Bankgirot is the only clearing house in Sweden that processes mass payments. Bankgirot’s role as a clearing house, it is to maintain and provide an effective and secure payment infrastructure for mass payments for the participants and their customer.
As a clearing house, Bankgirot accepts the banks' payment orders from their customers, clears them as an aggregated amount for each bank and ensures that settlement takes place in the RIX system at the Riksbank (Sweden's central bank). This is known as clearing and settlement.
Bankgirot is the only clearing house in Sweden that processes mass payments in Swedish kronor.
After settlement, Bankgirot sends credit initiation files to all banks detailing which customers and accounts are to be credited, as well as reports to each bank and bank customer confirming that payment has been made.
Bankgirot also sends a reconciliation file to the banks at the end of the day so that they can ensure that all payments have been received.
Bankgirot processes mass payments in the shape of giro transfers via bankgiro numbers, deposits to bank accounts, real-time payments and financial transactions between banks for card payments and ATM withdrawals. Mass payments most often encompass small amounts, are made in large numbers and are generally made between households, companies and authorities.
Bankgirot provides payment services for incoming and outgoing payments and processes the information associated with payments so that the right information is reported for the right service at the right time.
As a clearing house, Bankgirot's task is to maintain security and keep down costs in the financial system by means of efficient processes and economies of scale. Bankgirot helps ensure that every payment reaches the right recipient at the right time in a secure and cost-effective manner.
In Sweden, Bankgirot is licensed by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority to act as a clearing house and these operations are overseen by the Riksbank as part of its mandate to promote a secure and effective payment infrastructure.