Digital Payments & Fintech · Finland
Digital Payments & Fintech - Finland
Finland operates a clear, mature licensing regime for digital payments and fintech, anchored in EU law (PSD2/EMD2) transposed via the Payment Institutions Act (297/2010) and Payment Services Act, with the FIN-FSA as the competent licensing and supervisory authority. Payment institutions, e-money institutions and third-party providers must be authorised (or, below thresholds, registered) by the FIN-FSA, which maintains a public register. EU-level regimes — MiCA for crypto-assets and the Instant Payments Regulation — apply directly, with national implementing acts and FIN-FSA authorisations already being granted.
Provision of payment services or issuance of e-money requires FIN-FSA authorisation under the Act on Payment Institutions (297/2010); entities below statutory thresholds may instead register as 'persons providing payment services without authorisation'. FIN-FSA maintains a public register of all such providers.
PSD2 was transposed in two parts effective 13 January 2018 — institutional rules via the Payment Institutions Act (Act 890/2017) and conduct/service rules via the Payment Services Act (Act 898/2017), bringing third-party providers (open banking AISPs/PISPs) and strong customer authentication into scope.
Electronic money institutions are licensed by the FIN-FSA under the Payment Institutions Act, which implements the EU E-Money Directive (EMD2); EMI authorisation covers issuance of e-money alongside payment services.
MiCA has applied since 30 Dec 2024; Finland enacted a national CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act (repealing the prior VASP Act) with a short transition ending 30 June 2025. Only FIN-FSA-authorised crypto-asset service providers may operate — Coinmotion became the first authorised CASP in July 2025.
The directly-applicable EU Instant Payments Regulation took effect from 9 October 2025 (receive obligation already in force, send obligation phasing in), and the Bank of Finland operates TARGET settlement infrastructure serving Finland and the Nordics; a national instant-payment rulebook and governance model were completed by autumn 2024.
A Consumer Protection Act (38/1978) amendment in force from 1 October 2023 steers consumers away from deferred-payment/BNPL options online (non-credit methods must be displayed first, identity verification required for deferred payment) and caps consumer credit interest at the Interest Act reference rate +15 pp (absolute ceiling 20%).
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/23/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →