Coordination Numbers and Swedish Bank Accounts for Non-Residents

Own a Swedish cottage or work here for a season, and Sweden will soon ask for a Swedish ID number. Here’s how non-residents get a coordination number, what it does and doesn’t unlock, and when a bank has to open an account for you.

When you need this

• You’re buying a Swedish property. For purchases from 1 July 2026, the title registration (lagfart) must give a Swedish personal or coordination number.
• You’ll work in Sweden, or register for F-tax as self-employed, for less than a year.
• You want to pay a summer house’s property fee, electricity and road association from a Swedish account.
• A bank has asked for a “Swedish ID number” you don’t have, or has turned you down.

What a coordination number is

Sweden runs on the personnummer, the personal identity number you get when you’re registered as living here (folkbokförd). If you’ve never been registered but still deal with Swedish authorities, you get a samordningsnummer (coordination number) instead. It looks like a personnummer, except that 60 is added to your day of birth. So someone born on the 12th gets 72.

The rules sit in their own law, Lag (2022:1697) om samordningsnummer. The number in its name says 2022, but the law came into force on 1 September 2023. It changed three things:

• You can apply yourself. Before, only an authority could request a number for you.
• An identity check in person became the main rule.
• Numbers go dormant unless they’re renewed.

One more change is coming. From 1 December 2026, fingerprints and a facial image will be taken at the identity check and stored by Skatteverket, the tax agency. Until then they’re only compared with your passport chip and deleted straight away.

How to get one

1. Check whether someone else can request it. A government agency, university, private education provider, embassy, consulate or passport authority can request the number for you. An application for F-tax triggers one too. If you’re coming to work, study or start a business, ask that body first.
2. Otherwise, apply yourself through Skatteverket’s e-service (in English or Swedish) or on form SKV 7540. You must show that you need the number and have a connection to Sweden, such as a property purchase. Self-application is meant for stays of less than a year.
3. Book an identity check at a government service office (servicekontor). Go in person with your passport or national ID card, plus your Swedish residence permit card if you have one.
4. From 1 December 2026, expect fingerprints and a photo to be taken there.
5. Wait. It can take up to 10 weeks before an officer is even assigned to a self-application. Requests from authorities take about three weeks, plus five to six weeks for the decision.
6. Keep your contact address current. If you’ve registered one, you must report changes. That doesn’t need a new identity check.

Skatteverket’s pages list no application fee.

If you’re buying property, start now. The three-month lagfart deadline runs from the purchase deed, whether or not your number has arrived. Book the identity check for your next trip, before you need it. The appointment is usually what holds things up. Details are in buying a summer house as a foreigner.

How long it lasts

Skatteverket says five years. The law is a little more precise. A number is declared dormant (vilande) if no renewal application has arrived by the end of the fifth calendar year after it was issued or last renewed. Renewal isn’t automatic.

• You, or the body that requested the number, can apply to renew it.
• Renewal is granted only if you still meet the conditions for a new number.
• A dormant number can be revived later on the same terms. A new application counts as a renewal.
• A decision to make a number dormant because nobody renewed it can’t be appealed. Put the date in your calendar.

What it opens and what it doesn’t

A coordination number is an identity number, not residency. It doesn’t register you as living in Sweden and doesn’t give you a personnummer.

BankID causes the most frustration. Banks issue it only against a personnummer, so a coordination number doesn’t qualify, however long you stay. Plan to pay bills and log in without it. Our BankID for visitors guide covers the alternatives.

Your right to a Swedish bank account

A Swedish number helps with a bank account, but it’s neither required nor enough. The right to an account comes from a different law. Under the Payment Services Act (betaltjänstlagen, chapter 4 a), a bank may not refuse a consumer legally resident in the EEA a betalkonto med grundläggande funktioner, a payment account with basic functions.

What decides it is where you live, not your passport:

For those who have the right, the law sets out what you get:

• Basic functions: opening and closing the account, deposits, cash withdrawals in the EEA, direct debits, debit-card payments (online too) and transfers, with no cap on how often you use them.
• A decision within ten banking days of a complete application.
• Reasonable fees. Each bank sets its own, and “reasonable” is judged from the customer’s side.
• A written refusal, free of charge, saying where to complain and, where possible, why.

Ask for the account by its Swedish name, so it’s clear which rules apply.

Do you need a Swedish number for it? Not legally. Banks told Finansinspektionen (FI), the financial supervisor, that a missing personnummer shouldn’t stop anyone opening an account, and that an EEA passport should be accepted. Complaints show counter staff still sometimes ask for one. In practice a coordination number makes things easier, because without it the bank can’t check Swedish registers and handling becomes slower and more manual.

Why banks say no, and what to do

The right has two exceptions: where opening the account would breach the money-laundering act (penningtvättslagen), or where there are special reasons. The first one is where most refusals come from.

The money-laundering act forbids a bank to open or keep an account if it doesn’t know its customer well enough to manage the risk. The bank must verify your identity from documents or another reliable source. It must also find out the purpose and nature of the account. According to FI, insufficient customer knowledge is the most common reason banks give for refusing accounts and for closing them.

What helps:

• Bring a short written purpose. Give the property address, the bills you’ll pay and where the money comes from. “Various purposes” is how refusals start.
• Answer every follow-up letter. Banks re-check their customers, and unanswered questions are a leading reason accounts get closed. For an owner abroad, that could be the account that pays the property fee.
• Insist on a decision. Some consumers get asked to “complete” their application again and again, so there’s never a refusal to challenge. Ask in writing for a decision on your complete application.
• Ask the bank to reconsider. Few people do, but in FI’s survey of 2020–2022, banks changed their decision in just over 20% of reconsiderations.
• Then escalate. Next steps are ARN (the National Board for Consumer Disputes) or a district court. Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå gives free advice on 0200-22 58 00, weekdays 09:00–12:00.

The account right is for consumers. Companies have no general right to a payment account, so the rule doesn’t cover a holding company that owns your cottage.

Practical information

FAQ

Can I apply for a Swedish coordination number myself?

Yes, since 1 September 2023. You apply to Skatteverket online or on form SKV 7540 and must show both a need for the number and a connection to Sweden, such as a property purchase or short-term work. Self-application is meant for stays under a year. You then book an appointment and prove your identity in person at a service office.

How long is a samordningsnummer valid?

Skatteverket says five years. Precisely, the number is declared dormant if no renewal application has arrived by the end of the fifth calendar year after it was issued or last renewed. You or the body that requested it can apply to renew, as long as you still meet the conditions. A dormant number can be revived later on the same terms.

Can I get BankID with a coordination number?

No. Banks issue Mobile BankID only against a Swedish personnummer, and a coordination number does not count. That also keeps Swish and most logged-in Swedish services closed to you. The personnummer comes with being registered as living in Sweden, not with a longer visit or a property. Freja+ is a partial alternative for EU/EEA citizens living in Sweden.

Can a non-resident open a Swedish bank account?

If you are legally resident anywhere in the EEA, yes: banks must offer you a basic payment account unless money-laundering rules or special reasons prevent it. They must decide within ten banking days. If you live outside the EEA, including the UK and US, there is no legal right, and it is up to the bank whether to open an account.

Do I need a coordination number to open a bank account?

Not legally. The account right depends on EEA residence, not on a Swedish number, and banks have told Finansinspektionen that a missing personnummer should not be an obstacle. In practice a number makes the bank’s checks easier, because without one it cannot search Swedish registers, so processing is slower and more manual.

Why did a Swedish bank refuse my account?

Usually for customer due diligence. The money-laundering act forbids a bank to open an account if it cannot identify you or understand the account’s purpose well enough to manage the risk. The refusal must be written, free, and name where to complain. Ask the bank to reconsider, then go to ARN; Konsumenternas Bank- och finansbyrå advises free.

Will fingerprints be taken when I get a coordination number?

From 1 December 2026, yes. The amended law lets the authority doing the identity check take your fingerprints and a facial image, and Skatteverket will store them and may compare them with Migrationsverket’s records. Before that date they are only compared with the chip in your passport and destroyed immediately.

Related guides

• Buying a summer house in Sweden as a foreigner: the lagfart rule that makes the number necessary
• What a Swedish summer house really costs: the yearly bills your account will pay
• Owning a Swedish cabin: running utilities and the road association from abroad
• BankID for visitors: why the number doesn’t unlock it, and what does
• Sweden for digital nomads: work permits and tax come before any number

Facts verified 2026-09-25. Sources: Sveriges riksdag (Lag 2022:1697 om samordningsnummer as amended by Lag 2026:1455, betaltjänstlagen, penningtvättslagen, jordabalken), Skatteverket, Regeringen, Finansinspektionen, Konsumenternas, Lantmäteriet. Full register in this topic’s source file. This is general information, not legal advice. Found something outdated? Tell us and we’ll fix it.