Responsibility for developing a Finnish instant payment solution is to be transferred from the Payments Council to Siirto Brand Oy

In 2022, the Payments Council began to firmly promote the idea of an account-based instant payment solution for Finland. The goal has been to create a model for implementing the instant payment objectives set by the Eurosystem and the European Commission, allowing Finland to introduce an instant payment system compatible at European level and operating under uniform conditions. A Finnish instant payment solution will increase competition in the retail payments market and offer an alternative to card and cash payments.

For the purpose of developing instant payments in Finland, the Payments Council set up a working group to which market stakeholders and public authorities were invited. Coordination of the working group was the responsibility of the Bank of Finland. In 2024, the working group completed its Finnish Instant Payments Scheme Rulebook. The Rulebook sets out key principles: the use of common European standards; a centralised register; an open operating model; scope for market stakeholders to influence the Rulebook’s future development; and a clear identity for the payment instrument.

“Finland needs to have alternatives for making point-of-sale payments. This need has grown since the escalation in geopolitical tensions. We must ensure that payments in Finland can continue to be reliable,” says Member of the Board of the Bank of Finland Tuomas Välimäki, who also chairs the Payments Council.

Bank of Finland evaluated commercial service providers for instant payment solution

In spring 2025, the Payments Council agreed to continue the work and seek a commercial service provider for the instant payment solution. The Bank of Finland was asked to continue in its role of coordinator and submit a proposal to a meeting of the Payments Council.

The Bank of Finland looked at operators in the sector and evaluated their readiness to function as a service provider for a Finnish instant payment solution in accordance with the Rulebook. Based on this, the Bank of Finland made a proposal at a meeting of the Payments Council on 10 October 2025. The Payments Council concluded that on the basis of the proposal Siirto Brand Oy is best able to implement a solution that accords with the Finnish Instant Payments Scheme Rulebook. The Council will transfer the responsibility for developing the Rulebook to Siirto Brand Oy.

“The decision we now have meets the criteria given in the Rulebook. It is especially important that such a payment instrument using instant payments should also be available in brick-and-mortar shops, as these have a particularly strong need when it comes to reliability and competitiveness,” says Välimäki.

“At Siirto we are proud that the Payments Council has recognised our abilities in regard to the instant payment solution. Instant payments will bring speed, security and convenience to everyday transactions in Finland. We want to help ensure that instant payment becomes available to everyone in Finland in the future,” says Siirto Brand Oy CEO Mikko Ketola.

The Payments Council will continue to monitor the progress made towards an instant payment solution as well as implementation of the principles set out in the Rulebook.

The Payments Council is a national cooperation body for the purpose of further developing retail payments. It brings together users and providers of payment services and the authorities, with the aim of supporting the use of advanced and internationally compatible forms of payment that are efficient for society as a whole.