Banking operations in the early 19th century Finland were not intended for funding the dreams or even the livelihoods of ordinary people. However, towards the end of the decade, the banks realised that they should respond to the loan needs of the peasantry somehow. 

The solution was a coope­rative credit bank system. It comprised a strong central bank and legally independent cooperative credit societies. 

The central Osuuskassojen Keskuslainarahasto Oy (Central Lending Fund of the Cooperative Credit ­Societies Limited Company) was founded in 1902, and its agents toured around the country, helping people to establish cooperative credit societies.

The central lending fund received a large income from the State and forwarded it to the cooperative credit societies which, in turn, distributed it to their members. 
At the beginning, most of the cooperative credit ­society members were farmers. A poor farmer could use the loan to buy a horse and a cow. Later, the operations expanded to other professional groups. For example, many fishermen joined the society in the Porvoo region. 

It was important that the local residents committed to the cooperative lending society and that the management was qualified and dedicated. Most of the societies were managed by volunteers.

The roots of the current OP Uusimaa date back to the founding of the Cooperative Credit Society of Hyvinkää on 23 May 1904.

Milestones in history

1904 The first cooperative credit society in Uusimaa was established in the village of Hyvinkää. The first cooperative credit societies had been established in eastern Finland the year before.

In 1910, the Cooperative Credit Society of Hyvinkää had 33 members.
At first, the longest loan period in the Cooperative Credit Society of Hyvinkää was four years and the largest loan FIM 1,000 which is approximately EUR 5,500, converted with the Statistic Finland’s currency value converter. 

1915 The Cooperative Credit Society of Hyvinkää purchased 1,200 hectares of land in its area in 1915–1917, parcelled it into 33 farms and allocated them to the landless population. The new landowners joined the society, and in 1920, the society had 160 members. The Hyvinkää society became the fourth largest cooperative credit society in Finland. 

The land reforms in 1918 and 1921 improved the position of tenant farmers and landless workers. The potential customer base of cooperative credit societies increased significantly, because the people had no money and needed loans. Without cooperative credit societies, the small farmers who had recently become landowners could not have found their feet. 

1920 About 16 per cent of Finns lived in cities. 

Many new cooperative credit societies were founded in Uusimaa in the 1920s. 
In the 1920s, cooperative credit societies start receiving deposits from non-members. Children were being taught about saving and the importance of economic skills. Saving funds were delivered to schools, and the pupils made small savings, guided by their teachers.

Housing and construction fair was held at the Helsinki Fair Centre in September and October 1940. Photo: Hugo Sundström, Finnish Heritage Agency

1940 A little over 25 per cent of Finns lived in cities. The Mitä jokaisen tulee tietää asunnosta (What should we all know about apartments) ­booklet that was published at an apartment ­viewing during the interwar year describes a ­
good apartment as follows. An apartment must be:

  1. spacious, comfortable, pleasant and beautiful.
  2. closely connected to nearby nature.
  3. well protected against cold and moisture.
  4. easy to ventilate – every room must have venti­lator equipment.
  5. sufficiently light, with good access for daylight and sunlight and smart positioning of the rooms.
  6. isolated from the neighbours and outdoor noise.
  7. free of dust, dirt, vermin and smoke.

1945 After the war, cooperative credit societies were tasked with transferring the settlement loans granted by the State to over 400,000 evacuees. The cooperative credit societies handled almost 80 per cent of all settlement loans in Finland and many of the people evacuated from the areas that were handed over became their new customers.

The Cooperative credit Society of Greater Helsinki was established in 1946 to facilitate lending to war veterans and other groups eligible for land ownership. The most important lending target were the detached houses of war veterans. In terms of operations, the Cooperative credit Society of Greater Helsinki was not like the traditional cooperative credit societies, but they shared the role of filling the gap left by other monetary and credit institutions.

1950 Over one third of Finns lived in cities. Construc­tion focused on suburban neighbourhoods in the middle of forest and nature. A prime example of this is Tapiola in Espoo, the construction of which started in the early 1950s. The first suburban neighbourhoods in Helsinki were Herttoniemi and Maunula. The focus of the cooperative credit societies’ operations shifted from the countryside to cities as a result of the migration. Meanwhile, the services become more versatile, international and extend to cover, for instance, real estate agency.

Bank employees and customers at the office of the Cooperative Credit Society of Greater Helsinki in 1954. Photo: Pekka Kyytinen, Finnish Heritage Agency

1960 The wages to the bank system became more common in the 1960s, and wages were no longer paid in cash but deposited in the bank. The first professional group whose wages were directed to the cooperative credit societies were railway workers.

Baby boomers entered the job market in the early 1960s, and the agriculture and forest industry was unable to offer work to everyone. This resulted in the fastest change in the Finnish history so far, with a sharp increase in domestic migration, emigration to Sweden and the transformation of the economic structure. The fist extensive regional construction project, Pihlajamäki in Helsinki, was completed. 

Pihlajamäki in 1965. Photo: Volker Bonin, Helsinki City Museum

The youth account campaign of cooperative banks was launched in 1963. Aimed at 15–25-year-olds, ­the youth account included a loan promise: the account ­owner had the right to receive a loan equalling the amount of money they had saved after one year. The ­aim was to help young people to fund their housing, studying or business operations. Five years later, the State started to support savings measures among the young through various prizes.

1970 The new Act on Cooperative Banks turned cooperative credit societies into cooperative banks. The orange logo, which is still used to this day, became the symbol of the banking group. 

Loan for two home builders from a cooperative bank, advertisement from 1972. Photo: OP Museum

The history of cooperative banks in Uusimaa in the 1970s and 1980s was characterised even more strongly by urbanisation and the modernisation of the economic system, which resulted in an increased share of salary earners and households among the customers. Important matters included the funding of housing transactions and residential construction. Cooperate banks were active in this.

Photo of a home in a 1970s brochure of the Cooperative Bank of Greater Helsinki. Photo: OP Museum

Cooperative Bank launched the OP contract for salary earners in 1974. In exchange for their customer relationship, the customers became eligible for a housing loan, small consumer loan, salary interruption loan and holiday travel loan.

1980 In the early 1980s, routine banking services transferred to the payment service, payment terminals and the telephone. The bank card became the most common tool for getting cash from the bank. Asset management and investment services were introduced to the customers.

The golden card with credit was launched in 1984: “Finally, a card that understands life.” The era of saving ended and made way for the era of consumption and immediate satisfaction of needs.

OP bank cards in the late 1980s.

1990 Bank crisis and wave of bankruptcies. High interest rates and employment drove households into trouble.

1991 OP Financial Group became the largest banking group in Finland. Despite difficulties, the group survives the years of crises without assistance.

1995 Finland becomes a member of the European Union. Finnish banking regulations were amended to avoid slack lending and new banking crises in the future.

1996 OP Financial Group became the first bank in Europe and the second bank in the world to open an online bank service.

This is what the osuuspankki.fi online service looked like in 1997.

2002 Finland adopted the Euro as its currency. 
OP Financial Groups turned 100. It became the largest mortgage provider in Finland.

2005 OP Financial Group acquired the Pohjola ­insurance company at a price of EUR 2 billion, and the group became the leading financial group in Finland. 
In 2007, the group changes its name of OP-Pohjola Group. Bank membership and ­customer relationship were tied together so that the bonuses from banking services could also be used for paying insurance fees with Pohjola. 

2016 The cooperative-based Helsingin ­OP Pankki Oy changed to Helsingin Seudun Osuuspankki.

2021 OP Uusimaa was born in September 2021 when the representatives of the cooperative banks of the Helsinki Region, Eastern Uusimaa and Uusimaa decided to merge into one cooperative bank. It started its operations in August 2022.

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