Cash management in Finland
Sampo Bank begins its history in 1887 as Post and Savings Bank. In 1970 the bank was reconstituted as the Post Bank, and in 1988 its legal status was changed from that of a public corporation to a state-owned limited liability company. In 1997 Post Bank and Finnish Export Credit Ltd merged and adopted the name Leonia Bank. In December 2000 the insurance company Sampo and Leonia Bank merged, and Sampo Bank was established. In January 2007 Danske Bank acquired Sampo Bank.
Danske Bank has been operating in Finland since 1973 and is among the country’s most well-reputed foreign banks. Danske Bank provides pan-Nordic cash management services based on a central IT platform in Copenhagen.
Danske Bank and Sampo Bank, with its 3,000 employees, offer personal, corporate and institutional customers a full range of services including asset management, treasury, trade finance and conventional bank and cash management products.
Payment and clearing systems
Clearing systems:
- BOF’s RTGS system, which is linked to TARGET
- PMJ, which is linked to the local clearing systems for standard domestic retail payments
- POPS for urgent payments
- There is no paper-based clearing (e.g. cheques) between banks
National formats used: LM02 (without credit notes), LM03 (with credit notes), PMJ90 (recurring payments) and LUM2 (foreign payments).
Payment instruments
Almost all of the payment traffic in Finland is electronic via multibanking programs or the Web.
- Payment orders: Reference numbers are widely used when invoicing and reconciling; the dominant payment method is a “reference payment”
- Direct debits: Mainly used by heavily invoicing customers to personal clients
Electronic banking
Sampo Bank’s Web Bank provides rapid access to setting up payments, viewing account information and authorising several payments at the same time. Most of the information on the Web Bank is updated continually, so you always have an up-to-date picture of your company’s cash position.
Global Link is Sampo Bank’s banking software offering all payment services. Global Link and multibanking software are based on the Finnish Bankers’ Association standards; for example, LM02 and LM03 for domestic payments and LUM2 for foreign payments can be used.
Web business is secure trade and business on the Web: Web payment service and Certification service.
Business Online is Danske Bank’s online business system. It provides rapid access to setting up payments, viewing account information and authorising several payments at the same time. All information in Business Online is updated continually, so you always have an up-to-date picture of your company’s cash position.
Further information
To learn more about how to optimise your domestic cash flows and manage liquidity and interest accrual, download a fact sheet (PDF 104 KB) on our cash management services in Finland or contact us.