Svea Finland chooses open banking platform Aiia to improve e-commerce checkout game

May 20, 2021 | Rune Kallehauge

Today, the payment service provider Svea and open banking platform Aiia announces a new partnership that is set to boost the checkout game for a wide range of merchants in Finland through Aiia.

As the EU directive, PSD2, is set to simplify the payment ecosystem across Europe, payment service providers are starting to look into the opportunities of providing new account-to-account payments to let merchants initiate instant payments from the customers’ bank account to the merchants’ bank account. In this way, merchants can steer clear of expensive credit card fees while simplifying the payment process and increasing security for consumers.

Both Svea and Aiia see open banking as a significant game-changer in the e-commerce space. In early 2021, Svea is set to activate open banking payments in Finland, and soon after in other markets across the Nordics and Baltics.

Commenting on the partnership, Tomas Lundqvist, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Products at Svea Finland, says:

“The payment industry is developing at a high pace and we want to stay on top and ahead of these developments at Svea. We’ve been looking into open banking opportunities for a while and are happy to take the next steps in partnering with Aiia to deliver, expand and explore new opportunities in the e-commerce landscape” 

Rune Mai, CEO & Co-Founder at Aiia, also comments on the partnership saying:

“We’re happy to partner with yet another strong player from Finland to deliver account-to-account payments. The new opportunities from getting regulated access to accounts is maturing at a high pace, and as an infrastructure provider we are super proud to be igniting this wave of cheaper, safer and simpler bank payments for all consumers and businesses in Europe.”

The growth in account based payments is apparent. While doing tens of thousands payments monthly a year ago, Aiia now initiates more than half a million PSD2 payments monthly in the Nordics for customers like OP Financial Group, Checkout Finland, Danske Bank, DNB, Lunar and others. 

The open banking platform is currently live in 17 European markets and expects to 
be fully rolled out with their payment initiation module across Europe during 2021.  

About Svea Finland: 
Svea Finland provides payment solutions as well as financial, administrative and collection services for companies; and offers credits, loans, deposits and payment methods both online and in-store for consumers. As a part of Swedish-based Svea Group, Svea Finland was established in 2002 by acquiring several small Finnish companies. In nearly 20 years Svea Finland has grown from a small team into a corporation with over 200 employees and a large client base consisting of companies and consumers.
 

Today, Svea Finland consists of four different companies, of which Svea Payments Oy, as part of the Finnish Svea Payments business unit, is focused on payment solutions and transactions in e-commerce, providing agile services for both online stores and their customers. Svea Group was established in 1981 and has since grown into a group operating in large parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Today, Svea Group has over 2 000 employees across its operating countries.

Learn more:  https://www.svea.com/gb/en/start/