(17 March 2026 – Sweden) The Riksbank has signalled potential regulatory intervention if domestic banks fail to expand instant payment capabilities, highlighting growing frustration over slow market adoption.
In its latest national payments report, the central bank noted that while infrastructure for real-time payments already exists at both Swedish and European levels, banks have yet to meaningfully roll out services—leaving businesses unable to make instant transfers and retail payments still subject to delays.
“This means, among other things, that companies in Sweden have no way of making instant payments between one another and that a transfer via the internet bank on Friday afternoon reaches the recipient on Monday morning at the earliest,” the Riksbank said. “Within one year (March 2027), the Riksbank expects the market to have started offering such services, or to have communicated a plan to do so in the near future. If the market fails to do this, the Riksbank considers that legislation should be introduced in line with that which applies to payments in euros.”
The central bank also called for stronger progress on cross-border and multi-currency payment efficiency, pointing to the potential of linking domestic mobile payment platforms such as Swish with international equivalents to improve accessibility for consumers and businesses.
The warning follows a series of recent policy signals aimed at strengthening payment system resilience, including measures to support continued access to cash, the introduction of a SEK 10,000 cap on in-store cash purchases, and guidance for households to hold contingency cash reserves amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty.