Bank account in Finland as a foreigner: the basic account

Who has the right to a basic payment account

Under chapter 15, section 6 of the Credit Institutions Act (610/2014), a deposit bank that provides payment services must offer a basic payment account in euros, with the related payment services and electronic identification services, to natural persons who are legally resident in an EEA state. When it provides these services it must treat all customers equally and without discrimination. For this rule, a customer is a natural person acting mainly for purposes outside their trade or profession.

The FIN-FSA's consumer page says basic banking services include a payment account with basic features and a means of using it (for example a debit card and online banking ID), the possibility to withdraw cash, the execution of payment transactions and an electronic means of identification. They do not include accounts with an overdraft facility or credit cards.

Finlex: Laki luottolaitostoiminnasta (Credit Institutions Act) 610/2014

Finanssivalvonta (FIN-FSA): Basic banking services

Asylum seekers and pending residence permit applications

In a supervision release of 11 September 2023 on banking services for foreigners moving to Finland, the FIN-FSA states as its interpretation that the definition of a customer residing legally in an EEA Member State is met, and banks are thus obliged to provide basic banking services, where the person has applied for asylum, temporary protection or another residence permit and is residing in Finland because the application is in process. This does not remove the identity check: the FIN-FSA's consumer page says a bank may generally refuse only for reasons pertaining to money laundering regulations, which may be the case if, for example, the bank cannot reliably verify the customer's identity.

FIN-FSA: Thematic review of availability of banking services to foreigners moving to Finland

Personal identity code and identity documents

The same release states as the FIN-FSA's interpretation that banks may not require a Finnish personal identity code as a precondition for opening basic banking services. The exception is the granting of a strong electronic means of identification. The FIN-FSA's consumer page adds that a bank can refuse the online banking ID only if the customer has no personal identity code or has not been entered in the population register, and that in such cases the bank must offer a more limited electronic identification method that works only for the basic account and its services.

On identity checks, the FIN-FSA's page on customer due diligence says a bank must, as a rule, identify the customer before the customer relationship starts. Documents issued by Finnish authorities that are commonly used include an identity card, a passport, a driving licence and a diplomatic passport, and identity can also be proved with a passport issued by a foreign authority and an identity card acceptable as a travel document. Each bank may decide, on the basis of its own risk management principles, which documents it accepts.

That page also lists the information it calls necessary and essential for a basic banking relationship, which includes the customer's name, address, personal identity number and nationality. The pages read here do not explain how this list applies to a customer who does not yet have a Finnish personal identity code.

FIN-FSA: Thematic review of availability of banking services to foreigners moving to Finland

Finanssivalvonta (FIN-FSA): Basic banking services

Finanssivalvonta (FIN-FSA): Customer due diligence and customer identification

Processing time and grounds for refusal

The Credit Institutions Act says the bank must accept or reject an application for a basic payment account without undue delay and at the latest within ten banking days of receiving it. It may refuse to open the account, or to provide its payment services, only for a reason arising from the Act on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing or from the act on fulfilling certain obligations that Finland has as a member of the United Nations and the European Union. The precise reason for a refusal must be given to the customer without delay, in writing and free of charge, unless giving it would run against national security, public order or the aims of the money-laundering act. The bank must also explain how to appeal and the consumer's right to contact the competent authority and an alternative dispute resolution body.

The FIN-FSA's consumer page puts it this way: generally, a deposit bank may refuse only for reasons pertaining to money laundering regulations, which may be the case if, for example, the bank cannot reliably verify the customer's identity. In its 2023 release, the FIN-FSA recommends that banks should not require unreasonably extensive customer due diligence information, and says the statutory 10-day maximum period for processing an application loses its meaning if the customer is not allowed to submit an application within a reasonable period of time.

Finlex: Laki luottolaitostoiminnasta (Credit Institutions Act) 610/2014

Finanssivalvonta (FIN-FSA): Basic banking services

FIN-FSA: Thematic review of availability of banking services to foreigners moving to Finland

What the 2023 review found

Based on banks' responses, the FIN-FSA found that persons relocating to Finland from abroad as a rule have the possibility to obtain access to a basic payment account and related minimum services as the Credit Institutions Act requires. It also noted discrepancies between banks' answers and foreign customers' perceptions, and assessed that these perceptions may be affected by factors such as long waiting times at bank branches or unclear and inadequate communication about the documents banks require to open banking services.

FIN-FSA: Thematic review of availability of banking services to foreigners moving to Finland

When a bank may close a basic account

The FIN-FSA's consumer page says a deposit bank may terminate a basic payment account only if there have been no transactions on it for 24 consecutive months or if the customer is no longer legally resident in an EEA country. The bank must tell the customer in writing, with the reasons, at least two months before the termination takes effect. Separately, the page says the bank may cancel the contract if the customer has wilfully used the account for an unlawful purpose, or has provided incorrect information or failed to provide information where accurate information would have led to the application being refused in the first place.

Finanssivalvonta (FIN-FSA): Basic banking services

Deposit guarantee

Finland's Financial Stability Authority says the maximum deposit guarantee compensation is €100,000 per depositor and deposit bank. Savings banks and cooperative banks that are members of an amalgamation of deposit banks are considered as one deposit bank. All private persons are within the scope of the scheme, and it is not tied to the depositor's citizenship or place of residence. Branches of foreign banks operating in Finland are covered by the deposit guarantee of their home country.

Financial Stability Authority (Rahoitusvakausvirasto): FAQs about deposit guarantee

What the official pages used here do not cover

The pages read for this guide do not say which documents a given bank asks a newly arrived foreigner to show, or how long its appointment queues are. The basic-account right covers people legally resident in an EEA state; the pages do not describe what other accounts a bank may offer to someone outside that group, or whether an account can be opened remotely from abroad. They give no fee amounts for a basic account at any bank, and they do not explain how to obtain a Finnish personal identity code or an entry in the population register. The text of the money-laundering act itself was not read here. Silence on any of these points is not a rule: ask the bank for its document list and fees in writing.

For migration pathways, see the Finland country page. For how another country's central bank describes a basic-account right, see the basic bank account in Montenegro.