The enhanced cooperation between S Group and LocalTapiola, which was announced in early summer, has now been confirmed. On Monday, the parties signed agreements to begin strategic and bonus cooperation. The agreement on the merger between S Bank Ltd and LocalTapiola Bank Ltd, which was concluded at the end of May, will enter into force at the same time.

Preparations for strategic cooperation will begin in January 2014, the new S Bank will begin operating in early May 2014 and bonus cooperation will be launched at the beginning of June.

"Cooperation provides a good basis for developing competitive service models for the common customers of both Groups in order to combine retail and financial services into a functional and competitive package," says Jari Sundström, Group Director, LocalTapiola.

Cooperation areas include the financial and insurance services offered to customers, distribution channel cooperation, compensation and other acquisitions, as well as investments in business premises and real estate.

Bonus cooperation to start in summer, bank operations to start at the beginning of May

Bonus cooperation means that customer-owners will receive bonuses for money spent on LocalTapiola's insurances. Bonus cooperation and related customer communications will be launched next June. The common customers of LocalTapiola Group and S Group will see tangible benefits in the form of an S Bonus Visa card, which will bear the LocalTapiola logo.

It has been confirmed that the merger between S Bank and LocalTapiola Bank will become effective on 1 May 2014. The name of the new bank will be S Bank Ltd. The merger does not require customers to take any action; existing customer relationships will remain unchanged. All valid customer contracts will be automatically transferred to the new S Bank.

"The new S Bank will be able to offer a more comprehensive product range to the customer-owners of the cooperatives and, correspondingly, LocalTapiola's customers will gain access to a wider range of banking services within a significantly more extensive service network," says Jari Annala, Chairman of the Board of Directors, S Bank.

Additional information:

Harri Miettinen, Senior Vice President, SOK, tel. +358 (0)10 768 0230

Jari Annala, Chairman of the Board of Directors, S Bank, tel. +358 (0)10 768 2040

Jari Sundström, Group Director, LocalTapiola, +358 9 453 2845