ID card, bank account and BankID

Why everything runs on BankID

BankID is your digital ID: an app on your phone that you use to log in, sign contracts, pay online and reach Skatteverket (the Tax Agency), Försäkringskassan, 1177 and your bank. It is not a government service, but it works almost like one.

The difficulty for newcomers is the order. Each step needs the one before:

1. Personnummer (the personal identity number) — arrives with your first registration in folkbokföring (guide).
2. An accepted ID document — usually Swedish, sometimes a passport: it depends on the bank.
3. A bank account — the bank can only take you on if it can verify who you are.
4. BankID — issued by the bank to existing customers.
5. Swish — person-to-person payments from your phone, activated through your bank with BankID.

Skatteverket's ID card today

Skatteverket issues a Swedish ID-kort (ID card) to people who are registered in folkbokföring with a personnummer and are at least 13 (under 18 needs a guardian's consent). It is not a travel document and not for people who only have a samordningsnummer (guide).

How it works:

• Book an appointment at a servicekontor (Skatteverket service office) that issues ID cards. Not all of them do.
• Go in person with a valid approved document (passport, driving licence or a Skatteverket card) or an intygsgivare.
• An intygsgivare is an approved witness who knows you well, for example a spouse, parent or adult child. This is the route when you have no valid document.
• Your photo is taken on the spot.

The bank account: it is your right

If you are resident in Sweden or elsewhere in the EEA, you have the right to open a payment account with basic features (betalkonto) at a Swedish bank. This comes from the Swedish payment services act.

The bank may refuse only in specific cases, for example if it cannot verify your identity, or because of anti-money-laundering rules. By law it must decide within ten banking days of a complete application. If it says no, it must tell you in writing, free of charge, and say where you can complain.

The practical obstacle is well known: many banks ask for a personnummer and a Swedish ID document before they open a full account. The right to a basic account still exists, but a bank that cannot verify you can still refuse.

When a bank says no

• Ask exactly which document is required and whether a foreign passport is enough.
• Bring your original ID documents.
• Try another bank: internal rules differ a lot.
• If identity is the problem, consider Skatteverket's ID card (while it exists) and try again.
• Keep every written answer: you need them for a complaint.

BankID

BankID is issued by your bank. In practice you need a personnummer, to be a customer of a bank that issues it, and an accepted ID document, usually Swedish. Each bank has its own rules: if you only have a foreign passport, ask your bank whether it accepts it.

Freja eID

Freja eID is an e-legitimation offered as an alternative to BankID. Check Freja's website for which documents it accepts and whether the services you need recognise it. Not every service takes it the way it takes BankID.

Swish

Swish is activated through your bank and requires BankID on the same phone. You use it to pay friends, flea markets and many small shops.

While you wait

With only a samordningsnummer, much is harder: many banks require a personnummer, so a full account and BankID are an uphill road. Ask the bank before you spend time on it, and look at Freja. If you will stay a year or more, the right route is folkbokföring.

While you wait, keep your passport close and do the in-person identity check as soon as you can. The personnummer unlocks the whole chain.

Common mistakes

• Booking at a servicekontor that does not issue ID cards. Check that the office does.
• Turning up without having paid the 400 kr. You pay in advance.
• Treating 2027 as certain. The closure is a proposal: follow the official news.
• Accepting a spoken "no". Ask for the refusal in writing; it opens the complaint route.
• Assuming a foreign passport is enough for BankID. It depends on the bank.
• Looking for Swish before BankID. The order cannot be skipped.