In last year's Payments Report, the Riksbank drew attention to the fact that some consumers and companies are denied access to a payment account, or have their account cancelled. Finansinspektionen has also highlighted the problem, and considers that banks should primarily try risk-reducing measures instead of completely refusing to open an account for a customer. Despite this, the problem does not seem to have diminished, especially among certain groups and companies. However, reliable statistics are needed to get a better idea of the scale of the number of denied and cancelled accounts.

A common reason for banks to deny or close accounts is that they think they are unable to achieve sufficient customer due diligence and thus do not fulfil the requirements in the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations. Money laundering and terrorist financing are serious problems that must of course be countered. At the same time, the Riksbank considers that more people should be able to have access to a payment account with limited functions by, for example, exempting foreign payments or adjusting amount limits. This type of measure is also in line with anti-fraud efforts, where simpler accounts and safeguards can make it more difficult for criminals. The banks can also step up their monitoring of transactions to and from these accounts. This has also been emphasised by both the Betalningsutredningen and Finansinspektionen. Finansinspektionen has announced that it will continue to scrutinise the issue in its supervisory work in 2025, as well as convene a number of banks to follow up on their work on access to payment accounts. Efforts to increase access to payment accounts are ongoing in many banks. The Riksbank welcomes this.

The Riksbank will monitor the issue and, in dialogue with market participants and the relevant authorities, investigate what further clarifications or measures are needed to improve access to payment accounts.