The Investments alternative on the WAP Solo service menu allows the user to give trading instructions and view portfolio and quotation data. The service is available to all users holding Solo identification codes and a portfolio agreement. Portfolio agreements are currently held by almost 40,000 customers. A WAP terminal can also be used for following account and credit card transactions, account-to-account transfers, bill payments, customer mail and reading short news items from the bank. It also enables shopping at MeritaNordbankens virtual marketplace, the Solo Mall, already familiar to Internet banking customers.

MeritaNordbanken, Europes leading provider of Internet banking services, already has 1.1 million customers handling banking business electronically. The bank believes that share trading via WAP-phones will become increasingly popular since already the share of Internet trading orders in Finland has occasionally exceeded 60 per cent. In March WAP-account and payment services will also be available in Sweden.

MeritaNordbanken, the leading bank group in the Nordic region, provides a broad spectrum of financial products and services to more than 6.5 million private individuals and 400,000 companies and institutions. The Groups service network comprises some 800 branch offices in Finland and Sweden, over 1,000 Swedish post offices and a wide range of effective telephone and Internet banking facilities. More than a million customers use the Groups electric banking services. Household savings under management total almost EUR 45 billion. Outside the Nordic region, the Group has a presence in 19 countries.

Further information and the address to the Solo services for the WAP phone www.merita.fi. You can contact the service by making a data call by your WAP phone to Meritas address. The address must be set in the service data of your phone before the first connection. You can familiarize yourself with the service by using our test codes, customer number 123456 and password 1111.

For further information, please contact:
Sirkka Wright
Vice President
Electronic Banking Services
MeritaNordbanken Group
tel.: +358 9 165 25861, mobile phone: +358 50 3509715
telefax: +358 9 165 25144
e-mail: [email protected]

Ari Myllyl�
Project manager
Network banking systems
MeritaNordbanken Group
tel.: +358 9 165 25487, mobile phone: +358 50 324 1213
telefax: +358 9 163 25487
e-mail: [email protected]