The number of online purchases paid with the domestic Siirto service doubled from June to July, and their combined euro volume grew by around 75 percent. At the same time, the number of online merchants actively using Siirto grew by a fifth.
The renewed Siirto service, launched in early June, already has more than one million registered users, and online payments are growing month by month.
“This rapid growth in the number of merchants and users shows that Finns are interested in paying directly from their own banking app. With Siirto, banking credentials or card details are never shared with the online store, which makes paying secure. Because Siirto is a Finnish service owned by banks, it doesn’t depend on international card networks. Payments move directly from bank to bank,” says Mikko Ketola, CEO of Siirto.
Young people use Siirto for everyday small expenses
The growth also shows in payments between individuals. The number of payments to friends grew by around a fifth from June to July, and their euro value grew at the same rate.
“Friday is clearly the most popular day for payments to friends – Finns settle bills and split expenses right before the weekend. It’s also interesting that young adults use Siirto for everyday small expenses, and among 18–24-year-olds, the median payment is around 35 percent lower than in other age groups,” says Ketola.
Invoices straight to the banking app, no separate order needed
With the new Siirto, consumers no longer need to set up a separate e-invoice agreement with each biller. An invoice sent through Siirto can be delivered directly to the banking app where the consumer uses Siirto. Siirto has already agreed on cooperation with around 75 percent of e-invoicing operators, and more operators are set to join during the autumn.
“Over the summer, Siirto has also started delivering invoices directly to the bank. This has worked very smoothly. Together with e-invoicing operators and billers, we’re now working to increase the number of invoices delivered directly to banks through Siirto. Paying invoices is easy, straight from your own banking app,” says Ketola.
Siirto in brief
Siirto is Finland’s only real-time account-to-account payment method that works directly in banks’ own apps. With Siirto, you can pay a friend, pay for purchases online, and receive e-invoices – all in the same, familiar banking app. Siirto is developed together with its owner banks, OP and Nordea.
