Regulations about becoming a customer in Norway

To open an account

What do you need to open an account if you live in Norway?

According to Norwegian regulations, all bank customers must have a Norwegian national identification number*.

How to open an account

• You can fill in this form and personally visit one of our branches to show your ID
• You can become a customer online if you already have BankID.

Do you already have BankID issued by a Norwegian bank? 
Become a customer and open an account online now

Bring this to the bank

• Valid passport (not emergency passport), Norwegian immigrant passport or Norwegian refugee travel document (not all our offices can scan your documents, see the full list of offices with a scanner here)
• Documents showing your income in Norway (such as contract of employment, proof of student admission etc.)
• Documentation showing your identity number or D-number
• Residence permit card (for citizens of countries outside the EU/EEA)
• Norwegian birth certificate or "Confirmation of Child Custody" from the Norwegian National Population Register ("Folkeregisteret")

Your account is ready when

When we have all the required documents, including your Norwegian national ID number, we can open an account for you. Then you can also access our internet bank and other products of your choice.

*Important information about ID number

According to current Norwegian legislation, all bank customers must have a Norwegian national identification number. You will need to request an ID number from the Norwegian Tax Administration. Applications are normally processed by the authorities within six weeks. Here is a link to more information on their website.

Why do we ask questions?

When becoming a customer, you must answer some questions and submit a form to your application. We do this partly because of government regulations, much the same as those of other countries. All Nowegian banks have to follow these regulations to prevent financial crime.

We know that almost all customers are honest, but in order to find the few that are not, we must ask everybody questions - without exception. When you answer our questions, you contribute to preventing illegal operations.

We also ask questions to get to know you as a customer and give you the best service we can, and we will do so in the future as well. We might ask about the origin of funds credited to your account or why you need to use certain of our services, for instance. All information about you is kept confidential in accordance with the bank secrecy rules.

Tax residency abroad

Normally you are a tax resident in the country you live in. Nonetheless, each country has different rules regarding how they decide tax residency. Information about the rules regarding tax residency can be found on the OECD web site. If you have questions regarding this, please contact your local tax office or a tax adviser.

FATCA / tax liability in the United States

As a result of the US tax law FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), Norway and the US have agreed to exchange information. Because of this, financial institutions are required to identify and report the aggregated amounts on accounts held by US persons to the local tax authorities, who will then report to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

US persons are defined as persons who reside in the US, have US citizenship (including dual citizenship) or hold a US permanent residence permit (Green Card) or are corporations registered in the US.