  • Users can create QR code for others to pay them
  • Phone number-based transfers
  • Real-time account-to-account
  • Strong user identification

Compatible Apps

  • Nordea Siirto: Dedicated Siirto app
  • OP-mobile: OP Bank's mobile app
  • Pivo: OP's mobile wallet

Pivo QR Payments

Attribute Value
Type Mobile wallet
Operator OP Financial Group
QR Use Cases Student diners, online payments
Payments Siirto, bank transfer, card payment

Pivo Features

  • QR code payments at partner locations (student diners)
  • Online shopping via Pivo button
  • Accept payment in app (bank transfer, Siirto, or card)
  • NFC payments (Android + OP Visa only)

MobilePay (Vipps MobilePay)

Attribute Value
Type Nordic mobile payment
Status Active (post-merger)
Nordic Users 11.5 million total
  • Part of Vipps MobilePay merger (2022)
  • Finnish users on unified platform (2024)
  • QR code payments at merchants

Invoice Barcode Scanning

  • Nordea Mobile: "Scan invoice" feature
  • Scans barcode on Finnish invoices
  • Pre-fills payment details

EPC QR Code in Finland

Attribute Value
Standard Name QR code in credit transfer forms (Finnish profile of the EPC QR, based on the EPC "Quick Response Code: Guidelines to Enable Data Capture for the Initiation of a SEPA Credit Transfer") [14]
Publisher Finance Finland (Finanssiala) — "Guidelines for the QR code in the Credit Transfer Forms", July 2015 [14]
Symbology QR Code, max version 13 (331-byte payload) [14]
Placed on Credit transfer form (tilisiirtolomake), top-right corner [14]
  • The QR code was added to the Finnish credit transfer form template in February 2014, in the spot previously used for the BIC; the QR code and the domestic bank bar code "will at first function side by side" [14].
  • Finance Finland states that QR codes "will in the future replace bank bar codes in the Single European Payments Area" [14].
  • Unlike the bank bar code, the QR code can be used whether the invoice carries a reference number or a free-text message [14].
  • Payload: BCD / version 001 / character set (UTF-8 recommended) / SCT / BIC (mandatory, BIC only) / beneficiary name (≤70) / IBAN (IBAN only) / EUR amount (0.01–999999999.99) / purpose code / creditor reference or unstructured remittance (140) / beneficiary-to-originator information, where the due date is entered first as ReqdExctnDt/YYYY-MM-DD [14].
  • The creditor reference field accepts an RF Creditor Reference (ISO 11649) or a domestic reference number [14].
  • Print size: X-dimension 0.5 mm, max 3.5 cm × 3.5 cm; smaller X-dimensions not recommended [14].
  • Scanning: the QR code is read with a mobile bank's QR reader and shown as a payment proposal; each bank sets its own schedule for supporting it [14].
  • Example from the guideline: BCD / 001 / 1 / SCT / OKOYFIHH / Asiakas T. Meikäläinen / FI7944052020036082 / EUR158.24 / (empty purpose) / RF07663321328510 / (empty remittance) / ReqdExctnDt/2014-01-22 [14].
  • The EPC QR guidelines were used in Finland in 2015, and Finland is listed among the countries supporting EPC QR codes on invoices [17].

Virtuaaliviivakoodi / Bank Bar Code (Pankkiviivakoodi)

Attribute Value
Standard Name Bank Bar Code (pankkiviivakoodi); its 54-digit human-readable form is the virtuaaliviivakoodi [13][19]
Specification Bank Bar Code Guide v5.3 (8 Nov 2012, corrected 21 Oct 2019), Finance Finland [13]; Finnish/Swedish edition Pankkiviivakoodi-opas v5.3 [12]; both listed among Finance Finland's current technical documents [11]
Symbology Code 128, Character Set C only (ISO/IEC 15417), numeric only, fixed length [13]
Versions 4 = IBAN + national reference; 5 = IBAN + RF reference (version 2 removed in v5.3) [13]
  • Structure (54 digits): version (1) + IBAN without FI (16) + euros (6) + cents (2) + reserve 000 (3, v4 only) + reference (20 national in v4 / 23 RF-numeric in v5) + due date YYMMDD (6) [13].
  • Only printable for IBANs starting with FI, and only when the invoice uses a reference number; size 70–105 mm long, 10.0–12.7 mm high [13].
  • Readable "on an ATM, at a bank payment centre, with a mobile application, or with a reader connected to a PC" [13].
  • Nordea Mobile lets users pay invoices without typing by scanning them with the camera or by using the virtual barcode [18].
  • If the credit transfer form includes a bar code, version 5 must be adopted together with the RF Creditor Reference [16].
  • Spec example (v4): 458101710000001220004829900000000559582243294671120131 (FI58 1017 1000 0001 22, €482.99, ref 55958 22432 94671, due 31.01.2012) [13].
  • See reports/standards/virtuaaliviivakoodi.md for full detail.

Reference Conventions (Viitenumero and RF)

  • Viitenumero (national creditor reference): 4 to 20 digits (19 + check digit), printed in groups of five, leading zeros omitted [15].
  • Check digit (7-3-1): weight the digits right-to-left by 7, 3, 1, 7, 3, 1…, subtract the sum from the next full ten (10 → 0). Example: 123456 → check digit 1 → 12 34561 [15].
  • RF Creditor Reference (ISO 11649): begins RF + two check digits (IBAN algorithm), max 21 alphanumeric characters, printed in groups of four from left to right; examples RF54 1234, RF98 REF1 234 [16].
  • RF references may now be freely formed per ISO 11649 instead of being derived from a Finnish reference (the guide gives 19 November 2023 in the body and 18 November 2024 in its cover note) [16].
  • Banks validate the Finnish reference with the Finnish algorithm and the RF reference with ISO/IEC 7064 MOD 97-10; payers must not convert one type into the other [16].
  • RF can be used in Finvoice e-invoices (EpiRemittanceInfoIdentifier), SEPA Direct Debit and QR codes [16].
  • No decision has been made on discontinuing the Finnish creditor reference [16].

Mobile payment apps

App Name Bank Siirto QR TIPS
Nordea Mobile Nordea Yes Yes Yes
Nordea Siirto Nordea Native Yes Yes
OP-mobile OP Yes Yes Yes
Pivo OP Yes Yes Yes
Danske Bank Danske No Limited Yes
MobilePay Vipps MobilePay No Yes N/A

Nordea Mobile Features

  • Siirto real-time payments
  • Invoice barcode scanning
  • QR code creation for receiving payments
  • Mobile payments via NFC

Nordea ID App

  • QR code for secure login
  • Identity verification via QR scan
  • No user ID needed with QR login

Pivo Features

  • Transfer money
  • Pay online and in stores
  • Send/receive Siirto payments
  • QR code payments at partner locations

Third-party payment apps

App Name Type QR Support Status
Pivo Mobile wallet Yes Active
MobilePay Mobile wallet Yes Active
Apple Pay NFC Wallet No Active
Google Pay NFC Wallet No Active

Paytrail Integration

  • Finnish payment gateway
  • Supports Pivo, MobilePay, Siirto
  • Local bank transfers
  • Buy now, pay later options

Schemes

Scheme Type Symbology Adoption Technical standard
Siirto QR Payment QR QR Code 1.4M users siirto-qr
Pivo Mobile wallet QR/NFC OP customers pivo
MobilePay Mobile wallet QR Code 11.5M Nordic mobilepay

Sources

Full country report

FI-finland.md

Schemes

Standards

Primary · 4

Mentioned · 6

source · content/payments/FI/index.md