(February 3, 1999) - Nokia and MeritaNordbanken have agreed to cooperate in the development of wireless banking services. The banking and financial industry services using GSM phones will be based on Nokia's Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology. The new technology developed for digital mobile networks and phones makes it possible to offer bank customers entirely new forms of service.

Nokia's goal is to get the WAP technology intended for wireless data transfer and the implementation based on it into global use. Banking services and electronic commerce are particularly well suited for this technology.

"Nokia believes strongly in the opportunities afforded by WAP in the development of wireless services. The MeritaNordbanken cooperation is an indication of the enthusiastic reception WAP is encountering among companies operating on consumer markets," says Nokia Executive Vice President Pekka Ala-Pietil�.

MeritaNordbanken has offered electronic home banking services in Finland since 1982 and is the leading bank in the industry. Every month MeritaNordbanken's electronic banking service is accessed a total of two million times and nearly 40 percent of its active accounts have signed up for the service.

Virtually all banking industry services, including electronic commerce payments, network invoicing and authorization service, are available through electronic banking. The newest service introduced is the balance and transaction service based on GSM short messaging technology; within one year, use of the service has grown to 200,000 transactions monthly.

"We are working with Nokia to develop financial services based on advanced technology for mobile phones. It is important for the bank to base its service on pioneering technology. That's why this cooperation with Nokia holds such important significance," says Bo Harald, Executive Vice President of MeritaNordbanken's electronic banking services.

Nokia is a founding member in the WAP Forum, which will provide an open environment for creating Internet services and applications for digital mobile phones and other wireless terminals. WAP is a global protocol that specifies the wireless access to real-time data. WAP specifications enable terminal equipment manufacturers, operators, content providers and application developers to offer mutually compatible products and services.

Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks including related customer services. Nokia also supplies solutions and products for fixed and wireless datacom, as well as multimedia terminals and computer monitors. In 1998, net sales totaled FIM 79.2 billion (USD 15.7 billion, EUR 13.3 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on five European Stock Exchanges and on the New York Stock Exchange (NOK.A), has sales in over 130 countries and employs more than 44,000 people worldwide.



Contact information:
Nokia Ventures Organization
Pertti Lounamaa, Vice President, Nokia Wireless Software Solutions, tel. +358-9-180 71

MeritaNordbanken
Executive Vice President Bo Harald, tel. +358-9-165 42256
Vice President Matti Karvonen, tel. +358-9-165 25880
http://www.meritanordbanken.com