Why we ask questions
All banks are legally obliged to have information about their customers, and know how customers use certain banking services. As one of the largest banks in Europe, we take our social responsibility very seriously. We work to protect our customers, our company and society at large from criminal activity, and we counteract money laundering, trafficking, drug dealing, terrorist financing, illegal arms trade, tax evasion, etc.
In personal conversations with our customers, though letters and following logging into the Internet and Mobile bank, we therefore continuously ask questions about our customers’ banking transactions. Not all customers are asked the questions at the same time, and the questions may vary.
We therefore ask these questions because it is a legal requirement and part of the banks’ social responsibility to counteract criminal activity, which we hope you understand.
Be on your guard
Criminals might try to exploit you, but there are things you can do to help counteract crime. Never let anybody else use your bank account. Ensure that your computer is properly protected, and be on your guard when receiving e-mails from unknown senders, or in which you are encouraged to click on links. Click on the link to the right to read more about security and fraud (In Swedish).
Why we ask
We know that the majority of our customers are honest, but in order to identify the handful that are not, we must ask questions of everybody, without exception. When you respond to our questions, you help us to prevent criminal activity.
We ask a series of questions when you become a Nordea customer and we subsequently continue to ask questions in our advisory services, at the branches, in the Telephone bank, Mobile bank, Internet bank and, if we cannot reach you in any other way, by letter.
What we ask
Examples of information we might need relate to citizenship, place of birth and profession. If you have regular deposits into your account or use deposit machines, we want to know where the money comes from and we can request to know how your savings were accumulated. If a customer has regular transfers to or from abroad, we want to understand the reason. Everything you tell us is confidential, in accordance with the bank secrecy rules.
We never request, for example, personal codes, and we never send out e-mails with links that must be clicked on in order to proceed. The questionnaire we use in the Internet bank and Mobile bank is a proper page after login, and not a separate pop-up window; you can see from the security lock visible up in the URL field that the page is secure. If you have received a letter from us and are requested to log into the page www.nordea.se/kycÖppnas i nytt fönster you can also see that the page is secure by the security lock up in the URL field. Click on the link to the right to read more about security and fraud (In Swedish).
Without information, we cannot help you
In the rare cases in which we do not obtain sufficient information from customers, we cannot provide them with certain banking services. To read more about why the banks have to ask, click on the link to the right to the Swedish Bankers’ Association web pages with information about money laundering.
Identity and authentication
In some cases, we may need documents that confirm your identity and address, such as your passport, driver’s licence or other official photo id card. If needed, we also request documentation about the registration of your company and verify that you have the right to represent the company. We might also need to ask whether you have a prominent public position, in public administration, etc.
Frequently asked questions personal customers
These frequently asked questions are for existing personal customers in Nordea who have been asked to answer questions upon login to the Internet bank or the Mobile bank, or have received a letter where we ask you to go to www.nordea.se/kyc and answer the questions.
- Why do you ask these questions?
- Svar:
There are many reasons for why we ask these questions.
- All banks in Sweden are, under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, obliged to possess thorough knowledge about their customers.
- The purpose of retrieving this information is to update our customer systems in order to fulfil the requirements for sound customer due diligence. This also facilitates our work to follow up on screening against sanctions lists (i.e. lists of people and companies covered by sanctions decided by the EU, etc.).
- As one of Europe’s largest banks, we take our social responsibility very seriously. We work to protect our customers, our company and society at large from criminal activity, such as money laundering and terrorist financing.
- More information about why Nordea and other banks ask questions is available on the website of the Swedish Bankers’ Association. More information is also available at nordea.se/whyweask.