Payments and accounts

Card use

Using payment and credit cards as the means of payment is today everyday practice. The payments in excess of 50 euro, made with a chip card, are confirmed with the PIN entered in the payment terminal. To avoid prying by outsiders, you should take care not to reveal your PIN when entering it. It is recommendable that you do not have your PIN in any written form but just memorise it. Should it be indispensable to have the PIN written down somewhere, the original paper sent by the bank should be destroyed and the PIN written down so that it is not possible for outsiders to deduct that it is associated with a particular card. Under no circumstances shall the PIN be kept – even in a unrecognisable form – in the same place as the card, for example, in the wallet.

If the card falls in the hands of criminals and is used unlawfully, the responsibility for the losses incurred are divided between the bank and the customer on the basis of the Payment Services Act and the terms and conditions of the card. As concerns cards owned by businesses, it is particularly important to establish the division of liability under the card terms and conditions, because they may differ from the provisions of the Payment Services Act.

Under the Payment Services Act, the liability for the losses incurred is totally shouldered by the bank if the customer is deemed to have acted carefully and has, immediately after noticing the loss of the card, informed the card issuer that the card has fallen in wrong hands. If the customer’s conduct has been, in an overall assessment, grossly careless or intentional, the customer will shoulder the entire responsibility. If the customer has not been entirely careful but not grossly careless either, the customer must bear a 50 euro excess sum and the bank will take responsibility for the rest of the loss.

When assessing carefulness, analysis will include, for example, the following aspects:

• where and how the customer had kept their card
• how could the criminal get hold of the card and the PIN
• how quickly did the customer notice the loss of the card, blocking it through the blocking service
• other factors related to the case

The circumstances of the environment may have an influence on how the customer should mind and be aware of the card and its use. When the customer is in a very busy place, with a highlighted risk of pickpocketing, the customer must pay particularly strict attention to holding the card safe.  In such places, it may also be advisable to use the card’s contactless payment facility or cash instead of the card, if the PIN cannot be safely entered. The customer may also become liable for the losses caused by the customer finding themselves in a risky situation by using a non-registered taxi or letting strangers enter their house.

Notification of misuse

Who is responsible for the misuse of a lost or stolen card?

When you block your lost or stolen card by calling the blocking number given by the bank, the responsibility for any potential misuse taking place after the blocking will be carried by the issuer of the card. Your responsibility ends with the blocking notification.

Please remember that a blocked card must not be taken into use even if it were to be found later.

Please notify the bank of any misuse

If you notice transactions on your card, not made by yourself, you can send a request of adjustment to your bank. The bank’s customer service will provide advice for making the request of adjustment. The bank will also provide instructions on the situations that would call for filing a police report.

Report the misuse to the authorities

Please file a police report either in person at a Police station, using the Police web service or sending a letter. When filing the police report, please specify whether your card is lost, stolen or misused even if it has all the time been in your possession.

If you go to a Police station, please take an ID card with you, and the number of the misused card whenever possible. The number of the card can be found in your own online bank. The number of the card will facilitate the investigation of the crime.

When going to the Police station, please bring a receipt showing the misuse. The receipt could be, for example, a print from the online bank or a credit card invoice. If your card is not lost or stolen, please take it with you. If you have called the blocking service, please indicate the time to the Police as exactly as possible.

Consequences of misuse?

The events not recognised by the card holder will be investigated on a case by case basis by the bank. The investigation is always started only upon a request from the card holder. The bank will investigate the division of responsibility of a potential misuse while the police is responsible for criminal investigations.

Blocking service numbers

If you card is lost, please call your own bank’s blocking service or the card granting company’s blocking service number without delay. Then banks’ blocking service can block bank cards and combination cards of all Finnish Banks, and cards that are either simple Visa or MasterCard. The phone number responds 24/7:

Handelsbanken, Hypo, Nordea, Oma Säästöpankki, OP Ryhmä, POP Pankki, S-Pankki, Säästöpankit, LähiTapiola, S-Business Oy, Ålandsbanken: +358 20 333, from abroad +358 20 333, alternative number from abroad +358 800 1 2400

Aktia (cards and Aktia Wallet): 0800 0 2477, from abroad +358 800 0 2477

American Express: 09 6132 0400, from abroad +358 9 6132 0400

Danske Bank: 0200 2585, from abroad +358 200 2585

Diners Club Finland: 0800 9 5555, from abroad +358 800 9 5555

Elisa Rahoitus: 010 2662 000, from abroad +358 10 2662 000

Eurocard: 0800 1 55777, from abroad +358 800 1 55777

Ikano: 010 7735 702, from abroad +358 10 7735 702

SEB Kort: 0800 1 55777, from abroad +358 800 1 55777