In Finland the bank is less a place than a login. Your verkkopankkitunnukset — online banking codes — double as the country's strong electronic ID: tax, Kela, health records and most official forms open with them. That makes the first bank appointment the most important errand of your first month.
It also means the branch visit is short and slightly formal. You book it, bring the right papers, answer a few standard questions, and from then on almost everything happens in the app.
How It Goes, Step by Step
- Book an appointment. Most branches work by appointment only, booked online or by phone.
- Bring your documents. Passport, residence permit (or proof that your application is pending) — or your EU registration if you're an EU citizen — and your henkilötunnus if you already have one.
- Answer the bank's questions. Finnish banks are required to know their customers, so expect questions about your income and what the account is for.
- Get the account and card. The card arrives by post a few days later.
- Get your banking codes. If your passport isn't from the EU/EEA or Switzerland, the bank may first send you to the police for an identification visit.
Booking the Appointment
Can I book an appointment at the branch?
Voinko varata ajan konttoriin?
I have an appointment at two.
Minulla on aika kello kahdelta.
What documents do I need?
Mitä asiakirjoja tarvitsen?
Do I need a personal identity code?
Tarvitsenko henkilötunnuksen?
Can we do this in English?
Voimmeko hoitaa tämän englanniksi?
Practice these words
Voinko varata ajan konttoriin?
English is usually fine: most bank staff will switch without hesitation, but the paperwork is in Finnish, and knowing mitä asiakirjoja tarvitsen? before you book saves a second visit. The opening line itself — haluaisin avata tilin — is in money and banking words, along with pankkitili, tilinumero and viitenumero.
What to Bring
ID document
henkilöllisyystodistus
passport
passi
residence permit
oleskelulupa
residence permit card
oleskelulupakortti
personal identity code
henkilötunnus
I have a residence permit.
Minulla on oleskelulupa.
My application is still being processed.
Hakemukseni on vielä käsittelyssä.
Practice these words
henkilöllisyystodistus
The Questions the Bank Will Ask
These are routine. Every customer gets them, Finnish or not, because banks are legally required to check where money comes from.
What will you use the account for?
Mihin käytät tiliä?
Where does your income come from?
Mistä saat tulosi?
My salary will be paid into this account.
Palkkani maksetaan tälle tilille.
I work at a Finnish company.
Olen töissä suomalaisessa yrityksessä.
I study here.
Opiskelen täällä.
Are you liable to pay tax in any country other than Finland?
Oletko verovelvollinen jossain muussa maassa kuin Suomessa?
Practice these words
Mihin käytät tiliä?
Don't take it personally: the tax-residence question goes to everyone and comes from international reporting rules. A short honest answer is all that's wanted. If you're here for work, the words for your contract and salary are in job interview phrases.
Codes, Card and App
I need online banking codes.
Tarvitsen verkkopankkitunnukset.
When will I get the codes?
Milloin saan tunnukset?
When will the card arrive?
Milloin kortti tulee?
How do I start using the app?
Miten otan sovelluksen käyttöön?
My card is locked.
Korttini meni lukkoon.
I'd like to block my card.
Haluaisin sulkea korttini.
Do you have cash services here?
Onko teillä käteispalvelua?
I'd like to deposit cash.
Haluaisin tallettaa käteistä.
Practice these words
Tarvitsen verkkopankkitunnukset.
Sulkea, not peruuttaa: a lost or stolen card is closed in Finnish — sulkea kortti — and banks run a 24-hour card-blocking line for exactly this. Onko teillä käteispalvelua? is worth asking before you go: many branches no longer handle cash, and deposits are made at a machine elsewhere in town.
Words You'll See at the Bank
branch
konttori
appointment booking
ajanvaraus
basic bank account
perusmaksutili
basic banking services
peruspankkipalvelut
current account
käyttötili
strong electronic identification
vahva sähköinen tunnistautuminen
contactless payment
lähimaksu
cash withdrawal
käteisnosto
deposit
talletus
card payment
korttimaksu
e-invoice
e-lasku
cash machine (spoken)
otto
Practice these words
konttori
Most people say otto: Finland's biggest cash-machine network is Otto., and the name has become an everyday word — käyn otolla, "I'll pop to the cash machine." The everyday word for the withdrawal itself is nosto, as in käteisnosto.
Paying Each Other
Is MobilePay OK?
Käykö MobilePay?
Can I send it by MobilePay?
Voinko lähettää sen MobilePaylla?
Send me your phone number.
Lähetä minulle puhelinnumerosi.
I'll transfer it to your account.
Siirrän sen tilillesi.
I'll pay my share.
Maksan oman osuuteni.
Shall we split it in half?
Maksetaanko puoliksi?
Practice these words
Käykö MobilePay?
MobilePay is the default: between friends, at a flea market or for a shared taxi, Finns settle up by phone number through MobilePay, and laitan sulle mobilepaylla — "I'll MobilePay you" — is ordinary spoken Finnish. Cash between adults is increasingly rare. The app words — sovellus, salasana, päivitys — are in technology and internet words.
If the Bank Says No
It happens, usually because a document is missing or the bank can't yet confirm who you are. It isn't the end of the road: anyone legally resident in the EU/EEA has the right to peruspankkipalvelut — basic banking services, meaning a basic account (perusmaksutili), a debit card and online banking codes. Ask what's missing — mitä puuttuu? — and come back with it.
The slower part is often the banking codes rather than the account. Without them you can still pay by card, but unless you have a Finnish ID card with a chip, you can't log in to Kela, the tax administration or most other services, so book the appointment early and ask on the spot when the codes will come.
Once you're set up, the bank becomes an app and a card. Your card arrives in the post — and in Finland that usually means a letter slot in your front door — more on that in at the post office in Finnish.