(February 3, 1999) - Nokia and MeritaNordbanken have agreed to cooperate in the development of wireless banking services. The banking and financial industry services using GSM phones will be based on Nokia's Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology. The new technology developed for digital mobile networks and phones makes it possible to offer bank customers entirely new forms of service.
Nokia's goal is to get the WAP technology intended for wireless data transfer and the implementation based on it into global use. Banking services and electronic commerce are particularly well suited for this technology.
"Nokia believes strongly in the opportunities afforded by WAP in the development of wireless services. The MeritaNordbanken cooperation is an indication of the enthusiastic reception WAP is encountering among companies operating on consumer markets," says Nokia Executive Vice President Pekka Ala-Pietilä.
MeritaNordbanken has offered electronic home banking services in Finland since 1982 and is the leading bank in the industry. Every month MeritaNordbanken's electronic banking service is accessed a total of two million times and nearly 40 percent of its active accounts have signed up for the service.
Virtually all banking industry services, including electronic commerce payments, network invoicing and authorization service, are available through electronic banking. The newest service introduced is the balance and transaction service based on GSM short messaging technology; within one year, use of the service has grown to 200,000 transactions monthly.
"We are working with Nokia to develop financial services based on advanced technology for mobile phones. It is important for the bank to base its service on pioneering technology. That's why this cooperation with Nokia holds such important significance," says Bo Harald, Executive Vice President of MeritaNordbanken's electronic banking services.
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