Banking is based on trust built upon good service, knowing the customers and making the right decisions. We ask you questions about different matters because we want to know you and your life situation. When we know you, we are able to give you good advice and offer you banking services that suit your needs.
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- Know your customer – why does the bank ask?
However, we also have other reasons for asking some of the questions. Nordea is one of Europe’s largest banks and we take our social responsibility seriously. As a bank, we are subject to many laws, including ones that seek to prevent money laundering, terrorism and financial crime.
We ask you questions when you become our customer and later occasionally when you handle your banking with us.
We treat all information you give us confidentially in accordance with the regulations on bank secrecy. We may use the information you provide us, for example, when we are obliged to assess the suitability of an investment product or investment service for you. By providing the information once, you won’t have to answer the same questions time and again.
We regularly update our customer information
From time to time, we ask our customers to update information related to their identity and banking. To ensure easy and safe banking, it’s important that your customer information is always up to date. If you have received a request from us to update your customer information, please do this as soon as possible.
Even though our request is based on the banks’ statutory obligation to know their customers, we do it first and foremost with your best interests in mind. Updating your customer information is also important because we want to protect our customers and prevent identity theft and other forms of abuse.
Be alert when online
Your security is important for us. Make sure that the device you use for banking is protected, the antivirus software is updated and the firewall is activated.
Be alert when you are online and do not open emails or links from unknown sources. Keep and use your access codes carefully and do not let other people use your accounts. Remember that we never ask for your personal access codes or card details by email, on the phone or through social media.
More information
What kind of questions do we ask?
Banks have a statutory obligation to identify and know their customers. In addition to personal details, the bank must have sufficient information on the customer’s business, financial position and origin of funds. All information you give us is treated confidentially in accordance with the regulations on bank secrecy.
We verify personal data and information related to banking. The questions concern such things as your citizenship, country of birth, country of taxation and the origin of funds received at Nordea. We may, for example, ask you about the origin and purpose of cash transferred to your account. When investigating the origin of the funds, we may need deeds of sale or other documents in addition to a written statement. We are also required to find out if you are a politically exposed person (PEP) or a family member or close business associate of a PEP. This does not mean that we are asking you about your political opinions.
The questions are the same as the ones asked at customer meetings in branches.
We use various channels to acquire customer information
We ask for information about our customers’ banking through a number of different channels. We will approach some of our customers by letter or phone, and some will receive a questionnaire in Netbank or mobile bank. A safe place to fill in your customer information is the nordea.fi/KYC page.
Filling in the questionnaire in Netbank and mobile bank is also secure, as it is done after identification. You can verify the security of the website and the SSL encryption in Netbank by clicking the padlock icon in the address bar at the top or bottom of the screen.
We would like to emphasise once more that Nordea will never request your personal Netbank access codes or card details by email or over the phone.
Identity documents accepted by Nordea
Banks are obliged to verify their customers’ identity from an official and undamaged identity document. This concerns both existing and new customers.
Read more: Identity documents accepted in Nordea
If you have received a letter containing a link and a personal code, be sure to write the web address yourself instead of clicking the link. If you are unsure whether you have in fact been contacted by Nordea, you can call Nordea Customer Service, tel. 0200 70 000.If you have received a letter from Nordea Finance, you can call Nordea Finance Customer Service at 0200 86215. See more detailed information on Nordea Finance hereOpens new window. After you have logged in to Netbank or written the web address, you will see a padlock icon in the address bar. It tells you that you are on a secure page. Before you fill in the form, you can check that your name and personal identity number have been filled in automatically. Yes. We ask these questions of all our customers but we do it at different times. You and our other customers can help us prevent illegal activities by answering these questions. Security in banking is your most important right as a customer. This is why all Finnish banks are obliged by law to continuously update the information they have on their customers. We contact all our customers regularly to verify information related to their identity and banking. We do this to prevent any misuse and to ensure that all customer information we have is correct and up-to-date. Nordea is trusted for its corporate social responsibility and we wish to keep this trust. We use this information for getting to know our customers, their business and their need for our banking services. This allows us to offer our customers services that best match their needs, to secure their financial interests and to detect any atypical or suspicious activity. We wish to protect our customers and the entire society. The requested information is updated in our customer information systems so that all information about you is correct and up to date. Identification data and other personal data can be used for the purpose of preventing, investigating and uncovering money laundering and terrorist financing, and for raising an official investigation into money laundering or terrorist financing and into the crime with which the property or the criminal benefit related to money laundering or terrorist financing was obtained. Yes. All customers must answer these questions. As a bank and a responsible member of society, Nordea is obliged to ask these questions of all its customers. Yes, and if you answer the questions online, it is important that you save all the pages of the form. This prevents the information from being lost even if you didn’t answer all the questions during your first login. Reminders of filling in the form will be sent to you until you have completed it. We need your answers to these questions to guarantee you secure and smooth access to our banking services. If we do not get the required information from you, it may ultimately lead to a situation in which we can no longer provide you with all of our services or give you the advice you need. Yes. The law requires all banks to know their customers and that is why banks must obtain information about their customers. However, banks may do it differently and at different times. Still, the statutory obligations are the same for all banks. We kindly ask you to answer as soon as possible and no later than the requested deadline. No. The purpose of your answers is to make sure that all information on you is correct and up to date at Nordea. We also use the information in connection with statutory reporting. Your information is treated as confidential and processed in compliance with bank secrecy and the General Data Protection Regulation. If you want to change or update your previous answers, you can call Nordea Customer Service. If you have received a letter from Nordea Finance, you can call Nordea Finance Customer Service at 0200 86210. We have to ask these questions at regular intervals because the legislation requires all Finnish banks to keep their customer information up to date. Nordea bears its corporate social responsibility by maintaining sufficient and up-to-date information in order to know its customers. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has decided on an international Common Reporting Standard regarding automatic exchange of financial account information between states. This standard has been adopted by more than 40 countries, including Finland and all the other EU countries. The standard means that financial institutions are obliged to find out in which country/countries the customer is tax resident. All information on the customers who are liable to pay tax in other countries or jurisdictions must be reported annually. Syntymämaata ja kansalaisuutta koskevat tiedot ovat tarpeellisia asiakaan tuntemiseksi. The legislation requires all Finnish banks to update their customer information regularly. Above all, we want to secure your financial interests and protect you from any illegal activity. Nordea bears its corporate social responsibility by maintaining sufficient and up-to-date information in order to know its customers. We ask these questions of all new customers and our current customers regardless of how long they have been our customers. Depending on your answers, we may need additional information and we may contact you. The questionnaire is personal and it can be delivered to customers via different channels.Questions and answers
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