Modernisation of Swedish payments

What's changing?

As the infrastructure changes, a new version of account transfers will be available, to replace the account transfer (with or without notification) which is to be phased out between 14 April and 25 June 2026. You will be notified in District when they are available. One key difference is that it will be mandatory to include the beneficiary’s name when making payments.

What does this mean for your business?

The update of account transfers offers enriched payment data which can contribute to easier reconciliations, as payers can use structured references on account transfers, and include messages of up to 140 characters. Additionally, the Extended Remittance Information (ERI) including credit note numbers can be added on file-based payments.

Additional benefits include:

• Possibility to bulk debit account transfers
• Incoming payments will contain sender's name and address
• Enriched payment data
• Later cut-off times
  
  

What to do to prepare:

For outgoing payments

Make sure to include the beneficiary name when you make account transfers. And include the town and country if you’re using the structured address format for file-based payments. We also recommend that you reach out to your ERP system provider to ensure that references and messages are handled correctly on all outgoing payments.

For incoming payments

We recommend that you decide on how you want to use references going forward towards your customers and ensure to include town and country as well as a correct beneficiary name on your invoices. This will help sender's to ensure that the payment goes to the correct recipient.

What's changing?

From 15 June 2026 it will be compulsory for all standing orders to include the beneficiary’s name. After this date, if the beneficiary name is not included in the standing order agreement, the payments will not be processed and the standing order agreement will be deleted.

What does this mean for your business?

This change will make it clear who your standing orders are being paid to, making it easier for you to reconcile payments.

What to do to prepare:

For outgoing payments

We recommend that your business review all existing standing orders, and update them with a beneficiary name ahead of 15 June 2026. The beneficiary name field is available in District, so you can simply amend the existing standing orders.

For incoming payments

We also recommend that you ensure that your customers are aware of the upcoming change and provide them with the right beneficiary name for their standing order payments to you, to help mitigate any risks of your incoming payments not being processed.

What’s changing?

Between 14 April and 25 June 2026 it will be mandatory that all salary payments include a beneficiary name, whether they are paid via files or manually entered in District. You will be notified in District when they are available.

What does this mean for your business?

This change offers enriched payment data including beneficiary name and the opportunity to include up to 140 characters of unstructured information in the reference for file-based payments. Another benefit of this change is the later cut-off time, which gives you more flexibility to accommodate the salary payment process to your ways of working.

What to do to prepare:

We recommend that you contact your ERP system provider, to ensure that references and mandatory fields are handled correctly for your salary payments. If you pay salaries via file payments, it is important that you ensure that the date on the file corresponds with the date on which the payment should be debited from the account. In most cases, this is one banking day before the salary payment is available in the receiver's account. This change aligns with the standard rules for ISO 20022 XML payments. 

What’s changing?

Between 8 September and 27 November 2026 all payment communication must go via the bank, not Bankgirot. Therefore, all current Bankgiro and Plusgiro payments (Alias) will need to be made through your bank. In addition, it will be mandatory to include the beneficiary name on all payments.

What does this mean for your business?

This change offers enriched payment data, which can contribute to making your reconciliation easier as payers can use structured references on payments and include messages of up to 140 characters. Additionally, the Extended Remittance Information of up to 999 references will be included for file-based payments, as well as offering improved references with enhanced OCR validation.

What to do to prepare:

For outgoing payments

Ahead of the change we recommend that you make sure to include the beneficiary name when you’re sending payments and include the town and country if you’re using the structured address format for file-based payments. We also recommend that you reach out to your ERP system provider to ensure that references and messages are handled correctly on all outgoing payments.

For incoming payments

If you want to make reconciliation easier, we recommend that you decide on how you want to use references and ensure to add the full address including town and country as well as a correct beneficiary name.

What’s changing?

By 27 November 2026 all communication needs to go through the bank, when it comes to incoming and outgoing payments.

Swedish payment infrastructure is undergoing a major modernisation, which aims to become more secure, standardised and future-proof. As a part of this change, direct customer connections with Bankgirot will be phased out in 2026.

What does this mean for your business?

• Direct technical access to Bankgiro will no longer be possible
• All communication will go via your bank
• Payment processes will increasingly follow international standards (ISO 20022 XML)
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What to do to prepare:

• Identify any direct connections to Bankgiro
• Make sure you have direct connections with your bank. Implement required file format changes on time

What’s changing?

After 12 May 2026, supplier payments to Bankgirot in LB (Leverantörsbetalningar) format, including Utlands-LB and salaries, will be phased out and replaced with the ISO 20022 XML format.

What does this mean for your business?

• Improved overview in District
• No paper-based reporting
• Fewer rejected payments - in the new format, testing must be done before sending file payments and this will show potential errors
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What to do to prepare:

• We recommend that you switch to the ISO 20022 XML format as soon as possible.
• Contact your software provider to confirm that your system supports Danske Bank’s version of the ISO 20022 XML format.
• Use our guides and technical specifications on ISO 20022 XML.
• Begin submitting your payment files in the new format. We are ready to process XML files immediately, and no new agreements are required.
  

To read more about the transition please refer to Moving from LB (Leverantörsbetalningar) to ISO 20022 XML: What You Need to Know

What’s changing?

Money orders created in District, will no longer be supported between 14 April and 25 June 2026. After 8 September 2026, file-based money orders will no longer be supported in the new payment infrastructure.

What does this mean for your business?

With money orders closing, it’s important to explore alternative options. Digital solutions such as account transfers can be a good alternative, as the costs associated with sending and handling the payments are often lower when compared with paper-based payments.

What to do to prepare:

We recommend that you prepare your systems to make payouts to your customers digitally such as using account transfers to an account number or using the Swish payout solution. Swish Utbetalningar | Danske Bank

What’s changing?

After 27 November 2026, Bg Max (Bankgiro Inbetalningar - Bankgiro Receivables), including image files, can no longer be used.

By 8 September 2026, you must have camt.053 (ISO 20022 XML statement file) or camt.054 (ISO 20022 XML entry file) in place in order to receive detailed information about payments sent via the new payment infrastructure initiated to a Bankgiro number. After this date, customers that do not transition to camt.053 or camt.054 messages will need to perform manual reconciliation for payments processed via the new infrastructure.

Additionally, Bg Max files will only include payments processed on the old infrastructure after 8 September 2026. Payments processed on the new infrastructure will not be included in Bg Max files. Please ensure timely action to avoid disruptions.

What does this mean for your business?

• Improved overview in District
• No paper-based reporting
• Improved automated reconciliation as a result of enriched data and better data structure, making it easier to identify payments
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What to do to prepare:

• We recommend that you switch to the ISO 20022 XML format as soon as possible.
• Contact your software provider to confirm that your system supports Danske Bank’s version of the ISO 20022 XML format.
• Make sure you have camt.053 or camt.054 (ISO 20022 XML) in place by 8th September 2026 in order to receive detailed information about payments sent via the new payment infrastructure.

To read more about the transition please refer to Moving from Bg Max (Bankgiro Inbetalningar) to ISO 20022 XML: What You Need to Know