OP Year 2019

– on a lifelong journey

OP Financial Group

On a lifelong journey with two million owner-customers

OP Financial Group is Finland's largest financial services group, owned by its customers. We have already two million owner-customers who own the OP cooperative banks and thereby the entire OP Financial Group. Our mission is to promote the sustainable prosperity, security and wellbeing of our owner-customers and operating region.

OP's business consists of three business segments: Retail Banking, Corporate Banking and Insurance. We provide our customers with the most extensive and diversified range of banking, investment and insurance services and the best loyalty benefits in the country. We are a local player with services available through a diverse range of digital channels and the most extensive network of branches nationwide.

OP's business is based on the cooperative principle: cooperation and sharing the fruits of success with customers.

Review by the President and Group Chief Executive Officer

Timo Ritakallio
President and Group Chief Executive Officer, OP Financial Group

It is our duty to ensure that the success of OP Financial Group will continue long into the future. The year 2019 saw our income grow faster than expenses.

In a constantly changing business environment, it has become increasingly important for organisations to be able to quickly respond to these changes. The strategy of a business must keep abreast of new developments and, where necessary, adapt to customer behaviour and the broader environment.

OP Financial Group refined its strategy in 2019. Our vision is to be the leading and most appealing financial services group in Finland. We want to be the first choice for our customers and partners, and be present where our customers are. Our goal is to be a knowledgeable, reliable and responsible forerunner in the financial sector. We strive to be an attractive employer, as well as a player with a strong market share and financial position.

Towards increasingly responsible financial services

Pursuing our mission is embedded into everything we do. Every day, we make both small and big dreams come true for ordinary Finns, help businesses with their operations, and ensure that our customers won't be left alone if an accident happens. In addition to our mission, our operations are guided by our values: People First, Responsibility, and Succeeding Together.

Read the whole review

Strategy

OP Financial Group confirmed its new strategy and its vision for future direction in June 2019.

Strategic priorities reviewed annually will help achieve our shared vision. OP Financial Group's strategic priorities for 2020 are:

Best customer experience
More benefit for owner-customers
Excellent employee experience
Faster growth in revenues than expenses
Productive development.

We have adopted a new type of strategy process in which we are continuously reshaping, reformulating and implementing the strategy. We are systematically assessing our business environment and operating model to be able to make and implement new strategic choices whenever needed.

Responsibility comes down to tangible actions

Corporate responsibility is an integral part of OP's strategy and every OP employee's daily work, decisions and activities. Our Group-level corporate responsibility (CR) programme is guiding our CR efforts, and it was updated at the end of 2019 to be even more ambitious.

The updated CR programme is framed around four key themes and commitments, which guide our actions and goals:

We improve financial literacy in Finland
We foster a sustainable economy
We support local vitality and communities
We use our information capital responsibly.

OP aims to be a forerunner in corporate responsibility in the financial sector.

Highlights in 2019

New digital services for the housing market

OP Kiinteistökeskus real estate agencies became OP Koti (OP Home) in the spring of 2019, offering OP's entire range of housing-related services. The year 2019 saw OP Koti become the first operator in Finland to offer its customers with the possibility of digital home sale through DIAS. DIAS is a platform for the sale or purchase of housing company shares online, without having to visit their bank.

You can learn more about OP Koti on op-koti.fi

Faster and safer mobile services

The popularity of mobile banking continued to grow in 2019. OP-mobile was accessed 27 million times per month, and the app now has more than one million active users. The European Payment Services Directive (PSD2) came into force in September and introduced new requirements for strong customer authentication. OP's Mobile key feature meets the new requirements, and it had more than one million users at the end of 2019.

Learn more about Mobile key here.

Real-time payments

OP's customers can now both send and receive SEPA payments between banks in real time. The new SEPA Instant Credit Transfer service was launched for incoming transfers in April and for outgoing transfers in October 2019. With SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, it takes just seconds to move money between banks within the Single Euro Payments Area.

Read more about real-time payments here.

New sustainable financing solutions

OP Corporate Bank issued its first-ever green bond in February 2019. Two new products were also added to our sustainable financing portfolio; green loans and sustainability-linked loans. During 2019, the total value of these new loans granted was EUR 730 million.

Read more about sustainable financing here.

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