Hello!

I know there was a lot of posts here about opening bank account here in Norway, and I’ve read most of those and they were really helpful. But I’m looking for an up-to-date information, and frankly, some of your personal feedback 🙂

I’m new in Trondheim, Norway, and I just received my ID number! Next step for me is opening a bank account – and I want to opt for the option that is fastest. After reading all the aforementioned posts, I’ve decided to not choose DNB, and that leaves me with SpareBank 1, and Sbanken – which is completely online.

According to the [SpareBank 1 about becoming a new customer](https://www.sparebank1.no/nb/sr-bank/privat/kundeservice/bestill/become-customer-without-BankID.html), the processing time is 5-6 weeks, which is too long for me. Does it actually take that long? I checked the map for SpareBank 1 offices, and there’s plenty in Trondheim. I don’t know whether to visit one – or whether that’d help or not. How was your experience with opening an account with SpareBank 1?

If you have opened an account with Sbanken, how long did it take? How was the process of obtaining a BankID with Sbanken? I know all their platforms are Norwegian only. So how difficult is it to navigate yourself without knowing any Norwegian?

Thank you in advance!

5 comments

  1. 5-6 weeks sound bonkers! I can’t imagine why they would take that long. Without knowing anything about processing time for each bank, I would suggest just opening an account in many banks. It is free and you get the benefit of comparing them, and gain access to the fastest one. From a normal usage perspective, I would recommend sbanken as they have the most modern and easy solution.

  2. Foreigner in Norway here. This year I opened an account with Sbanken, it took about 2 weeks (mid September). Add 1 week to receive the debit card.

    If you do everything right (which I didn’t) you could have your BankID in 2-3 months, you will see in their website that you have to be a client for 1 month in order to request the BankID. Because I didn’t read that my application was rejected, and there is a 3 month wait period to apply again.

    As for the language, it shouldn’t be a problem. The Google auto translation is good enough for the desktop website. This doesn’t work on the app but it’s OK to me because I only do simple stuff there.

  3. I moved to Norway earlier this year. I opened an account with Sparebank and my husband chose Sbanken. The research we did before seemed like Sbanken would be fastest and easiest, but I actually had a better experience with Sparebank. It took about 3 weeks for my Sparebank account, and once it was ready I just went to a location, signed the paperwork and the employee there set me up with BankID right away, which was extremely helpful. Then it took a week for my card to arrive. Service in English was fine and I can use online banking and the app no problem.

    My husband’s experience with Sbanken has been a bit worse, but I think his circumstance might be an exception. Since they don’t have physical locations, he had to go to Posten to verify his identity but the person doing it messed up and didn’t scan his passport properly. It took a couple weeks for Sbanken to message him saying there was an issue, then another week once he resent his ID. By that time the pass codes they sent him had expired and it was a big ordeal. Finally his account was set up, but now BankID is another, separate step and I’m not sure how long that will take. All this being said, I think it was supposed to have been much easier, but I guess there’s more room for error since it’s all done remotely. English on their website is fine because Google Chrome automatically translates it, but I’m not sure about the app.

    Long story short, there doesn’t seem to be a quick and easy option haha, but hopefully this helps you make a decision for what’s best for you.

  4. Hey,

    I moved about 2 years ago to norway. I have both dnb and sparebank 1. I can recommend sparebanken. Dnb is a mess and very user unfriendly. I never had problems with sparebank 1. And everything is quick. They also have an app so you dont need you codebrikken anymore.

  5. I’d suggest sparebank 1, they say it can take upto 8 weeks but it is usually in the 2nd week that they call you for signing paper work. You can get bankid at the spot if you have e-passport(passport with rf-id). For selecting nearest branch just google “sparebank 1 near me”

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