Today on 14 December 2015, OP Financial Group received a request for clarification from the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority relating to OP Financial Group`s customer benefits programme and operations in retail banking services and the non-life insurance market.
If P&C Insurance Company Ltd that is behind the request for clarification claims that OP holds a dominant market position in retail banking services. Furthermore, the company accuses OP of abusing its dominant market position by tying up retail banking services and non-life insurance services and offering non-life products below cost.
- Our market shares in various fields of retail banking vary between 20 and 38%. The allegations of OP`s market dominance are unfounded. The Finnish retail banking markets have two large services providers whose market shares do not differ from each other fundamentally, says Reijo Karhinen, President and Group Executive Chairman.
In its operations, OP complies with Finnish and European competitions laws and denies the competitor`s accusations.
- In a good spirit of cooperation, we want to provide the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority with all the information it requires and to let the Authority get on with the job.
The request for clarification impugns the corporate form based on customers as owners because, for example, the company cannot be taken over due to its ownership structure.
- This is understandably a fundamental issue for us. Finland is the world`s top in terms of cooperative business. Loyalty benefits offered to owner-customers form the essence of a cooperative business that we will continue to hold on to in future too, says Karhinen.
- As a Group owned by customers, we exist to serve them. According to our mission, the beneficiaries of our success are both our owner-customers and operating environment. Meanwhile, our business is efficient and profitably in both our banking and non-life insurance, points out Karhinen.
Industry players have different strategies
From the perspective of competition, it is only good that the financial sector has different corporate forms. In the request for clarification, OP`s extensive branch network is regarded as unfair competition.
- We do not consider our extensive branch network primarily a competitive weapon but the financial group owned by its customers wants to be present in the whole of Finland, points out Karhinen.
For more information and any requests for interviews, please contact:
OP Communications, media contacts, tel. +358 (0)50 523 9904, viestinta@op.fi