A group of major Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish banks is currently exploring the possibility of establishing a pan-Nordic payment infrastructure supplemented by common products. The vision is to create, within the Nordics, the worlds’ first area for domestic and cross-border payments in multiple currencies (SEK, DKK, NOK and EUR). Based on open access and common European standards, the infrastructure will contribute to increased competition among payment service providers in the Nordics.
Besides increased integration, a harmonized Nordic payment infrastructure will create a better foundation for innovation and encourage the development of new products and services to the benefit of all end-users. This will in turn enable the Nordics to maintain their position as some of the worlds’ most digital societies. It will also be in line with present-day requirements for payment infrastructures as financial utilities, where scale, security, speed and efficiency have become key.
The initiative shares the objectives of current domestic infrastructure projects in Norway and Sweden, but aims at achieving them on a Nordic scale.
Consultations with relevant stakeholders will take place as appropriate.
The banks behind the initiative are Danske Bank, DNB, Handelsbanken, Nordea, OP Financial Group, SEB and Swedbank.
Danske Bank