Banking

Steps

1. Get your personnummer first by registering in the population register (see SE-SEJOUR-TOUS-001 and SE-NIF-TOUS-001). With only a samordningsnummer (coordination number), each bank's policy decides: ask it.
2. Book an appointment at a bank with your identity document, your employment contract or proof of income, and be ready to explain where your money comes from and where you pay your taxes. Answer within the deadlines: without this information, the bank may refuse the account.
3. If you are refused an ordinary account, ask for a basic payment account. It lets you deposit and withdraw money, receive your salary and pay (direct debits, card in shops and online), with a payment card and, where it exists, online banking; an overdraft or a loan is not necessarily included. The bank cannot refuse it because you live in another EU country; it can refuse it for money-laundering reasons or if your identity cannot be verified.
4. Order BankID from your bank once the account is open (see SE-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001): you will use it for taxes, the social insurance agency, online banking and Swish.
5. Activate Swish from your bank: the service is linked to your Swedish account and your phone number (practical operation: ask your bank).
6. If you are refused, ask for the explanation in writing, then contact the bank's complaints officer (klagomålsansvarig) and the Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (ARN, the national board for consumer disputes). The Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå (consumer advice bureau) gives independent advice.

Documents

• Passport or national ID card that is valid.
• Personnummer (or, depending on the bank, samordningsnummer).
• Employment contract, payslips or proof of resources.
• Proof of the origin of funds if you transfer a large sum (savings, sale of a property…).
• Tax number from your country of origin if the bank asks where you are tax resident (the request depends on the bank).

Costs and timelines

• Account maintenance fees: set by each bank. For a basic account, annual fees are allowed as long as they remain reasonable; the bank gives you an information document on fees before opening, then a statement of fees at least once a year.
• Payments in euros: Sweden is not in the euro area (its currency is the krona, SEK), but your Swedish bank cannot charge more for a payment in euros to another EU country than for an equivalent domestic payment in kronor.
• Account in another EU country: an employer, an authority or a supplier that accepts SEPA transfers and direct debits from a domestic account cannot refuse your IBAN because it is located in another EU country. Useful if you keep your home-country account in euros.
• Paying at the counter: many banks charge a lot for paying bills at a branch (Informationsverige).
• Time to open: varies by bank and by checks.

Common pitfalls

• The personnummer – account – BankID circle. Without a personnummer, the account is difficult; without an account, no BankID or Swish. In the meantime, keep your home-country account (SEPA transfers) and use Freja+ for online procedures (see SE-ADMINISTRATIONS-TOUS-001).
• Lending your BankID. Never approve a BankID login or payment that you did not start yourself, even at the request of a "bank adviser" or a buyer: Informationsverige advises against using BankID when someone else asks you to, for example after a call or a message on social media. For Swish, check that the money is going to the person you are dealing with.
• Not answering the bank's questions. Know-your-customer questionnaires are mandatory; without answers, the bank may block or close the account.
• Unpaid debts. After reminders and a formal notice, an unpaid bill may be passed to the Kronofogden (the state enforcement agency); a payment default entry, kept by the credit agencies, stays for at least three years and can make a loan, a rental or an instalment purchase harder (Informationsverige).
• Paying in cash. Many shops and transport services accept only card or Swish: always keep a bank card (common practice, varies by place).

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA and Swiss citizens: right to the basic payment account (Finansinspektionen: consumers living in Sweden or elsewhere in the EEA). For Swiss citizens who do not live in the EEA, the Finansinspektionen does not mention them: ask the bank.
• Nordic citizens: same rules; BankID and other Nordic e-identifications are not interchangeable (check service by service).
• British citizens (Scots included): once resident in Sweden, they benefit from the right to a basic account like any EEA resident; they no longer benefit from the European rules on payments in euros from a British account, because the United Kingdom is no longer in the EEA.