Banking

Steps

1. Choose a bank and ask it for the list of documents. Lifeindenmark generally mentions: ID document, employment contract or invitation letter, and tax card (optional according to that page). For the basic account, the bank can only refuse in the cases provided for by law (§ 11): you already have a payment account in Denmark, you have no genuine interest in opening this account, you have committed offences against the bank, your behaviour has been offensive or disturbing to its customers or staff, or opening it would break the anti-money-laundering law.
2. If the bank refuses, invoke the basic account. It must open a basic account for you or refuse in writing, with reasons, no later than 10 working days after your complete file. The refusal must state how to refer the matter to the financial complaints board (Det finansielle ankenævn) or the supervisory authority (Finanstilsynet).
3. Obtain your CPR number (see DK-NIF-TOUS-001): without it, no NemKonto.
4. Designate your NemKonto: by asking your Danish bank (not all of them do it), online with MitID on the NemKonto self-service (including for a foreign account, "Foreign NemKonto" tab), or by paper form if you do not have MitID. The account can be with a Danish bank, an EU or EEA bank, a Faroese or Greenlandic bank, or even a credit institution outside the EU and the EEA, if the institution is under financial supervision (some payment and e-money institutions are also accepted).
5. Order your MitID (digital identity): many banks offer it at the branch, otherwise the Borgerservice (see DK-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001).
6. Activate mobile payment if you wish: MobilePay is widely used in Denmark (private app, linked to your account and card).
7. To buy a home, financing goes through a mortgage loan (realkreditlån, up to 80% of the value of a main residence) and a down payment of about 5%: see DK-LOGEMENT-TOUS-002.

Documents

• Bank account: ID document, employment contract or invitation letter, tax card (depending on the bank), CPR number if already assigned. US citizens may have to provide their US social security number.
• NemKonto on a foreign account: English form from nemkonto.dk (name, CPR, address in Denmark, IBAN and BIC), signed in front of two witnesses, a notary or a lawyer (same dates), with a copy of a valid ID document; sent via NemKonto Support's contact form or by post.

Costs and timelines

• NemKonto: free. The authorities can only pay money into it; they see neither your balance nor your transactions.
• Basic account: the basic services (deposits, withdrawals, payment card, direct debits, transfers) are free or subject to "reasonable fees", set taking into account income in Denmark and the average fees charged. The bank cannot make it conditional on other compulsory products.
• Closure of a basic account by the bank: only for grounds listed by law (illegal use, inactivity of more than 24 months, loss of the right of residence in the EU, another account opened in Denmark…), with at least 2 months' notice as a general rule.
• Euro payments: a Danish bank cannot charge more for a euro payment to another EU country than for a domestic payment in kroner. Conversion fees must be disclosed to you before a card purchase.
• Online designation or foreign account: an activation letter with a code is sent by post to your CPR address (neither by email nor by Digital Post), generally within 10 to 14 working days; the code is valid for 60 days, and the NemKonto is only active once the code has been entered.

Common pitfalls

• A refusal because you do not (yet) live in Denmark. Finanstilsynet reminds that the absence of a home in Denmark is not enough to refuse a basic account to an EU citizen.
• A wrong CPR address. The NemKonto activation code is sent to that address: check it before any change.
• Different requirements depending on the source. Lifeindenmark states elsewhere that the tax card is needed to open an account; the NemKonto page says it is optional. Prepare it anyway.
• Relying on cash. Many shops operate mainly by card and MobilePay (see DK-VIE-TOUS-001).
• Faroe Islands and Greenland: outside the EU; an account with a Faroese or Greenlandic bank can serve as a NemKonto, but the right to a basic account described here applies to mainland Denmark.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein included): right to a basic account, even without a home in Denmark.
• Swiss citizens: the text covers countries with which the Union has concluded an agreement in the financial field; the right to a basic account covers consumers legally resident in the EU (Directive 2014/92/EU): the situation of Swiss citizens is not specified, ask the bank or Finanstilsynet.
• British citizens (Scots included): the right to a basic account presupposes legal residence in an EU country (or in a country linked to the EU by a financial agreement); once your Danish residence is obtained, it applies. Without legal residence in the EU, the law does not give you this right.
• Everyone: you can keep your home-country account as your NemKonto (form for a foreign account), but a Danish account makes daily life simpler.