Victoria from Ukraine dreams about working in a bank

Victoria is one of 40 refugees who has recently participated in a pilot project in Hønefoss in Norway where Nordea has collaborated with the learning centre for adults as a part of Nordea’s refugee programme. She has lived in Hønefoss for nearly 14 months after fleeing to Norway because of the war in her home country Ukraine.

 “I worked in a bank in Ukraine before the war started. My dream is to get the same type of job in Norway. I’m learning Norwegian now to qualify for this type of jobs,” says Victoria.

The participants were all Ukrainian refugees living in the municipality of Ringerike. They all have a Norwegian bank account, but none of them have permanent jobs yet. The training programme included information about how Norwegian banks work, how to set up a sole proprietorship, loan requirements, labour law and protection from financial crime. The course is called “Økonomipeil: Ny i Norge – Bank og økonomi.” (New in Norway – Bank and economy) and Nordea plans to roll out the course throughout Norway this year.

It all starts with a bank ID

Hanne Sommerstad, a Hønefoss local, was one of the course leaders. She has worked as both DNB’s and Nordea’s local branch manager in Hønefoss, has worked with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering in Nordea’s Business Risk Management unit and felt equipped for the task. During the course Hanne Sommerstad wondered if the participants had BankID. Half of them raised their hand, while the rest answered “no” or shook their head.

“BankID is your digital passport. It’s used as ID and to sign documents online, and you need it to get access to online banking. Make sure you get BankID, but remember that it’s strictly personal. Don’t share it with anyone,” is Hanne Sommerstad's advice to the refugees who during the coursed learned how to navigate daily banking tasks, but also potential risks.

Hanne Sommersted led the course together with Bente Rasmussen, Head of Community Engagement in Norway, and Derya Incedursun, who is lawyer and our Norwegian private economist.

The participants had many questions when private economist and lawyer went through rules relating to labour law, such as absence due to illness, the right to holiday pay and provisions regarding working hours. Victoria found it quite informative:

“The part about mortgage and labour law is especially important in the phase many of us are in now. I would have liked to get even more information, for instance about the possibility of getting a car loan. Many of us would like to buy a car in order to get a job, but in our situation the used cars market is our best option. It would be nice to know about our options,” she says.

Engaging where we can

The refugee programme is one of the options for employees to spend their two days of voluntary work every year, and is building on our community engagement within financial skills. It’s building upon the already existing Økonomipeil programme for schools and educational institutions, explains Randi Marjamaa, Country Senior Executive in Norway.

“The war in Ukraine affects all of us, and it's natural to look for ways we can help. For a long time, Nordea has offered a training programme in personal finances to schools. Now we're launching a training programme for refugees in Norway. Some of the material is the same, but we’ve added a few topics intended for adults with a foreign background. It's all about engaging in the community where we can,”