Network Issue Causes Payment Card Issues In Finland

Scandinavian payment firm Nets said that clients at some Finland banks reported issues when using their payment cards on Sunday (July 29).

“The problems affected card transactions and online banking at some banks in Finland. It was related to a network issue outside Nets,” a Nets spokesman said, according to Reuters.

In addition, a Nordea spokeswoman reported that some card services on its mobile bank and Netbank platforms were not working during the day, but the issue has also been fixed.

Finland’s Yle also noted that OP Bank and S Group wrote on Twitter that they were having troubles with their services, while Danske Bank’s Communications Director Sara Anttila said that their customers were having issues. Before the end of the day, the problems had been resolved.

Though Nets said the problem was outside its network, OP said on Twitter that it had traced the problems to a disturbance in the Nets digital platform.

Last year, Nets was sold to Hellman & Friedman, the U.S. private equity (PE) firm, for $5.3 billion. Nets went public in Copenhagen in 2016 and, according to Reuters, was valued at 30 billion crowns at the time.

“We see an opportunity under private partnership to harness the expertise from the Nordic region — which is one of the most dynamic — and have the financial flexibility to examine consolidation,” said Patrick Healy, deputy chief executive officer at Hellman & Friedman, at the time. The offer marketed a 27 percent premium to Nets’ closing share price as of June 30, before the company was approached by suitors.

Months before the deal, Nets said it had been approached by a handful of would-be suitors that showed an interest in acquiring the Danish mobile payments company. The attraction was the result of a change in behavior by consumers in Europe, who are favoring mobile payments over credit cards.