From my experience, I would say that in general Finland has a very modern, developed banking system.  I haven't seen a cheque since I moved here (thank the Lord), and you can handle most of your affairs electronically.  Personal service is not as consistent.

In general, over the counter service is pretty friendly and at the bank you also have access to an advisor.  The issue I encountered, however, was when checking with other banks about mortgage options.  Whereas my bank treated me really well, the same was not repeated when checking out with another.  Although I understand perfectly (especially with the current economic climate) why they would be cautious, some of the reactions from the bank representative puzzled me a little bit.

We were discussing our background and when we mentioned that I am also educated her answer was something along the lines of "Really?".  When she asked for my profession she was also rather sceptic, but the one that really made me unease about the whole deal was when she asked for my job title, as she suggested "So, are you an assistant?" which was completely out of line with what I had told her about my professional experience, meaning that basically she didn't believe anything I said, even though all of that is easily cross-referenceable, e.g. my income.

When I mentioned the issue to my mates, they suggested that I shouldn't have spoken Finnish to the person at all even though I'm fluent.  I wonder what kind of prejudices kicked in?