Banking services for 7-14 year olds

We provide daily banking services for children and young people — an account and card — free of charge.

Banking begins with your own account

Items such as cash gifts and pocket money can be paid into an account and saved.

Young people can practice money management safely with a debit card

A card can be used with an account, enabling the child to pay for their own expenses such as snacks, hobbies and bus tickets.

A child’s own account and card will help them to manage spending and saving

OP Basic, which is suitable for children and young people, can be used to pay for purchases in Finland, abroad and online. The balance is checked during each card payment, which is debited directly from the account. The card does not work in locations without Internet access, such as aircraft. We advise parents to set daily spending and withdrawal limits in advance for their children’s card use and accounts. 

You can also activate an OP user ID for your child, enabling them to monitor their account transactions and balance on OP-mobile, and to confirm payments online through applications and when using services. Please note that this user ID cannot be used to log into services requiring strong identification, such as the op.fi service, Kela and My Kanta Pages. On the other hand, children over the age of 12 can log into such services: you can request this separately for your child, if required. 

If the cardholder is at least 13 years old, the card can also be linked to Apple Pay (contact OP’s Customer Service). A user’s card cannot be linked to Google Pay until they have reached 16 years of age.

How to activate banking services for 7-14 year olds

Read these tips before you book a meeting with your bank branch.

  1. Before booking a meeting, make sure that the child or young person has a valid personal ID document (passport or ID card).
  2. If the child doesn’t yet have an account with OP, you can speed things up by opening an account through the op.fi service before your meeting at the bank branch. When you’ve opened an account, return to this page and read onwards through the instructions. Open account
  3. Book an appointment. Select “Managing affairs for minors and the young – Managing affairs for minors and the young” as the subject. Mention which services you want to activate.
  4. The child or young person must be accompanied by at least one parent during the meeting. If the other parent cannot attend, ask them to grant you power of attorney in advance.
  5. Please take a personal ID document with you. The child or youngster must take an ID card or passport. A driving licence can serve as a personal ID for the parents. Read more about accepted personal ID documents
  6. We will activate the services during the meeting. We will issue the child or young person with an OP user ID and key code right away. The debit card and its PIN will arrive at home within 1–2 weeks.

 

Book an appointment

 

Remember to prepare power of attorney

  • Power of attorney is needed for activating bank services whenever one of the parents cannot attend the meeting. It is worth authorising all banking arrangements — such as provision of an account, card and user ID — at the same time.
  • We recommend that both parents grant power of attorney for managing a child’s banking affairs, since it will be needed later for purposes such as changing the spending and withdrawal limits of the child’s card via Customer Service.
  • An OP customer can grant power of attorney through the op.fi service. Grant power of attorney via the op.fi service
  • Please contact OP’s Customer Service if one of the parents does not have an OP user ID. You can also use another bank’s user ID for signing power of attorney.

How to activate individual services for a young person 

Let’s join forces to help children and young people to manage their finances: a healthy credit history and finances will be critically important to their future. 

  • Please note that the child or young person’s user ID will enable them to view all accounts to which they have access rights.
  • If parents have access rights to a child’s or young person’s account, they can view the account on OP-mobile or the op.fi service with their user ID. They can also make credit transfers into the child’s account and monitor account transactions.
  • A parent can change the security limits of their child’s card by logging in to the chat service, by message on OP-mobile or at op.fi, or by calling OP Customer Service. Please note that this requires a power of attorney from the other parent.
  • If the parents have not drafted a power of attorney, both parents must send a similar message about the requested changes on OP-mobile or at op.fi. The message should state the card details and cardholder’s information, as well as the desired change. 
  • Parents can also jointly set transaction limits on their child’s account to restrict its use. If necessary, they can request changes by sending similar messages on OP-mobile or at op.fi, with a power of attorney, or by visiting a branch.