Bank of Finland’s payments policy focuses on reliability and convenience

“Our task at the Bank of Finland is to oversee the reliable and efficient operation of payment systems. We want to make sure that people are able to choose the payment method that best suits them for each situation. Access to payment systems and cash must be at a level where this freedom of choice is genuinely available to everyone,” says the Bank of Finland’s Head of Payment Systems, Päivi Heikkinen.

The Bank of Finland’s payments policy also emphasises payment resilience. The payments policy seeks to foster the development of contingency solutions, as payment and settlement systems must be capable of responding to any disruptions and cyber threats. All entities involved must ensure that their cyber security and incident management arrangements are sufficient in regard to common systems as well. 

“Payment is a critical activity in today’s society. Payment systems have generally functioned well and people are used to paying for their purchases without any fuss. We want to make sure that this continues. All the players need to ensure a sufficient level of security in payments, and cash must also be preserved as an option when paying for daily essentials,” says Member of the Board of the Bank of Finland Tuomas Välimäki.   

Besides focusing on payment systems that are trustworthy, efficient and operationally reliable in all situations, the Bank of Finland is also engaged in the work to deepen the Single Euro Payments Area for retail payments. Operating within the Eurosystem, all service providers should comply consistently with European standards. This will strengthen operational reliability and encourage competition.

The Bank of Finland also supports initiatives that improve the ability of payment systems to prevent payment fraud and offer customers trustworthy information on managing their own finances. “We wish to emphasise here that the security of electronic payment methods concerns not only the operational reliability of systems but also the prospect that every individual using the systems can do so securely and obtain reliable information on their own finances,” says Välimäki.

The Bank of Finland’s payments policy will become evident in its work when it assesses the operation of payment and settlement systems and takes part in the debate on development of the systems. The success of this work will be examined in connection with the annual monitoring of the Bank’s activities.

Bank of Finland’s payments policy