Finns make €20.6b card payments in Q2

Finnish bank cards were used for more payments in April–June this year than in the corresponding period of last year, said the Bank of Finland on Thursday.

More than one-fifth of card payments were remote payments where card payments initiated on a computer or in a mobile application.

In the second quarter of 2026, Finnish payment cards were used in card payments totalling EUR 20.6 billion, which was 6% more than in April–June 2025.

The total number of card payments made with Finnish payment cards over the same period was 680 million, representing an increase of 4% year-on-year.

The total value of contactless payments in the second quarter of 2026 was EUR 9.7 billion, which was EUR 1.2 billion (13%) more than in the corresponding period a year earlier.

In April–June period, 47% of the total value of card payments was paid using the contactless feature, meaning that the share of contactless payments increased by 3 percentage points in value terms from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, a total of 463 million card payments were made by contactless payment, 5% more than in the second quarter of 2025.

Finnish payment cards were used for 141 million remote payments in the second quarter of 2026, which was 13% more than in the same period a year earlier.

The total value of remote card payments (EUR 6 billion) was 14% higher than in the second quarter a year earlier.

Cards are used to pay remotely, for example, for online shopping in web browsers, in-app purchases and person-to-person card payments.

Remote card payments accounted for 27% of the value of all card payments in April–June 2026.

Payments by chip or magnetic stripe have been decreasing. In the second quarter of 2026, payments by chip or magnetic stripe totalled EUR 5.3 billion, which was 12% less than in the corresponding period a year earlier.