students

Credit card for students

Apply for a student’s credit card as soon as you have been admitted to your place of study.
1

A 2,000-euro credit limit brings financial flexibility for students

The OP Classic and OP Gold cards for students combine a debit and credit card. The credit feature adds flexibility to your daily life and special occasions.

2

Cover for payments and purchases in Finland and abroad

Use the card’s credit feature to pay safely for online and in-store purchases in Finland, when travelling and on student exchanges. In line with the Consumer Protection Act, the cover applies if problems occur with purchases paid for by credit.

3

OP cooperative bank owner-customers get additional benefits

As an OP cooperative bank owner-customer, you get Product Protection Insurance against breakage or theft for purchases you make using an OP credit card’s debit or credit feature. Owner-customers under 30 years of age also get a current account, OP's digital services, and the OP Classic card for 0 €/month or the OP Gold card for just 4 €/month.

A credit card for students – apply for yours without ECTS credit requirements

The OP Classic payment card is a credit card for daily use by students. It will bring you budgeting flexibility and cover your purchases if problems occur after you pay with the credit feature. 

You can apply for the card as soon as you get a place at a university or university of applied sciences in Finland or abroad. One card and daily banking services are free of charge for OP customers aged under 26. If you are an owner-customer of an OP cooperative bank, your card and daily banking services will remain free of charge until you turn 30.

How do I apply for a credit card as a student?

  1. Select whether you are applying for OP Classic or OP Gold. Open the card application by logging in to the op.fi service. 
  2. In the application, add "student" in the employment situation field even if you work alongside studying. Select your place of study. Fill in the rest of the application information.
  3. If you have a student’s K-Plussa card and want to add it to your OP Classic card, add your K-Plussa card information in the “Plussa feature” section.  
  4. After approval of your application, the card will be delivered directly to your home or an OP branch office within 1–2 weeks, depending on the delivery method you selected. 

Learn more and apply for a credit card for students

You can apply for an OP Classic or OP Gold credit card for students without study credit requirements if you study at a university or university of applied sciences in Finland or abroad.

OP Classic

Flexible card for student life.

  • Pay directly from your bank account or with credit.
  • Credit limit 2,000 euros.
  • Product Protection Insurance for 180 days for owner-customers of an OP cooperative bank.

Price 0€/month for owner-customers aged 18–29,

when the customer has one card and daily banking services. Price 0€/month for all customers aged 18–25.

OP Gold

More than a debit and credit card.

  • Pay directly from your bank account or with credit.
  • Credit limit 2,000 euros.
  • Product Protection Insurance for 365 days for owner-customers of an OP cooperative bank.
  • You get free airport lounge visits, travel insurance, event ticket insurance, and much more.

Price 4€/month for owner-customers aged 18–29,

when the customer has one card and daily banking services. Price 4€/month for all customers aged 18–25.

If you are OP’s customer and aged 18–25 or an OP cooperative bank owner-customer and aged 18–29, you get one card (OP Classic, OP Debit or OP Basic) and daily banking services, meaning current account and OP's digital services, free of charge. 

You can also get OP Gold card with even better benefits for just €4/month.

If you are applying for a new card, see the instructions on cancelling an unnecessary card in section ”Do you want to close a second card?”.

Other credit card interests and expenses if you want to pay in instalments

Purchases paid for with the credit feature are interest-free until the first due date. If you pay the entire outstanding balance on the due date, you will not have to pay interest or an account service charge. The interest-free period is 35 days on average.

If the credit card account has an outstanding balance after the due date, interest and an account service charge calculated for the balance will be charged in the next bill.

  • The interest rate is the 3-month Euribor + 8.95% for an outstanding balance on which interest is payable.
  • The monthly account service charge is 3.50 euros if interest is payable.

The effective interest rate calculated for used credit of 2,000 euros is 17,93% (10/2023). The calculation does not take into account the owner-customer's or other discounts. This calculation is based on the assumption that the card’s monthly charge is 2.95 euros and the monthly account service charge 3.50 euros, free of charge e-invoicing is in use, that the credit interest rate, fees and charges remain constant throughout the credit period, and the credit is repaid in 12 identical monthly instalments. The estimated total amount payable is 2,176.60 euros.

Read more about daily banking services >

Learn more about consumer credit information (pdf) >

See our list of service charges and fees >

  • The credit limit is 2,000 euros.
  • You can choose whether your purchases are debited using the debit side (directly from your bank account) or the credit side (using the average interest-free payment period of 35 days, or the credit feature for which interest is payable).
  • Choose between four due dates for your credit card bill: the 7th, 15th, 23rd or last day of the month.
  • You can also add the K-Plussa feature to the card. As a Plussa benefit for students, you can get a 5% refund on your food shopping if you spend at least 75 euros per month with the K Group chain. You also get other benefits from K Group. Read more about K-Plussa for students > 
  • The card’s contactless payment feature allows you to pay for small purchases of up to 50 euros quickly, without using your PIN.
  • Combine your card with Apple Pay or Google Pay™ to pay for purchases handily with your phone or smartwatch. 
  • You can withdraw cash at K-grocery stores and Tokmanni store checkouts.
  • You can conveniently track your card transactions on OP-mobile and op.fi.
  • After you have opened Money Box and enabled “Auto Save through card”, you will build savings every time you pay with your card’s debit facility.
  • You must be at least 18 years old.
  • You must use OP as your main bank.
  • You must be living permanently in Finland.
  • You must be studying for a degree at a university or university of applied sciences in Finland or abroad.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, you can apply for a refund from your credit card company if a retailer breaches a sales contract for a purchase made with credit. Breach of contract occurs if a product or service you bought with credit is defective or lost in transport, or the company goes bankrupt and you never receive the product.

You can also apply for a refund if your airline or tour operator goes bankrupt or cancels your journey without paying you back.

Start by trying to handle the matter with the company that sold the product or service — this will help you to demonstrate breach of contract. File a complaint with the credit card company as soon as it becomes clear that the seller is in breach of contract.

How to claim from a credit card company

Product Protection Insurance provides cover for your purchases and is included with owner-customer cards

  • As an owner-customer, you get your money back if the product you purchased with OP's card, that has a credit function, breaks or is stolen.
  • The insurance is valid for 180 days for products bought with OP Classic and 365 days with OP Gold
  • You won’t need to buy separate insurance for new items, such as phones.
  • The deductible is only 75 euros, which is less than with a traditional home insurance.

Which purchases are covered by Product Protection Insurance?

Accidents happen to all of us from time to time, from dropping a phone on the floor to spilling coffee on a laptop or breaking your brand-new glasses.  

Product Protection Insurance covers purchases made with OP's card that has a credit function against breakage. In other words, you won’t need to buy separate insurance for new items, such as phones. 

When is the insurance valid?

The insurance covers credit and debit purchases made with OP credit cards, which means that your purchases are always insured if you pay with OP Classic or OP Gold.

The insurance protects purchases made with OP Classic for 180 days and purchases with OP Gold for 365 days after the cardholder has received the product.

Product Protection Insurance covers the purchases whether you pay for them online, at a brick-and-mortar location or through a service like Apple Pay.  

Does the insurance have a deductible or maximum compensation amount? 

In the event of loss, the insurance has a deductible of 75 euros. The maximum compensation per item is 2,000 euros. 

What to do if something happens?

If something happens, filing a loss report is simple on OP-mobile or at op.fi. 

Product Protection Insurance terms and conditions and additional information

Product Protection Insurance is issued by Pohjola Insurance Ltd.

If you have two payment cards, you can cancel the second card any time. Don’t cancel your old card until you’ve received your new card and have confirmed that it is working. 

  • You can cancel a card yourself in OP-mobile > Choose card > Card setting > Cancel the card.
  • You can also cancel a card by sending us a chat message (in Finnish) or an online message when you’re logged into the op.fi service, notifying to us the last four digits of the card to be cancelled.

Once you’ve cancelled the other card, cut it into several pieces so that the chip and the magnetic stripe are destroyed. 

As an OP cooperative bank owner-customer, you get OP bonuses that decrease your banking and insurance service charges. In 2024, you will earn 40% more OP bonuses than normal.

OP bonuses come from

  • funds in savings accounts
  • home loans, student loans and secured bank loans
  • mutual fund units and unit-linked insurance
  • paid insurance premiums, such as home and motor vehicle insurance and continuous travel insurance.

OP bonuses are tax-free. Because of that they are automatically used for loan service and origination fees and insurance premiums, among other things.

Read more about OP bonuses

As an owner-customer, you also get significant benefits and discounts. For example, you will get daily banking services without monthly charges until the end of 2024 and interest on your Current Account. Furthermore, you'll enjoy lower saving and investing costs than usual.

See all owner-customer benefits

The cards are issued by OP Retail Customers plc, which also acts as the policyholder of insurance products included in the cards. Product Protection Insurance is granted by Pohjola Insurance Ltd. Travel insurance and event ticket insurance are granted by the insurance company Inter Partner Assistance SA/AXA. The LoungeKey service is provided by Visa.

 

The cards are issued by OP Retail Customers plc.