Banking and paying in Sweden: the right to an account, and the key called BankID

Yes, you get a bank account in Sweden, and the law is on your side: a bank may not refuse a consumer legally resident in the European Economic Area a betalkonto med grundläggande funktioner, must decide on the application within ten banking days and must justify a refusal in writing with the route to appeal. What it costs is a reasonable fee the bank sets itself. The trap is not in the law but at the counter: banks may refuse if they cannot establish your identity, and that is exactly where a Dutch passport sometimes proves insufficient in Sweden. The account is moreover not the end point but the step up to BankID, without which Swedish life largely stays shut.

What does the law say, and where may the bank say no?

The Betaltjänstlagen lists what a basic account must at least do: open, hold and close; deposit money; withdraw cash at the counter and at machines throughout the EEA; and pay — direct debit, a debit card including online payments, and transfers including standing orders. The bank may not limit the number of times you use those services.

Rule	What the law says
Who	every consumer legally resident in the EEA
Deadline	the bank decides as soon as possible and at the latest within ten banking days
Refusal	immediately, in writing, free of charge, with the body where you can complain or have the decision reviewed
Cost	a reasonable fee, set by the bank

Finansinspektionen, the supervisor, adds the practice: banks may refuse or close an account citing the risk of money laundering, and the most common reason is that the bank cannot establish your identity — for instance because you have no approved identity document. The supervisor examined the four largest banks in 2025 and found they need to improve their work on this; in 2026 a broader examination follows. Anyone refused is therefore entitled to a letter, and with that letter to recourse.

Why Skatteverket's ID card is the key

The practical solution to the identity problem is Skatteverket's ID card: the identification every Swedish bank knows.

Skatteverket's ID card
Conditions	registered as resident in Sweden, a personnummer, at least 13 years old
Cost	400 kronor, paid in advance — the amount is not refunded on rejection
Application	in person at a service office, with the proof of payment
Delivery	about two weeks; you collect the card at the service office after a text message or letter

The ID card also carries an e-identification (from AB Svenska Pass), with which you can log in to government services before you have BankID.

The chain is strict in order. No personnummer, no ID card; no identification the bank trusts, no account; no account, no BankID. Anyone applying for an account on their passport alone may try — the law does not forbid the bank from accepting them — but plan on the route via the ID card and count on six to eight weeks from the report to Skatteverket. What waits on what is in personnummer and BankID.

What is BankID, and how do I get it?

BankID is the e-identification the banks issue, and it is the key to almost every login screen in Sweden. You order it from your own bank, as an app on your phone or tablet (mobilt BankID) or in other variants; how the order works differs per bank. Since 1 January 2026 state authorities must offer login with BankID and with Freja+, unless they have special reasons not to — Freja+ is thereby the private provider's alternative that works everywhere in government. And a third way is coming: the state has approved Sverige-id, an e-identification linked to the police's national ID card, planned for December 2026.

What do I do with my Dutch account?

Keep it. Your AOW or pension, your M return and every refund from the Dutch Tax Administration run through the Netherlands, and your Dutch bank is the key to your DigiD; how you keep that line alive is in keeping a bank account and DigiD. Only move salary or pension to the Swedish account once it runs stably, and put the rent, the förskola and the insurance on the Swedish one as soon as possible: that is the account where Swish, the direct debits and your tax refund will land. In the step-by-step plan the bank is a step of its own in phase 4, after the ID card — see /zweden.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Sweden or go straight to step 4.4 in the open plan.