S-Pankki – VALA’s Expertise Important in Testing the S-Pankki and Handelsbanken Migration
In short
On May 31, 2023, S-Pankki acquired Svenska Handelsbanken AB’s Finnish retail banking, asset management, and investment services businesses. The transaction was finalized on December 1, 2024, transferring around 100,000 personal customers and 200 employees from Handelsbanken to S-Pankki as planned.
The transferred loans were valued at approximately €2.5 billion, and deposits at €0.9 billion. Additionally, approximately €2 billion in assets under management moved to S-Pankki. As part of the deal, S-Pankki began offering funds from Handelsbanken Fonder AB. Customers who transitioned from Handelsbanken to S-Pankki gained access to their services, including accounts and cards.
VALA Group supported S-Pankki extensively in testing the migration. VALA experts, together with other professionals, ensured that testing for the migration was completed successfully.
“VALA’s experts brought valuable knowledge and experience in both quality assurance and executing the testing. Their consultants integrated seamlessly into our teams and even received positive feedback from the business side. This directly contributed to an almost error-free migration, positively impacting our brand and customer satisfaction. Since all this is tied into operational continuity, we’re truly glad the collaboration with VALA went so well.”
– Henri Tehilä, QA Manager, S-Pankki
Why did S-Pankki choose VALA?
VALA is one of Finland’s leading quality assurance providers, and thus naturally ranked high when S-Pankki was evaluating partners. Some VALA employees had already worked with S-Pankki before, which made selecting the first consultants easier. This laid a solid foundation for collaboration, and ultimately, eight VALA consultants worked on the migration in various quality assurance roles.
What did we do in practice?
VALA participated in testing all areas of the migration, from retail banking to asset management.
Specifically, we ensured that customer accounts, cards, loans, collaterals, and investments were successfully migrated to their new home – without forgetting data warehouses and regulatory reports. All VALA consultants participated in three deployment rehearsals, which simulated the final production rollout in production-like environments.
The importance of quality
The importance of quality in such a large-scale project cannot be overstated. When several different product and service entities transfer from one bank to another, the entire project becomes highly complex and demanding.
Naturally, the project came with its own twist, as it involved the accounts, cards, loans, and investments of millions of personal banking customers. Quite obviously, mistakes were not an option, and the importance of thorough testing and high quality was significant.” – Mika Suihkonen, QA Manager, VALA Group
S-Pankki
S-Pankki is a fully Finnish bank and part of the S Group. As a customer-owned bank, we offer more than just full banking services. Our mission is to make a slightly wealthier tomorrow possible for everyone. We support our customers in everyday life as well as during major life events. By combining the services of S Group and S-Pankki into the S-mobile app, we bring ease and added value to our customers’ daily lives.
