Paytrail (Suomen Verkkomaksut)

The company provides an important service to consumers in Finland, but they don’t even have to sign up for it. Instead, the company acts as a link between online retailers and the banks. This means that rather than having to come to an agreement with each individual bank and credit company to be able to accept every customer’s preferred payment method, traders merely need to sign up with Paytrail. Paytrail then accept the payment before transferring it on to the customer’s bank or credit card issuer directly.

Paytrail have in turn signed agreements with all the major banks and financial institutions in Finland, plus a good few vital international partners too. This includes Visa and MasterCard, plus international charge cards like American Express and Diners Club.

This means that rom the customer’s point of view, they can make online payments just about anywhere in Finland and around the world no matter who they bank with or hold credit cards with.

The service is also completely free to customers. Businesses who sign up for this convenient service have to pay for the service instead. At the time of writing, a monthly fee of €59 is charged, plus a transaction fee for each purchase, usually €0.35 depending on the individual customer’s bank. Credit and mobile payments are also subject to a 2% commission, also paid by the merchant or retailer. Oh, plus there’s 24% VAT to be added on to that too. Nothing comes cheap in Finland!

This is unlikely to be a service which United Kingdom based players are likely to use, unless there is a family or work connection to Finland. Nevertheless you will see it as a payment option on many online bingo sites and casinos as it is a crucial means of paying for goods and services for our Scandinavian cousins.