Student life

In Finland, a student's livelihood is generally ensured by student financial aid and housing supplement, government-guaranteed student loan, a side job – or a combination of some of these. Student financial aid aims to secure your livelihood during your studies. In case student financial aid and housing supplement prove insufficient, student loan comes in useful.

As a student, you are entitled to student financial aid, provided that you fulfil its criteria. Read more

A student can receive housing allowance during the study months while he/she is living in a rental home or a right-of-occupancy home. Read more

A student loan is a government-guaranteed loan. Students can apply for a student loan directly at a bank. Read more

With OP-mobile, you can easily manage all your daily banking using your smartphone. Pay your invoices and check your account balance whenever you want. Read more

Share joint expenses easily with the Pivo app. As a student, you can also activate a digital student card in Pivo. Read more and love it

With your own life choices, you can have a major influence on how much you need to pay for electricity, phone and food. The Consumers' Association of Finland, for example, has assembled tips for saving money. Read tips (in Finnish)

When you want to start saving and are looking for a place for your savings, you can open a cost-free Money Box on OP-mobile or the op.fi service. Money Box is an easy and fun way to save. Read more

A current account is an account to which you can link a payment card and from which you easily pay bills, purchases and loan repayments. Read more

Our credit card for students is a payment card that combines a debit and credit feature. As a higher education student, you can get an OP Classic card or OP Gold card with a 2 000 euro credit limit as soon as you have a study place. Read more

OP Debit is a debit card, with which you can also pay abroad and online. Read more

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 or OP Debit) 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.

Managing your finances is not expensive! If you are under 26 you can have all the needed banking services from us free of charge:
 

• Current Account and online bank statement
• One payment card (OP Basic, OP Debit or OP Classic credit card for higher education students)
• OP eServices
• Home and travel insurance -21%

Want more benefits? If you are an OP cooperative bank owner-customer, your savings, loans and insurance transactions generate OP bonuses which can pay some insurance premiums or banking service fees for you! An owner-customer gets discounts on banking services and insurance policies, too.

Read more about being an owner-customer

In case study grant and housing supplement prove insufficient and you want to focus on studying, a student loan comes in useful. With OP, applying for a student loan and drawing it down can be done conveniently online. A student loan requires a guarantee, but it is granted to all students by the government ‒ you do not need any other collateral.

For planning your student loan, the student loan calculator is helpful. 

In general, student loan repayment begins in two years’ time after the expiry of student financial aid. It is not advisable to repay your loan during your year of graduation or before it but, rather, interest payments and repayment of your loan principal begin after graduation. We can, however, agree on repayment based on your life situation and future plans.

You will be entitled to student loan compensation from KELA, if

• you began to study your first university degree after 1 August 2014
• you graduate within the stipulated time
• your student loan amounts to over 2,500 euros. You may receive a 40% compensation of the loan amount above this level.

Read more about student loan compensation

You will be entitled to student loan compensation from KELA, if

• you began to study your first university degree before 1 August 2014 but after 1 August 2015
• you graduate within the stipulated time
• your student loan amounts to over 2,500 euros.

Read more about student loan tax deduction

You can use our calculator to assess whether you get student loan compensation or tax deduction, within what time you should graduate and how much compensation or tax deduction you can get.

Calculate your student loan compensation or tax deduction

A student loan is primarily intended to support your daily spending but you can use it as you like: rent, school supplies, clothing or, say, travelling.

The student loan may also come in useful if the student wants to buy something necessary, such as a computer.

Many rental companies require that their tenants take out home insurance. Whether you live in a rented or owned dwelling, home insurance is necessary because it provides protection for your home and belongings in the case of e.g. burglary or damage.

If you are aged between 18 and 27, your home insurance will be cheaper at OP, since we will give you a 21% discount on almost all home and family policies.

We will help you in finding a suitable rental flat/house and in all questions related to home sales and rental housing. Read more

Living in a rental place is carefree, but with the amount of monthly rent you could also repay a home loan. Owning your own home also generates an asset for you. Read more

If you are dreaming about your first own home, we recommend you saving under the ASP scheme. It is an easy and rewarding way to save for your first home. It is beneficial to start saving well in advance, even if you don’t plan to buy a home for several years. 

Why is the ASP savings scheme suitable to students?

• You can start saving under the scheme already at the age of 15.
• You do not need regular income to open an ASP account. You can start by saving as little as 50 euros a month.
• The savings plan is flexible according to your life situation.

Saving with an ASP account is beneficial because it offers a better interest rate on your savings. When you have saved 10% of your home’s purchase price, the bank can grant you the remainder as an ASP loan.

The Rent Deposit Account is an ideal solution for depositing your security deposit. The tenant deposits an amount corresponding to a maximum of three-month rent, as agreed with the landlord, to a current account and pledges the account.

The earlier you start, the more returns your investments can yield. You can start with a sum suitable for a student budget, such as 10 euros a month. If you have the opportunity to save and are looking to make a profit, why not start monthly investing in a fund? 

History shows that investing in stocks is an excellent way of making your money grow. It’s a good option for you if you are seeking a high return and can handle market fluctuations. Thanks to affordable brokerage fees, you can start with 100 euros, for example.

OP Investment Partner is your digital investment advisor on OP-mobile that helps you achieve your investment targets. With the service, you can start investing regularly in a fund easily and can change the amount you invest at any time depending on your situation. 

OP Unit-linked Insurance offers an opportunity for the lifelong accumulation of wealth and financial security. OP Unit-linked Insurance is suitable for both active investors and monthly saving. You can get started with just 50 euros a month. 

Your earned income affects the number of months for which you can accept student financial aid. Return on assets, such as dividends, rental income and capital gain, are considered as income. Using Kela's calculators (in Finnish), you can ensure that your annual income does not exceed the set annual maximum.

Establishing a business and entrepreneurship are topical issues for many students. We can offer a variety of services ideal for entrepreneurs.

• You have many choices to make when starting a new business. These tips help you get your business started easily and smoothly. Read more
• OP-mobile helps you do your banking transactions easily with your mobile phone wherever you are. Read more
• We can offer you a wide range of other services and tools too for your company's payment transactions. Read more

We provide daily support for entrepreneurs from creating a business idea for the company's each stage, from expansion to the purchase of business premises. Read more

We are pleased to cooperate with students and annually offer dozens of jobs around Finland to the students of universities of applied sciences and research universities in the form of thesis work and work placements. Read more

The summer is the time of summer jobs for many students. Every year, we provide hundreds of future financial experts with the opportunity to take their first steps towards the top of the financial business. Read more (in Finnish)

We offer interesting and challenging jobs and care paths to new graduates too – with us you can make use of your skills acquired during studies in practice. Would you also like to be part of Finland's leading financial services group?