How to open a Swedish bank account
To open a bank account in Sweden you need to identify yourself properly, for example, with a valid passport or Swedish ID-card. Sometimes the bank may require your home country bank to certify your identity.
Before you have opened a bank account, we recommend that you keep your previous account from the former country you were in so we can pay out your salary. If you do not provide a bank account to the payroll office, we will pay a lump sum of your accrued salary once we receive account details.
You have the right to open a bank account
If you have a residence permit, you should, according to law, be allowed to open a bank account in Sweden if you can identify yourself and answer all their questions satisfactory. Banks sometimes disregard this fact but be persistent and it should work out, otherwise we recommend you to appeal the decision to The National Board for Consumer Disputes (see the Payment Service Directive, “lag om betaltjänster” Ch. 4 A, §1, or the EU directive 2014/92). The Universities of Sweden with assistance of the Swedish bankers association have made documents that you should read and bring when you go to the bank. See "To open a bank account in Sweden" and "Opening a bank account, Swedish bankers association" on the right side of this page.
If the banks still refuses to let you open an account even though you followed all the steps, please contact newstaff@kau.se for assistance.
Swish
We also recommend that you register a Swish account. Swish is a Swedish service that is connected to your internet bank. With Swish you connect your bank account with your mobile phone number. The service is a cooperation between all Swedish banks and allows you to send money instantly to others who have a Swish account via their phone number. Swish is very commonly used in Sweden to transfer money between people and to pay for goods and services.
To be able to send money you need to download the app “Swish Betalningar”.
Bank Offices in Karlstad
There are several bank offices in Karlstad, for instance Swedbank, Nordea, Handelsbanken, Danske bank and Länsförsäkringar. Contact them in person to open an account.