Opening a bank account in Finland

Hi

It is very simple to open a bank account.  You take with you your passport and work contract.  It depends on the bank if they are requesting Finnish ID number. They'll open the account immediately.  Visa electron card will take about 2 weeks, netbank a bit more.

Regards
Marja

Hello Marja!

Thanks a lot for your help

Armand

Marja wrote:

Hi

It is very simple to open a bank account.  You take with you your passport and work contract.  It depends on the bank if they are requesting Finnish ID number. They'll open the account immediately.  Visa electron card will take about 2 weeks, netbank a bit more.

Regards
Marja

But what if I don't have a job in Finland? Is it still possible to make an account? I want to register account in Finland in order to receive payments from company which does not support my home country yet (Estonia).

Thank you very much for your replay!

The best is to contact a bank directly.
Nordea has an office for international customers in the center of Helsinki. They are very competent and knowledgeable. Clearly the preferred bank for foreigners. It may not be the best one but they provide very good service to foreigners.
Osuspankki is good as well but their netbank is not available in English for example.

Thanks for your help marcool!

Harmonie.

S Bank was founded by the Finnish retail duopoly S Group. They only ask to see your passport. They have an office e.g. in the Sokos department store in the center of Helsinki. They charge no fee for just having a bank account, not like the other banks. Splendid online banking, albeit only in Finnish and Swedish.

marcool wrote:

The best is to contact a bank directly.
Nordea has an office for international customers in the center of Helsinki. They are very competent and knowledgeable. Clearly the preferred bank for foreigners. It may not be the best one but they provide very good service to foreigners.
Osuspankki is good as well but their netbank is not available in English for example.

Osuspankki has a text version in English. It serves the purpose, the only problem is if you want to export statements, you have to use the finnish website. Again you can use the Google Chrome browser which offers automatic translation.

bijucyborg wrote:

Osuspankki has a text version in English. It serves the purpose, the only problem is if you want to export statements, you have to use the finnish website. Again you can use the Google Chrome browser which offers automatic translation.

On Nordea I can take care of investments, shares, funds, and loans also but I don't use that feature. Can you do that on OP (Osuspankki)?

marcool wrote:

On Nordea I can take care of investments, shares, funds, and loans also but I don't use that feature. Can you do that on OP (Osuspankki)?

OP has only a basic text version in English, no trading etc. One can transfer money though and pay bills.

Avoid Nordea if you have plan to stay in Finland for longer period of time. You need to recruit official translator if you want to take house loan or some other kind of loan. Though it does not mention anywhere in their webpage and they ask for translator on random basis. I am an account holder of Nordea from 2009.