Banks across the Nordic region are facing a growing challenge as fraud attempts continue to rise while regulatory obligations become more complex. In response, many institutions are increasingly exploring Cards-as-a-Service (CaaS) platforms as a way to strengthen fraud defenses while reducing the operational and compliance burden associated with running traditional card infrastructure.
Fraud prevention remains a significant concern for financial institutions across the region. Norwegian banks managed to block approximately NOK 2.3 billion in attempted fraud during the past year, highlighting the scale of criminal activity targeting digital banking channels. In Denmark, banks stopped a record DKK 500 million in fraudulent transactions during 2025. While the number of customers affected by fraud declined slightly compared with the previous year, the financial value of attacks remains substantial.
For banks, the challenge extends beyond detecting fraudulent transactions. Financial institutions must also comply with a growing list of regulatory requirements, including standards such as PCI DSS, DORA, and the upcoming PSD3 framework. Meeting these obligations often requires large investments in technology, security infrastructure and ongoing compliance monitoring.
At the same time, traditional banks are facing increasing competition from fintech companies that are able to launch new payment and card services quickly without the burden of legacy systems. This has forced many established institutions to rethink how they manage card programmes and payment infrastructure.
Cards-as-a-Service platforms are emerging as a potential solution to these challenges. Rather than operating their own card management systems internally, banks can partner with specialised providers that handle much of the operational, security and regulatory responsibilities involved in running card programmes.
Under the CaaS model, multiple banks operate on a shared technology platform. This allows the cost of maintaining security systems, regulatory compliance and infrastructure upgrades to be distributed across multiple institutions, making the overall cost structure more predictable for each participating bank.
In addition to cost efficiencies, these platforms allow banks to launch new products more quickly. Services such as virtual cards, multi-function payment cards, card personalisation and digital wallet integrations can be introduced without the need for extensive internal development.
Tieto Banktech, one of the companies providing these services, works with more than 250 financial institutions across Europe and other markets. Its CaaS platform currently supports over 14 million active cards and processes millions of transactions each day while maintaining extremely high levels of system availability.
The company also highlights the ability to migrate existing card portfolios from legacy systems onto modern platforms with minimal disruption. In some cases, hundreds of thousands of cards can be reissued within weeks while maintaining a very low error rate during the transition process.
For banks operating in an increasingly competitive payments environment, the ability to modernise card infrastructure quickly while maintaining strong security controls has become a strategic priority. As fraud threats grow and regulatory expectations continue to expand, CaaS platforms are increasingly being viewed as a practical way for banks to remain both secure and innovative.
What this means for the industry
- Fraud is driving infrastructure change. Rising digital fraud is forcing banks to invest heavily in payment security systems.
- Compliance costs are increasing. Regulations such as PCI DSS, DORA and PSD3 are adding significant operational expenses for financial institutions.
- Banks are moving away from legacy card platforms. Cards-as-a-Service allows institutions to modernise infrastructure without building new systems internally.
- Fintech competition is accelerating change. Traditional banks are adopting flexible platforms to compete with faster-moving digital payment providers.
