2026-06-24-fi-bank-account-closures-supervision
FI Launches Investigation into Bank Account Closures - 54,000 Accounts Closed in 2024
The Swedish Financial Inspectorate (FI) has launched a comprehensive investigation into how the four major Swedish banks handle their obligation to offer payment accounts after 54,000 bank accounts were denied or closed during 2024. This record high number has now raised serious questions about consumer protection and access to financial services.
The Scope of the Problem
During 2024, as many as 54,000 bank accounts were denied or closed by Swedish major banks. This represents a significant increase compared to previous years and has now led FI to decide on a formal investigation of the banks' procedures.
According to Mithra Sundberg, Head of Payment Supervision at FI, consumers are caught in a difficult position between banks' obligation to offer payment accounts and their responsibility for combating money laundering:
"Consumers are caught between payment account obligations and anti-money laundering efforts"
Focus of FI's Investigation
FI's investigation will focus on several key aspects of the banks' handling:
- Individual assessments: How do banks make individual customer assessments?
- Risk-reducing measures: What measures are taken before account closures?
- Transparency: How transparent are the banks' decision-making processes?
- Customer knowledge: How do banks handle the lack of traditional Swedish ID documents?
Most Common Reasons for Account Closure
According to FI's mapping, the most common reason for account closure is insufficient customer knowledge. This particularly affects people who lack traditional Swedish identification documents or have complex backgrounds.
FI now requests that banks make more thorough individual assessments and implement risk-reducing measures before deciding to close customer accounts.
Payment Services Act and Consequences
The investigation has implications for the interpretation of the Payment Services Act and its requirements that financial firms must offer basic payment services to all legitimate customers.
The case highlights a fundamental conflict between consumer protection aspects of the Payment Services Act and banking regulations aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
Impact on the Payment Market
Massive account closures can have broad consequences for the payment market:
- Exclusion from financial system: People risk being excluded from the financial system
- Increased risk of unregulated payment services: May lead people to turn to unregulated providers
- New consumer behavior: May affect how people manage their finances
International Perspectives
The problem of bank account accessibility is not unique to Sweden. In many countries, discussions are ongoing about how to balance anti-money laundering efforts with financial inclusion.
The EU's new framework for payment services and the digital euro may influence how member states handle these issues in the future.
Next Steps
FI's investigation is expected to be completed during the fall of 2026. The results may lead to revised guidelines for how banks should handle account closures and new requirements for transparency and customer dialogue.
For consumers, this may mean it becomes easier to get a bank account even under complex circumstances, but also that the banking system may become stricter in its customer assessment.
Sources
- Swedish Financial Inspectorate (FI) via Realtid - "Bankerna stänger konton i rekordfart – FI inleder granskning"
- FI's supervision report on payment services 2024
- Payment Services Act (2018:865)