Swish: Sweden's real-time bank transfer (a2a)
Sweden's ubiquitous mobile-first real-time payment app, jointly owned by the Swedish banks.
How the Swish flow works
Swish is a mobile P2P and P2M app jointly built by the major Swedish banks on top of the RIX-INST real-time settlement system.
At checkout the merchant's PSP triggers a Swish request to the shopper's phone number. The shopper opens the Swish app, reviews the merchant and amount, and authorises with BankID.
Funds move bank-to-bank in real time; the merchant's PSP receives confirmation within seconds.
Swish is also the dominant P2P method in Sweden and is used widely for events, market stalls, charities and small merchants without card acquiring.
Typical use cases
- Any Swedish e-commerce, in-app or in-person checkout.
- P2P, charities and event pay.
- Merchants where card decline or interchange in Sweden matters.
Consumer reach
Used by the overwhelming majority of Swedish adults; effectively universal.
Who should accept Swish
- Any merchant selling to Swedish consumers.
- Cross-border merchants targeting Sweden who otherwise offer only cards.
Operational detail
The operational half of every method profile — settlement, refunds, disputes, PSP coverage and licensing — is reserved for Payment Methods List founding partners. It's the part vendor sites won't publish and the part that actually decides whether Swish works for your stack.
Settlement time
How fast Swish funds land after the payer confirms, behaviour outside scheme hours, whether the rail settles gross or net, and the realistic T+n to sweep to USD/EUR — plus the PSPs where the advertised timeline actually holds in Sweden.
Book a founding-partner call →Refund mechanics
How Swish refunds are executed end-to-end when the rail has no scheme-level reversal — payer-initiated pulls, credit transfers, or PSP-fronted refunds — plus partial-refund support, time limits, and the API surface each PSP exposes.
Book a founding-partner call →Chargeback exposure
Whether Swish has any dispute construct at all, which recall/return/indemnity vectors actually exist on the rail, how consumer-protection rules in Sweden route claims back to merchants, and observed loss rates versus cards.
Book a founding-partner call →PSP coverage matrix
Which acquirers and aggregators run direct rail connections to Swish vs. reselling a partner, coverage depth and reliability, effective pricing bands, and who to pick when Sweden volume is your primary use case.
Book a founding-partner call →KYC & licensing notes
Requirements to accept Swish — local entity vs. cross-border MoR, licensing regime governing the rail in Sweden, KYC obligations at onboarding and per-transaction, and FX/reporting rules for foreign merchants.
Book a founding-partner call →