Scandinavian currencies – Swedish Krona is hard to get rid of – Kassensturz Espresso

It is practically impossible to exchange Swedish Krona back into Swiss Francs in any bank.

This is what happened: A ZKB customer from Bassersdorf exchanges 3,000 Swedish kronor for her vacation. That’s the equivalent of 250 francs. The owner of the holiday home in Sweden demands cash for the final cleaning. The amount is then later charged to her credit card. The customer cannot spend the money anywhere. In Sweden, you practically only pay with a card. Back in Switzerland, she wants to exchange the kronor back into francs at her branch in Bassersdorf. But the ZKB only accepts Swedish kronor up to the equivalent of 100 francs, an employee explains to her.

This is how other Swiss banks handle it: Most of the banks we asked no longer exchange Scandinavian currencies into Swiss francs. This was the result of a query by the SRF consumer magazine “Espresso” to various larger Swiss banks. At the SBB, however, you can still exchange Scandinavian currency into francs. However, until further notice, only 200-franc or smaller notes will be accepted, says the SBB.

That’s the problem: The ZKB says that demand for Swedish kronor is generally low. This also applies to Danish and Norwegian kroner. The available money supply is also low. Therefore, these currencies can only be traded to a limited extent on the interbank market – i.e. from bank to bank.

This is how this trade works: To put it simply, specialized banks in Switzerland buy a currency from other banks – for example Swedish kronor. They then sell this on to their partners in Sweden. And these Swedish partners have apparently withdrawn from the Swedish kronor business, “Espresso” learns from banking circles.

Why don’t the Swedish partners buy kronor anymore? That is not entirely clear. Even after extensive research by “Espresso” at various Swedish institutions, there is no clear answer. Individual indications suggest that the whole thing could have something to do with the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

This is what the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority says: Cash can pose an increased risk of money laundering because it is less easy to trace than digital transactions. Banks and financial institutions are responsible for ensuring that their activities comply with applicable laws and regulations, including those to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. It is possible that this is why some people prefer to stay away from trading in crowns.