Nordea surpasses one million target in Sweden

Nordea surpasses one million target in Sweden - from 37,000 to 1,040,000 e-customers in 3 years In December Nordea in Sweden exceeded its target of one million e- customers, and numbers are up strongly throughout the Group's entire home market. Nordea expects continued high growth in electronic banking services in the Nordic region and forecasts 3.2 million subscribers in 2002. New forecast for 2002 The number of e-customers is increasing strongly. Nordea now has 1,040,000 e-customers in Sweden - compared to the 37,000 who signed up during 1999, when the Group first launched its internet service in Sweden. This means that the one million target has been reached in two of Nordea's home markets, Finland and Sweden. The Internet bank enjoys vigorous growth throughout Nordea, and the Group's e-customers now number over 2.7 million, thereby surpassing the target set for 2001. Usage of the Internet bank also rose substantially during the year. There were a total of 76 million log-ons and 88 million payments made, up by 38 and 40 percent respectively. Nordea sees great future potential for internet-related services and therefore aims to raise the target to the level of 3.2 million e- customers during 2002. The most essential reason is that ever more customers have access to the Internet via computers or mobile phones, which they now use with growing frequency. The age spread among new subscribers to internet services is surprisingly even; half of these customers in Sweden are over 50. E-services for companies Increased usage also means greater customer demand for efficient and sophisticated services for conducting banking business over the Internet. Nordea therefore prioritises e-commerce enabling personal customers and companies to buy and sell goods and services in a secure way. At Nordea these services are currently available through the Solo market, currently subscribed to by 645 companies selling their goods and services. Just over 1,800 shops and companies have e-payment agreements with Nordea. "Using the Group 's expanding range of services over the Internet via computers and mobile phones is already an obvious choice. The idea that this behaviour can be conveyed to our corporate customers' e-services is not as widely recognised. We have already invested in new services making it easier and cheaper for our customers to shop and send invoices, and there is more to come. The Solo market makes it possible to buy and sell throughout the entire Nordic market. But customer behaviour and confidence are the essentials. Technology can be bought with money - behaviour requires time and hard work", says Bo Harald, head of Electronic Banking at Nordea. For further information: Bo Harald, head of Electronic Banking, Nordea +358 9 165 42256 Ingemar Borelius, head of Internet Banking Services, Sweden, +46 8 614 94 85 Ann-Leena Mikiver, head of Information, Sweden, +46 8 614 90 07 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/01/04/20020104BIT00070/bit0002.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/01/04/20020104BIT00070/bit0002.pdf