Become a member

Content of this page:

1. Who can become a member?
2. Who are not eligible to a Student card?
3. Membership fee
4. Tips how to fill the application form
5. About delivery of AMK student card and Slice digital student card
6. Deferring or resigning of membership
7. Terms of membership

Hey HAMK student, join your own Student Union, HAMKO! Student Union membership is a way of influencing things that are relevant to you, namely your studies and student life at HAMK. As a member, you can stand for election and vote in the Council of Representatives elections and apply for the Student Union’s Board.

By joining HAMKO, you will receive a student card, which is a proof of student status and gives you access to thousands of student discounts and benefits all over Finland. In addition to the plastic AMK student card, HAMKO members have access to Slice digital student card. So one could say you can get two cards in price of one!

1. Who can become a member?

All HAMK students studying for a degree, and who are present and studying in education leading to a degree can join HAMKO. Including

• Full-time students,
• Part-time students,
• Exchange students, and
• Master’s degree students.

Study Path Students

As a study path student, you can become a member too. They get a special green Study Path student card in Slice.fi app. Study path students card does not include Kela, VR and Matkahuolto discounts. However, you can use all the thousands of student benefits compiled by Slice. And HAMKO’s member discounts, of course! Read more about a study path student membership from here.

2. Who are not eligible to a Student card?

The conditions for obtaining a student card are not met if you are studying in

• a professional teacher education,
• a contract training,
• an open university of applied sciences or
• if you are completing an education package that only consists of parts of a degree.

In these cases unfortunately you are not eligible for a student card. If your studies are such that the end result is not an Bachelor or Masters’ degree, you will unfortunately not be able to join the student union.

3. Membership fee

Membership fee for new members includes the cost of manufacturing the student card, joining fee and membership for the chosen period. The membership fee can be paid for at one time for the whole study period or in several installments. If you are planning to graduate sooner than the target date, it is advisable to pay the membership fee for the period that you are sure you will be studying at HAMK.

You can join at any point in the current semester, but the price for that semester is always the same, regardless of which point the semester you join.

Note! All memberships include automatically the physical card, the membership without a physical card is not available.

Until end of the year 2024:

Membership periods	Price for a new member
Semester (autumn or spring)	€28
1 year	€41
1,5 years	€54
2 years	€67
2,5 years	€80
3 years	€93
3,5 years	€106
4 years	€119

From January 1st, 2025:

Membership periods	Price for a new member
Semester (autumn or spring)	€29
1 year	€42
1,5 years	€55
2 years	€68
2,5 years	€81
3 years	€94
3,5 years	€107
4 years	€120

4. Tips for an application form

If you need step-by-step guide, read them from here.

1. You need to give your HAMK email address (@student.hamk.fi). If you haven’t activated your HAMK username and email yet, you can do it online in HAMK Identity Service in page id.hamk.fi. If you have problems activating your username, please contact Service Desk.
2. You will receive a code in your student mail with which you can log in to the form.
3. Is the student number mandatory? Yes it is. Your student number has 7 digits, and you can find it in e.g. Pakki. Note that student number is different than a study number.
4. Your names needs to match to the ones in HAMK system.
5. Is the personal identification number mandatory? Not technically, but your date of birth is.
6. Remember to choose business language. Otherwise you will get all messages in Finnish.
7. Remember to give Slice permission. Slice receives information that you are a member and entitled to a student card. After giving permission, you can use the digital student card when your membership starts.
8. Pay attention to the photo for the student card: A good guide to choosing a photo is that it does not have to be an official passport photo, but it should be similar to that. Therefore, the image should be taken from the front and your face should be fully visible (make sure, for example, that your forehead is not cropped out). You need to be easily identifiable, so don’t put on sunglasses, hat or hood.
9. Payments are made via Paytrail, which means you can use online bank, Mobilepay or, for example, Visa or MasterCard.

Of these sample photos, the face photo on the left is excellent for a card.

5. About delivery of AMK student card and Slice digital student card

The delivery time for AMK student card is about 1-2 weeks, but in August and September it is possible that the delivery times are slightly longer than usual since there are so many cards ordered. Remember, however, that you can start using Slice digital student card earlier.

When your AMK student card arrives from the print, it will be delivered to your campus, and you will receive a notification (from the local student association) when your card is available for pickup. In the Hämeenlinna University Cantre, the card can be picked up from the HAMKO office.

Part-time students’ cards are not automatically sent to the campus, but they first receive a notification of the card’s arrival by email to student mail.

How to start the use of the Slice digital student card?

As a member of HAMKO, you are entitled to a digital Slice student card, which you can use to redeem thousands of valuable student benefits across Finland by Finland’s largest student benefit service.

This is how you use Slice student card:

1. Become a member of HAMKO.
2. Give permission to Slice to transfer data using the sign-up form.
3. Wait until you receive an email notification in your student mail that your membership has been approved.
4. You will receive your Slice activation credentials by email to your HAMK student mail within 1–2 working days.
5. Download Slice.fi app from your app store.
6. Use your credentials to log in to the Slice.fi app and give the app all the permissions it requests.

If you can’t find Slice.fi app from your app store, check that the country is Finland in the app store settings.

You are already a member? You need to make the following two steps once:

1. Give Slice a permission to get a information that you are a member. Go to a member form, choose Update your information and give the permission.
2. Add your student number to the same form if it is missing from your information. (You can find your student number in Pakki. The student number consists of 7 digits. Note that is the same number than Study ID, which is a longer series of numbers.)

Problems with Slice? Here you find answers to most frequent questions.

6. Deferring or Resigning of the Membership

Membership of an absent student may be deferred until they return to their studies. Referring must inform to the student union before the absence period. Read more about deferring your membership here.

If your studies end earlier than your membership, read instructions on how to proceed on this page.

7. Terms of Membership

This info will be updated.

If you have questions about joining HAMKO, please contact us by email hamko@hamko.fi. We are happy to help!