Payment services

To provide payment services, authorization from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) is required. Any entity intending to provide payment services must obtain authorization to conduct such business and is referred to in the legislation as a payment institution. An entity intending to provide only account information services may apply for an exemption from the authorization requirement and is referred to as a registered payment service provider.

"Payment services" refers to the Payment Services Act (2010:751):

services which make it possible to deposit cash from a payment account and the measures required to manage this account,
services which make it possible to withdraw cash from a payment account and the measures required to manage this account,
implementation of payment transactions, including transfer of funds from a payment account via
a) autogiro (automatic withdrawal),
b) credit/debit cards or other payment instruments, or
c) account-based payments,
implementation of payment transactions, when the funds are covered by a credit facility, via
a) autogiro (automatic withdrawal),
b) credit/debit cards or other payment instruments, or
c) account-based payments.
issuance of payment instruments or payment of transaction amounts in which a payment instrument was used,
money transfer,
payment initiation services, or
account information services.

Payment service agent

An entity which is only an agent (payment service agent) does not have its own authorisation but should be registered with Finansinspektionen by its principal.

Contents of the application

The contents of an application to be a payment institution or registered payment service provider are set out in Finansinspektionen's regulations and general guidelines (FFFS 2010:3) governing payment institutions and registered payment service providers.

Fees

Applicants must pay a fee in conjunction with the application. See the fact box for the payment procedure.

The fee for an application for authorisation is SEK 405,000.

The fee for an application for exemption from the authorisation obligation is SEK 232,500 for legal persons and SEK 105,000 for natural persons.

FI also charges an annual supervision fee.

For payment institutions, this fee is SEK 150,000 per year.

For legal entities granted exemption from the authorisation obligation, this fee is SEK 50,000 per year, and for natural persons this fee is SEK 30,000 per year.

Payment service agents do not pay fees to FI.

Handling time

FI will make a decision within three months provided that the application is complete and the fee is paid.

Payment procedure

FI registers the application, which is assigned a reference number.
FI then sends an administrator letter, which specifies the reference number, the applicable fee and instructions for how to pay the fee.

Do not pay the fee until you have received the administrator letter and reference number from FI.

Last reviewed: 2026-10-02