Swedbank changes its fee schedule

Swedbank’s new fee schedule, which took effect on Aug. 31, changes both the prices and conditions of several services. The most significant shift concerns who qualifies for the bank’s services and under what conditions.

The bank has clarified what it considers a sufficient connection to Estonia. Owning property in Estonia alone may no longer be enough for an individual. For companies, property investments or ownership of Estonian securities alone do not qualify as sufficient ties.

Swedbank may therefore ask customers for more information and documents explaining why they need an Estonian bank account or what their actual connection to Estonia is. Customers may also need to prove that they have the right to live in the European Union.

For ordinary customers, the most visible changes concern security. Swedbank now puts stronger emphasis on keeping online banking passwords, PIN codes and other login details private. The bank may also request additional confirmation for some payments, including checks that the customer is making the transaction personally. It says these controls can help prevent fraud, but some payments may take longer.

The bank has clarified its explanation of card-payment reservations, saying that once money has been reserved, it has effectively been passed to the merchant and cannot be reversed by the bank. Monthly package fees will now be collected on the second day of each month rather than the 15th. From Aug. 27, Swedbank also stopped charging a 0.2% daily penalty on overdrawn current accounts.

Some services became more expensive. The document-review fee for opening a current account for residents of countries outside Estonia and the European Union rose from 200 euros to 250 euros. The opening fee for a Debit Card Plus and Mastercard Private Banking Card increased from 2.50 euros to 4 euros. Supplementary cards now cost 7 euros for Gold credit cards and 17 euros for Platinum cards, while the fee for an application to withdraw from a second-pillar pension account rose from 10 euros to 15 euros.