Nordea's formation

Nordea’s family tree includes some 300 banks founded from the 1820s onwards. Through mergers the number decreased to 80 banks in the 1970s and 30 banks in the 1980s. In the 1990s there were four major banks left to form the new bank group:

• Nordbanken in Sweden
• Merita Bank in Finland
• Unibank in Denmark
• Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse in Norway.

Financial services in the Nordic and Baltic countries

These banks merged and all operations have been conducted under the brand name of Nordea since December 2001. A few years later Nordea’s operations in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia reached a significant size, making Nordea an important bank also in these countries.

The banks forming Nordea shared the vision of being the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Improved customer and employee satisfaction as well as shareholder value was created through significant structural changes and merger processes, continued business focus and growth in strategic areas.

Making it possible 

Nordea was about creating new possibilities. The possibilities of providing better financial solutions – better for the customers, better than the competitors’, better than before the merger – and to do this at lower cost and higher quality. This ambition is captured in the Group’s mission statement: Making it possible.

Nordic + ideas = Nordea

In the Nordic countries people are similar enough to be able to cooperate, different enough to benefit from learning from each other and numerous enough to provide an interesting home market. We share Nordic values such as freedom and equality, we care for the environment and follow the Nordic heritage of breaking new ground, Nordic + ideas = Nordea.

Nordea today