Back in the day, signing up for an online service used to be one of the slower parts of getting started. Filling in a registration form, choosing a password, verifying an email address, and sometimes completing an identity check could all be required before a user could access the platform. In big parts of the world, this process is still very similar to that of a decade ago. In Finland and much of the Nordic region, it has been significantly streamlined.
The model: Pay N Play
Pay N Play is a registration model that has been gaining traction across Nordic markets. Instead of filling out a registration form every time, users can log in with their online banking credentials - the same login they use for normal everyday banking.
When making a first transaction, a user profile can be automatically created in the background. There is no need for a separate signup process, while the user's age and identity can be verified through the existing banking infrastructure. This also makes subsequent account management much easier. Traditional registration platforms often require additional verification steps before users can access certain account functions.
Why Finland in particular
Finland is particularly well suited for this model because of its standardized online authentication systems, which have been established for several years. The strong infrastructure was initially developed by Finnish banks for secure daily banking tasks. Over time, the same authentication layer was adopted across government services, healthcare portals, and property transactions.
Digital platforms operating in the Finnish market were therefore able to make use of an existing and trusted system and integrate it into their own services.
"Finnish users expect a level of speed and simplicity that a lot of international platforms still don't come close to," said Elias Lehto, the editor-in-chief for Finnish digital platform Kasinopartio.com. "The account isn't something you set up separately anymore. It's created when you complete that first transaction through your bank. That single change removed much of the friction that used to sit between deciding to use a service and actually accessing it."
What it looks like in practice
The scale of the shift is easy to see in the growing adoption of streamlined authentication systems among digital platforms active in Finland. These services can offer extensive libraries of content and features while relying on a registration process that requires considerably less manual input from users.
The same trend can be seen in account incentives and introductory offers. Instead of complicated conditions and lengthy activation processes, platforms increasingly focus on straightforward benefits, simple terms, and features that can be accessed with minimal additional steps.
What global operators can take from it
For digital platforms and service providers outside the Nordics, the lesson isn't necessarily about copying Pay N Play, since it is built on banking infrastructure that is not available in every country.
Instead, the underlying principle is universal: Make every step of the customer journey as smooth and simple as possible. Every additional form, verification step, password, or manual process can introduce unnecessary friction. Removing those barriers can create a faster and more intuitive experience for users.
As digital services become increasingly integrated with established financial and authentication infrastructure, the Nordic approach demonstrates how existing systems can be used to make online registration more seamless without requiring users to create an entirely separate identity for every new platform.
This article was written in cooperation with Kaboozt