OP-Pohjola Group press release 6 July 2012
According to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup, the use of mobile banking services is expected to triple in Finland. During the last 12 months, 11% of Finns aged between 16 and 60 years have used mobile banking services and 30% would like to use them in the future. Mobile service is seen as a complementary channel and will not, however, replace other service channels in the near future*.
Mobile services enable customers to manage their personal finances wherever they are. The mobile phone is like a pocket-sized personal banking advisor.
- Online banks have allowed people to manage their banking transactions using computers while OP-mobile will allow people to do the same thing anywhere securely and easily, explains Kristian Luoma, Development Manager.
OP-Pohjola will launch its OP-mobile savings and investments services onto the market, first for iPhone but later also for Android and Windows Phone. These services are specifically designed for experienced investors willing to track stock prices and follow news in support of their investment decisions.
- This service is aimed at providing customers with a real-time market place. Through this application, customers can make buy and sell orders, monitor their book-entry accounts, read Pohjola Research analyses, stock exchange releases and news from the Kauppalehti business newspaper, and keep their own monitoring list of the stocks of their choice, explains Niko Mikkola, Development Manager.
OP-mobile will help lower the barrier to buy stocks. Customer-focused user experience plays a key role, and the service will guide the customer step by step, if necessary.
- Customers will have the opportunity to calculate the number of stocks they would like to buy with a certain amount of money, says Mikkola.
Just before the summer, OP-Pohjola also launched OP-mobile service for Windows Phone. This service enables its users to monitor their accounts, track the prices of the stocks of major Finnish corporations, search the nearest bank branches and Otto ATMs, and pay bills using the phone's camera that reads the barcode.
The application can be downloaded from App Store.
* TNS Gallup conducted its Mobile Life 2012 Survey in 58 countries with 48,000 interviewees aged between 16 and 60 years. The number of interviewees in Finland totalled 5,000.
For more information, please contact:
Niko Mikkola, Development Manager, OP-Services Ltd, tel. +358 (0)40 500 5614
Kristian Luoma, Development Manager, OP-Services Ltd, tel. +358 (0)40 709 6790
OP-Pohjola Group is Finland's leading financial services group providing a unique range of banking, investment and insurance services. The Group's mission is to promote the sustainable prosperity, well-being and security of its owner-members, customers and operating regions through its local presence. Its objective is to offer the best and most versatile package of loyal customer benefits on the market. OP-Pohjola Group consists of some 200 Group member banks and the Group's central institution OP-Pohjola Group Central Cooperative with its subsidiaries and closely related companies, the largest of which is the listed company Pohjola Bank plc. The Group has a staff of over 12,000.
www. op.fi