OP Financial Group's Year 2024
OP Financial Group's vision is to be the leading and most appealing financial services group in Finland. In this section, we will tell you more about the Group's strategy, its implementation, and our strategic priorities in our changing business environment.
Key figures and ratios 2024
Comments by the President and Group Chief Executive Officer
We want to point the way towards futures filled with hope for people living in Finland. The success of Finland and all those who live here is our number one priority now and in the future.
Timo Ritakallio, President and Group Chief Executive Officer
In 2024, the exceptionally tense geopolitical situation of previous years continued to predominate in Finland's neighbouring regions. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine continued into its third year and the Middle East conflict spilled over into new areas. A tectonic shift is underway in international politics and the global economy, creating uncertainty in the economy and our broader business environment.
Although the world economy grew by 3% last year, Europe's growth was only slightly over 1%. Finland's economy contracted for the second year running. However, the economy began to recover gradually as the year ended and OP Financial Group expects Finland's GDP to grow by a couple of per cent in 2025.
Construction and the related sectors were particularly affected by the sluggish economy. Risks in the real estate sector remained high and the number of bankruptcies increased substantially on the previous year.
Inflation in Finland fell markedly, from 3.6% to 0.7%, on the year before. On the other hand, unemployment rose, reaching 8.9% in December. Market interest rates fell almost continuously from early 2024 and the Euribor rates were clearly lower by the year's end.
OP Financial Group performed extremely well and operating profit increased by 21% year on year, to EUR 2,486 million in 2024. Our excellent earnings will enable us to continue providing our over 2.1 million owner-customers with considerable benefits in 2025. As in 2024, our owner-customers will get daily banking services without monthly charges and accrue 40% extra OP bonuses compared to the normal level of 2022. This is how we will help to ease the strain on households in these economically challenging times. The total value of higher benefits on OP bonuses and daily services will be around EUR 400 million in 2025, which is a significant source of relief.
OP Financial Group is in great shape to support its customers as the Finnish economy slowly recovers. We provide competitive banking and insurance services for a range of needs. My warm thanks to all our customers for the trust you have shown in OP Financial Group in 2024. We want to continue being worthy of your trust going forward.
Our Strategy
Our mission and values guide our operations and choices and give a meaning to our work. Our values – people first, responsibility, and succeeding together – guide everything we do.
We will build a sustainable tomorrow together
We want to be a responsible pioneer in the financial sector, in line with our strategy and values. Our sustainability and corporate responsibility work is based on the mission and core values of OP Financial Group, supported by our cooperative business model. Our commitments to sustainability and corporate responsibility concern many different areas such as environmental responsibility, customer orientation, social responsibility, employee wellbeing and the principles of ethical conduct.
Our sustainability programme and its goals respond to the changing operating environment, the grown expectations of stakeholders and the increased regulatory requirements.
OP Financial Group's sustainability programme guides the Group's actions and is built around three themes: Climate and the environment, People and communities, and Corporate governance.
Data at the core of OP Financial Group
OP Financial Group uses data in a goal-oriented way and seeks to create value for its customers, the Group and its operating region. In 2024, development work focused on data utilisation as well as management such as data ownership and quality. In 2024, business segments utilised data to a greater extent than at any time previously in OP Financial Group's history.
Highlights 2024
Free daily services and increased OP bonuses for owner-customers
OP cooperative banks' owner-customers benefited from OP Financial Group's good financial performance. OP Financial Group increased the OP bonuses to be earned by owner-customers for 2024 by 40% compared to the normal level of 2022.
Additionally, OP Financial Group offered its owner-customers daily banking services without monthly charges in 2024.
The total value of these benefits for owner-customers is estimated to be more than €400 million in 2024. The benefits will also apply in 2025.
OP joined the Euribor Panel
OP Corporate Bank plc became a member of the Panel, which contributes to the setting of the Euribor. OP Corporate Bank will add a new element to the Panel's membership, which previously included no Nordic banks. The Euribor (Euro Interbank Offered Rate) is the reference interest rate at which European banks can borrow euros on the money market on an unsecured basis. In Finland, the Euribor is mainly used as a reference rate for home loans, for example. The Euribor is administered by the European Money Markets Institute (EMMI), which is in charge of the calculation principles and publication of reference rates.
OP is accelerating its pace in wealth management
OP Financial Group is seeking significant growth in saving and investment services. The new Wealth Management organisation started operating in April. The business is run by Hanna Porkka, Executive Vice President and a member of OP Cooperative's Executive Management Team.
At the end of December, OP had assets under management worth around 111 billion euros, and the mutual funds it manages had a total of over 1.4 million unitholders. In 2024, 360,000 customers made regular investments in funds. OP provides its customers with an extensive, high-quality and always up-to-date range of investment products and services which covers all key asset classes.
Personal assistant OP Aina
In June, OP launched OP Aina, the first financial service in Finland that utilises AI and alerts. The service is available in OP's digital channels, and it helps customers with their transactions around the clock, every day of the week.
For example, OP Aina notifies customers of tasks or other matters requiring their attention. Such alerts could include payments falling due, adjusting the security limits for a card payment or potential misuse of a debit card. By the end of the year, customers had already used OP Aina more than 6.25 million times.
OP Financial Group supports children and young people
In the summer of 2024, OP Financial Group provided more than 2,000 young people with a summer job through its "Summer jobs paid for by OP" campaign. During the year, OP cooperative banks donated funding to non-profit associations for hiring young people aged from 15 to 17 for two weeks.
Pohjola Insurance initiated cooperation with MIELI Mental Health Finland's Mental Wellbeing for Young Athletes project to promote the wellbeing of young people alongside its sports federation partners. In addition, Pohjola Insurance continued supporting young peoples' dreams as a partner of the Children and Youth Foundation's Dreams project.
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* OP Financial Group's Annual Report was republished on 24 March 2025 at op.fi. A graph on page 652 was corrected in the Remuneration Report for Governing Bodies.
