OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2010. Nordea Estonia and the banking group’s Russian subsidiary signed a cooperation agreement as a result of which Nordea Estonia’s private customers will be able to withdraw cash from Russian ATMs at no service charge, reported the press-centre of Nordea.

All private customers who are Nordea Maestro debit card holders or hold a MasterCard Standard, Gold, or TopeltNeto credit card can withdraw cash in Russia at no additional charge.
The current service charge – 30 kroons plus 2.5% of the amount withdrawn – will remain in effect for other card types and legal persons.

Nordea Bank’s head of Estonian retail banking Olavi Pakkonen says the change is aimed at making life more convenient and secure for customers and that it is designed above all for people from Estonia who visit Russia frequently. “Although card payment possibilities are broadening constantly in Russia, one cannot yet get by without cash in so large a country. For this reason, many travellers to Russia carry cash during the entire trip, which entails additional security risks. Nordea customers can now withdraw additional cash just as cost-effectively and conveniently as in Estonia,” said Pakkonen.

Nordea Bank offers its customers free cash withdrawals in other countries that neighbour Estonia – Latvia, Lithuania, the Nordics and Poland. Estonia has over 100 ATMs in the joint Nordea and Sampo network of cash points. In the Baltic states, Nordea customers have a total of 385 ATMs at their service.

Nordea is the largest bank in the Nordic countries with over 10 million customers and nearly 1400 branch offices, and with 5.3 million e-customers holds a leading position in online banking. The prestigious business magazine Global Finance has selected Nordea Bank as the one of the most trustworthy banks in the world. Nordea Bank is the only one of Estonia’s financial institutions to be listed among the world’s top 25 most secure banks.

For a list of Nordea’s Russian ATM locations, see:
http://www.nordea.ru/about/contacts/atms.php.