Finland

In the ECB’s 2024 SPACE survey, cards were used for 57% of point-of-sale payments by number, mobile payments for 10% and cash for 27%, compared with 52% cash across the euro area. In the first quarter of 2026, contactless payments made up 45% of the value of Finnish card payments, and nearly 70% in grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. Finland’s national debit scheme was phased out in the early 2010s during SEPA migration, so banks issue only international cards; debit cards are used far more than credit cards. In October 2025, the Finnish Payments Council chose Siirto to build a new in-store instant payment solution.

According to Eurostat, 68% of Finns aged 16–74 had bought something online in the previous three months in 2025, above the EU average of 62%. Cross-border buying is common: in 2023, 28% had bought from sellers in other EU countries and 11% from sellers outside the EU in the previous three months, while 51% had bought from Finnish sellers. Remote payments made up 29% of the value of Finnish card payments in the first quarter of 2026, and card spending on recreation and culture, including digital media services, electronics and gambling, grew fastest. As Finland uses the euro, sellers elsewhere in the euro area can accept payments without currency conversion.

Finanssivalvonta (the Financial Supervisory Authority, FIN-FSA) authorises payment institutions and e-money institutions under the Act on Payment Institutions (297/2010), and Suomen Pankki (the Bank of Finland) oversees payment systems. EU rules apply in full, including PSD2 strong customer authentication and the Instant Payments Regulation: euro-area banks have had to receive instant payments since January 2025 and send them, with a verification-of-payee check, since October 2025. Gambling is changing: Veikkaus keeps its monopoly until the end of June 2027, and under the new Gambling Act operators have been able to apply for online casino, betting and bingo licences since 1 March 2026, with licensed services starting on 1 July 2027.

Finland has near-universal banking. According to the World Bank Global Findex, 99.8% of adults had an account in 2024 and 98.9% owned a debit card; in 2021, 65.3% owned a credit card. In the ECB’s 2024 SPACE survey, 76% of Finns said they prefer to pay by card or other cashless means at the point of sale and about 10% preferred cash.