Bank card limits

A bank card limit tells you how much you can spend or withdraw in cash with the card in a day. The bank sets a default limit, and the customer can usually change it in the mobile or online bank. This guide gathers the limits the banks publish, the EU contactless rules, the new rules for instant transfers and the numbers to call when a card is lost. The figures come from the comparison data and the banks' own instructions.

Card usage limit and withdrawal limit by bank

The table shows the default and maximum limits the banks publish themselves. When a bank does not publish a value, the cell shows a dash. Do not read a dash as no limit: a limit exists, but you can see it only in the mobile or online bank.

A dash means the bank does not publish the value. The default is the limit the bank sets; the maximum is the highest limit the customer can set. Checked 16 October 2026. Most domestic banks (OP, POP Bank, Säästöpankki, OmaSp, Aktia, Ålandsbanken) do not publish default or maximum card limits in euros. The limits are set by the customer or agreed per contract, and they are visible only in the mobile or online bank.

How to change your card limits

Changing limits usually works straight away and free of charge. A card's security limits are not the same as the account's daily limit: a card limit restricts the use of one card, while the account limit restricts payments from the whole account.

Contactless limit

The contactless limit is the maximum, set by EU rules, for how much you can pay without a PIN. A bank may set stricter limits, and terminals ask for the PIN from time to time for security reasons.

Under Article 11 of the EU delegated regulation (EU) 2018/389, a payment service provider may skip strong customer authentication (the PIN) for a contactless payment when a single payment is at most €50 and the total of contactless payments since the last strong authentication is at most €150, or there have been at most five consecutive contactless payments. The regulation is an exemption, not an obligation: a bank may use stricter limits, and the payment terminal may ask for the PIN earlier. Phone and watch payments are authenticated on the device, so they have no €50 contactless limit.

• Single contactless payment without a PIN: up to €50
• Total of contactless payments without a PIN: up to €150
• Consecutive contactless payments without a PIN: up to 5

Sources: EUR-Lex: asetus (EU) 2018/389, 11 artikla; Danske Bank: usein kysyttyä kortin käytöstä.

Instant transfer limit and payee verification

Instant transfers and payee verification were introduced in the euro area in stages. The instant transfer limit is often a separate setting that the customer can change.

Under the euro instant payments regulation (EU) 2024/886, euro-area banks had to start receiving instant payments by 9 January 2025 and to start sending them and offering payee verification (Verification of Payee) by 9 October 2025. In payee verification, the payer's bank compares the account number (IBAN) and the payee's name before the payment is approved, and the result is shown as a notice: match, partial match, no match or verification not possible. If the payer approves the payment despite the warning, the banks state that they are not liable for any loss. The regulation sets no euro upper limit for instant payments, but at the customer's request the bank must offer the option to set a separate maximum amount for instant payments, either per day or per transaction. That is why many banks now have a separate instant payment limit.

• Receiving instant payments: by 9 January 2025 at the latest
• Sending instant payments: by 9 October 2025 at the latest
• Payee check (Verification of Payee): by 9 October 2025 at the latest

A dash means the bank does not publish the value. The maximum instant payment limit can also be empty when the bank says there is no limit; the exact wording is in the bank's own instructions.

Sources: EUR-Lex: asetus (EU) 2024/886 euromääräisistä pikasiirroista; Danske Bank: euroalueen pikamaksuasetus astuu voimaan lokakuussa; Aktia: pikasiirto.

Account daily limits are becoming common

Several banks have introduced an account-level daily limit to prevent fraud. Check your own account's limit before a large payment so the payment does not get stuck behind the limit.

An account's daily limit is not the same as a card limit: it restricts payments and transfers leaving the account and, according to OP, also debit card payments. Account-level safety limits became more common in Finland in 2025-2026.

• OP (from 3 June 2026, default €10,000): OP made account safety limits mandatory for most personal customer accounts in 2026. If a customer with digital credentials had not set a limit by 3 June 2026, OP set it to the default value. For the accounts of customers without credentials the limit comes in November 2026. OP: tilien turvarajat (15.1.2026); OP Media: tilille tuli pakollinen turvaraja (29.5.2026)
• Nordea (from 2 March 2026): Nordea introduced a daily payment limit for all customers on 2 March 2026. Nordea: maksuraja
• Säästöpankki (from 1 August 2025): Säästöpankki added a daily usage limit alongside the per-payment limit in August 2025. Säästöpankki: muuta tilisi turvarajoja helposti (27.10.2025)

The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanssivalvonta) recommends safety limits for all accounts.

Sources: OP: tilien turvarajat (15.1.2026).

Blocking a card: numbers for a lost card

Block the card as soon as it is lost or stolen. Most banks' cards share a common blocking service, and some banks have their own number.

The shared card-blocking service of most Finnish banks is staffed around the clock. The number is used by at least Nordea, S-Bank, Säästöpankki banks, POP Bank, Oma Säästöpankki and Ålandsbanken. The shared number is 020 333, from abroad +358 20 333.

Practical order: first a temporary block in the mobile bank if you can get there straight away, otherwise call the card-blocking service. Nordea does not recommend closing the card in the mobile bank in an emergency, because it takes effect with a delay and cannot be undone. The card-blocking service never asks for your online banking credentials, the full card number or your PIN.

Sources: Nordea: kortin sulkeminen; S-Pankin korttiehdot; Säästöpankki: information for cardholders; POP Pankin yleiset korttiehdot; POP Pankki: etusivu (kortin sulkupalvelu; lisätty tarkistuksessa, numeroa ei löydy automaattihaulla); OmaSp:n yleiset korttiehdot 1.4.2026 alkaen; Ålandsbankenin Mastercard-ehdot; OP: report a lost or stolen card; Danske Bank: ohjeita korttimaksamiseen; Aktian korttiehdot 1.1.2025.

Cardholder liability

According to the banks' terms, the cardholder's liability for unauthorised use of the card before reporting it lost is at most €50, unless they acted intentionally or with gross negligence. This is taken from the card terms of S-Bank and OP; check the terms of other banks with the bank.

Sources: S-Pankin korttiehdot; OP:n yleiset korttiehdot.

Limits published by Danske Bank

Danske Bank has set ready-made limits on its cards and publishes them on its website, so you can read its limits directly.

Danske Bank has set ready-made limits on its cards: you can withdraw or deposit at most €3,500 in cash per day with the card, and the same €3,500 is the maximum for cash withdrawals over a rolling 30-day period (not a calendar month). The debit card purchase limit at payment terminals is €30,000 per day. The credit-side payment terminal limit is the available balance of the credit account. The customer can lower the limits; according to the bank, for example, the purchase limit can be raised temporarily for a larger purchase and restored afterwards.

The cash withdrawal limit can be lowered in the mobile bank: Cards > select the card > Card settings > Usage limits. The purchase limit is lowered through customer service. Country restriction and internet use are in the Cards section of the mobile bank. Changes are free of charge.

Sources: Kuinka varmistan turvallisen ja sujuvan korttimaksamisen? | Danske Bank; Usein kysyttyä kortin käytöstä | Danske Bank; Käteispalvelut ja käteisnostot | Danske Bank.

What should I do before a trip?

• Check the card's withdrawal limit and area of use in the mobile or online bank and raise the limit temporarily if needed.
• Save the blocking number on your phone before the trip.
• See also deposit guarantee, digital banks and the bank comparison.