Scandinavian financial conglomerate Nordea is providing customers in Finland with a fast wireless connection to its mobile banking service via next-generation General Packet Radio Services (GPRS).
Nordea's 'always on' mobile banking programme operates via the Sonera, Radiolinja, DNA and Telia GPRS networks in Finland. The services are also available from other countries depending on the operator. For non-Finnish operators, the service can be accessed only when using local operators' pre-paid SIM-cards.
Bo Harald, head of electronic banking at Nordea, says: "We at Nordea are confident about the future of mobile services and we believe that they are destined to become as popular and convenient as the Internet is today, not only for surfing but also for banking and other business."
WAP services through data telephone connections remain available, and these can now be protected and authenticated when using phones which support the system, says the Nordic bank.
Nordea plans to open GPRS connections in Sweden and Estonia in the near future.
Initially, some 1.1 million subscribers to Nordea's Solo electronic banking platform in Finland will have access to mobile Internet services.
Nordea currently claims some 2.7 million net banking customers in the Nordic and Baltic countries and Poland.