Nordea is to cut 6000 jobs as it continues the task of preparing the bank for a digital future.
The Swedish bank says as many as 2000 job cuts will fall among third party contractors with the rest spread across the bank. The slash and burn policy will result in a EUR150 million 'transformation charge' in the fourth quarter.
"We are almost two years into the transformation of Nordea," says CEO Casper von Koskull. "Since investments are starting to deliver, it is time to enter the next phase, in which we see that we can structurally bring down costs and increase efficiency."
Nordea has invested heavily in its digital transformation strategy, revamping its core banking system, partnering and investing in fintech startups and opening an API developer portal to reinvigorate front-end customer services.
The bank set up a Group Digital Unit in June last year and vowed to boost IT spending by 30-35% over the next four-to-five years.
Koskull says further costs will be incurred over the coming years with the spend on digital transformation recognised as running costs, to improve transparency.
"For 2018 we expect a total cost base, including transformation costs, of approximately EUR4.9 billion, which we expect to gradually decline to below EUR4.8 billion in 2021," he says.