NorgeStart
Money and banking in Norway
Opening a Norwegian bank account needs a D-number or national identity number plus valid ID, and typically takes one to four weeks — start it the week you arrive, because almost nothing else works until it exists. BankID is issued by your bank and is the electronic identity you will use to log into tax, health, benefits and housing services. Vipps handles everyday person-to-person payments, and cash is genuinely rare.
NorgeStart is an independent private service. It is not a government agency and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by any Norwegian public authority. NorgeStart brings information from many official Norwegian sources together in one place, and we work to keep it up to date. Even so, rules, rates and amounts can change at any time, and we cannot guarantee that a page here always matches the authority's latest wording. Always confirm with the responsible authority before you act. We give general information, not professional advice on legal, tax, immigration or medical matters, and we take no responsibility for differences between this page and the official source, or for decisions taken on the basis of it.
Bank account & BankID
- You need a D-number/national ID + passport; opening takes 1–4 weeks — start immediately. Compare on Finansportalen, the official comparison site, rather than on a name you recognise — Danske Bank, for instance, left the Norwegian personal market and moved its personal customers to Nordea at the end of 2024. What actually matters to a newcomer: whether the bank takes customers with a D-number or insists on a national identity number, whether it issues BankID, whether you can apply and be served in English, and whether it requires an in-person appointment. DNB, Nordea and SpareBank 1 are the large branch banks; Bulder and other digital banks tend to have the lowest fees.
- BankID is your digital identity for EVERYTHING (taxes, NAV, Helsenorge, contracts, Vipps). You get it from your bank — with only a D-number some banks won't issue it; ask before choosing a bank.
- Compare accounts, loans and insurance at the public portal finansportalen.no.
Daily money
- Vipps = how everyone pays each other (friends, markets, kids' activities). Needs BankID.
- Cards everywhere, cash almost nowhere — many cafés are card-only.
- Salary must go to a bank account with payslips. Cash wages = tax trouble for YOU and a classic exploitation sign.
- Credit history starts from zero here; utility contracts and phone plans build it slowly.
What the first months in Norway actually cost
- The deposit is the big one. It may legally be up to six months' rent; three is common in practice, and it must go into a deposit account in your own name. Budget it as money you will not see again for a year.
- You will wait for your first salary. Norwegian employers usually pay monthly, in arrears, around the middle or end of the month — so plan for up to six weeks between starting work and being paid.
- The bank account comes after the ID number. You need a D-number or personnummer first, and BankID after that. Until you have both, paying rent and receiving salary is awkward — do not assume it is a same-week job.
- Running costs, single person, excluding rent: roughly 12 000–15 000 kr a month — food 4 000–5 500, transport around 950, phone about 300, plus insurance and the rest.
- The unavoidable first-month list: deposit, first month's rent, transport pass, a phone plan, warm clothes if you arrive before winter, and the tax card sorted so you are not overtaxed from day one.
- Deposit accounts are free at most banks. If a landlord asks you to pay a "fee" to open one, something is wrong.
Cost of living — realistic numbers
- Single person, outside rent: ~NOK 12 000–15 000/month (food ~4 000–5 500, transport ~950, phone ~300, insurance, misc).
- Groceries are Norway's shock: eating out is 2–3× home cost (kebab ~150, restaurant main 250–400, beer out 100–140 vs 35 in store).
- Cut costs like locals: Kiwi/Rema/Extra chains, First Price brand, Too Good To Go app, matpakke lunches, pant bottles back, buy used on finn.no/Fretex, tap water always.
- Insurance you actually need: innboforsikring (home contents, ~NOK 100–200/month) — often required by rental contracts; travel insurance is usually bundled with it or your card.
How to open a bank account and get BankID
- To open a Norwegian bank account you need a Norwegian identification number — a D-number or a national identity number — plus valid photo ID, and you will normally have to appear in person at a branch. BankID is issued by your bank once the account exists, and it is the electronic identity you use to log in to tax, health, benefits and housing services, so the account is the thing that unlocks the rest of Norwegian life. A bank may not refuse you without a legitimate, individual reason.
- You have arrived in Norway to work or study and have, or are applying for, a D-number or national identity number.
- You are being paid into a foreign account and want to stop losing money on transfers and exchange rates.
- You cannot log in to Skatteetaten, NAV, Helsenorge or Altinn because you have no electronic ID.
- Not yet you if you have no Norwegian identification number at all — get that first; it is the one hard prerequisite.
- 1. Get your identification number — A D-number is enough — you do not need to be a registered resident. Start there if you have not.
- 2. Choose a bank — Any bank operating in Norway can open the account. Compare on what you will actually use: monthly fees, card fees, whether BankID costs extra, and whether they have English-language service and app.
- 3. Book an appointment — Almost every bank requires a first meeting in person for identity verification. Some let you begin the application online and finish it at a branch.
- 4. Bring your documents — Passport, identification number, employment contract or student admission, and your address in Norway. Some banks ask what the account will be used for and where your money comes from — this is anti-money-laundering law, not suspicion of you.
- 5. Activate BankID — Your bank issues BankID — most people now use it through the BankID app, and a code device (kodebrikke) may also be offered depending on the bank and your situation. Do this at the branch while someone can help; setting it up later on your own is where people get stuck. Note that opening an account does not by itself guarantee BankID: banks apply their own identity and eligibility checks.
- 6. Give your account number to your employer — And to Skatteetaten, so any tax refund goes to a Norwegian account rather than being held.
- What to bring: Passport or accepted national ID document — valid, not expired. D-number or national identity number. Employment contract, or proof of study. Your Norwegian address. For non-EU citizens, your residence permit or residence card.
- What it costs: Opening an account is normally free. What varies between banks, and what you should compare before choosing, is the monthly account fee, the card fee, and whether BankID is included or charged annually — banks set these themselves and they change, so we do not publish figures that would be wrong within a year. Ask for the price list (prisliste) in writing at the appointment. Nothing about opening an account, in itself, should cost a large sum. If it does, ask what for.
- How long it takes: No bank publishes a guaranteed timescale, and the honest answer is that it depends on the branch, the season, and whether your paperwork is complete. Assume weeks, not days, and start in your first week in Norway rather than when your first salary is due. BankID is usually issued in the same appointment or within a few days of the account opening.
- Leaving it until you need it — Everything else — tax, doctor, housing applications, benefits — waits behind BankID. It is the bottleneck of the first months, so it should be the first thing you queue for.
- Believing you have been refused when you have been asked a question — Being asked where your money comes from is standard anti-money-laundering procedure applied to everyone. Answer it plainly.
- Accepting a refusal as final — Norwegian law gives you a right to an account. See below.
- Sharing BankID codes — Nobody legitimate will ever ask for them — not your bank, not the police, not Skatteetaten. Anyone who does is committing fraud against you.
- Not registering the account with Skatteetaten — A refund with nowhere to go simply sits there.
- If a bank turns you down
- This is the part that is rarely explained, and it matters. Under the Financial Contracts Act a financial institution may not refuse to open an account or provide payment services without legitimate grounds, and it must tell you of a refusal without unreasonable delay. Finanstilsynet, the financial supervisory authority, has been explicit that people, whole groups or whole sectors may not be refused financial services simply because of a perceived money-laundering risk — the practice known as de-risking. A bank must make an individual assessment, and must consider whether limiting or blocking particular services would be enough before refusing the customer relationship at all. In practice this means: ask for the refusal and its reason in writing, then ask another bank. If you believe you have been refused without an individual assessment, the refusal can be complained about — the Norwegian Financial Services Complaints Board (Finansklagenemnda) handles consumer complaints against banks, and Finanstilsynet supervises the rules themselves.
- EU/EEA and non-EU
- The account requirements are the same for everyone: a Norwegian identification number and verified identity. The difference is upstream. EU/EEA citizens can obtain a D-number as soon as they are working, so the path is short. Non-EU citizens normally need a residence permit before any of it begins, and should expect banks to ask to see the permit alongside the passport.
Moving to Norway or just arrived? NorgeStart explains Norwegian bureaucracy, work, taxes, housing, healthcare and daily life in plain language — with an AI assistant that explains important documents and gives clear, source-based answers.