Swedish consumers like paying by card

The larger Swedish banks continue to have a strong influence on the market, for example through various joint ventures in the field of payment services in general and infrastructure services more specifically. Some examples are Bank-ID, Bankgirot and Swish. These are some of the findings of a new report by the Competition Authority entitled “Betaltjänstmarknaden i Sverige” (The Payment Services Market in Sweden).

“Consumer confidence in payment systems will have an impact on which technologies or which solutions become successful in the future”, says the Competition Authority’s Acting Director-General Karin Lunning.

There are currently a range of different actors and technology solutions in the payment services market and this number will likely grow in the future. At the same time, the banks’ position is very strong, particularly because it is very difficult for a payment services actor to enter the market without being involved in some form of cooperation with one or more banks.

“The Competition Authority will continue to monitor and review developments in the payment services market, including the various partnerships that exist or may emerge”, says Karin Lunning.

Bank-ID currently has a strong position in the market for identification when using various payment services and for access to various types of online services – both private and governmental.

“We would, as a supplement to Bank-ID, like to see an electronic identification system produced by the state. This is common in other EU countries”, says Karin Lunning.

Read the report 2017:7 (in Swedish)