Banks and Digital Services

When you deposit money into a savings account, you are essentially lending your money to the bank.
The deposit becomes a liability for the bank and an asset for you as a customer.
The bank can use the deposited funds to finance loans or investments, but is always obliged to repay your money in accordance with the account terms.

As compensation for lending your money, you receive interest, which acts as payment for allowing the bank to use your funds.
This is why savings interest rates are influenced by market rates and monetary policy, such as the Riksbank’s policy rate.

At Nordiska, all savings accounts are reviewed and approved by Riksgälden and are covered by the Swedish government deposit guarantee.
This means the state guarantees your total deposits with Nordiska up to SEK 1,150,000 per customer.
Read more on Riksgälden’s website:
Bankaktiebolaget Nordiska (publ) – accounts covered by the deposit guarantee

In short:

• When you deposit money, it becomes a liability for the bank and a claim for you.

• The bank pays interest as compensation for using your money.

• Your deposits with Nordiska are protected by the Swedish deposit guarantee up to SEK 1,150,000 per customer.

Swish is a Swedish mobile payment service that allows users to quickly send and receive money between individuals, companies, and organisations using a mobile number linked to a bank account.
The service is jointly owned by several Swedish banks and uses BankID for secure identification.

Nordiska does not issue Swish, and it is not possible to use Swish for deposits or withdrawals to or from savings accounts with Nordiska.

To make a deposit to your savings account, please use Bankgiro 828-5975 and include your OCR number, which can be found by logging in to Nordiska’s Internet Bank.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science and mathematics that enables computers to analyse data, identify patterns, make decisions, and learn from experience.
Unlike traditional software, which follows fixed instructions, AI systems can improve their performance over time through a process known as machine learning (ML).

A simple example:

Imagine you show a computer a thousand pictures of 500-krona and 100-krona banknotes.
At first, the computer guesses wrong, but each time you tell it the correct answer, it adjusts itself a little.
After many attempts, it learns to recognise the difference on its own, even with new pictures it has never seen before. That’s exactly how AI learns – through practice and feedback, just like we humans do.

The basic principle of AI

AI aims to replicate aspects of human cognition.
Instead of using hard-coded rules, AI relies on artificial neural networks – mathematical structures made up of thousands or even millions of interconnected “nodes” (neurons).

Each node receives input, applies a weight (importance value), processes the data, and passes the result to the next layer of nodes.
During training, these weights are continuously adjusted so that the model’s predictions become more accurate.
This process, called backpropagation, allows the model to learn from errors and refine itself.

Training an AI system requires:

• Large datasets (training data) – examples from which the model learns patterns.

• Optimisation algorithms – mathematical procedures that minimise prediction errors.

• Computational power (GPU/TPU) – high-performance processors capable of running billions of calculations in parallel.

The result is a system that can recognise patterns, make predictions, and even generate new content based on what it has learned.

Different types of AI

AI is an umbrella term covering several distinct approaches, each used for different purposes in finance, industry, and everyday life:

• Rule-based AI
  – Follows predefined logical rules (“if X, then Y”).
  – Example: early credit-scoring systems or basic customer-service bots.

• Machine Learning (ML)
  – Learns relationships from data to predict outcomes or classify information.
  – Example: fraud detection, credit-risk assessment.

• Deep Learning
  – Uses multi-layer neural networks capable of identifying very complex patterns.
  – Example: speech recognition, image analysis, natural-language understanding.

• Generative AI (GenAI)
  – Can create new content such as text, code, images, or speech.
  – Powered by Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT models, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, and Meta LLaMA.

LLMs are trained on enormous text datasets to learn the statistical likelihood of words occurring together.
When you ask a question, the model generates a response word by word, based on probability – but enhanced by internal contextual representations known as embeddings.

How an AI model is trained – step by step

• Data collection
  Vast quantities of raw data (text, numbers, images, or transactions) are gathered.

• Pre-processing
  The data is cleaned, normalised, and anonymised to protect privacy.

• Training
  The model learns relationships between variables by adjusting its internal parameters (weights).

• Validation and testing
  The model is evaluated on unseen data to ensure it generalises correctly and does not overfit to training data.

• Fine-tuning
  For large language models, fine-tuning is used to align the model with specific tasks or domains – for example, Nordiska’s assistant Casey is fine-tuned on Nordiska’s product and account information, not on customer data.

• Deployment
  Once validated, the model is implemented in production under strict monitoring and governance.

How AI is used in banking and finance

Within financial services, AI is widely used to:

• Improve customer experience through chatbots and personalised digital service.

• Detect fraud and suspicious activity (AML/KYC monitoring).

• Forecast financial trends using predictive models.

• Automate back-office processes like document handling and risk reporting.

• Enhance cybersecurity by recognising abnormal network patterns in real time.

Security, ethics, and regulation

All AI systems at Nordiska are operated within strict regulatory and ethical frameworks:

• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

• Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen): guidelines on IT security and risk management are followed.

• EU AI Act (upcoming): Nordiska already aligns with its key principles of transparency, human control, and accountability.

• Internal Ethical Standards: Nordiska applies the principles of explainability, fairness, and responsibility in all AI-related work.

Example – AI in practice

Imagine an AI system designed to detect suspicious transactions:

• It is trained on historical data to learn what “normal” activity looks like.

• It then analyses new transactions and compares them to learned patterns.

• When it finds a deviation beyond an acceptable threshold, it flags it for manual review.

The same principle applies to language models. The system recognises linguistic patterns and determines the most probable word or response. AI is also utilised to identify and respond to common customer enquiries via our digital assistant, Casey, delivering faster, more accessible, and personalised service while maintaining the highest standards of security and data protection.

In short:

• AI works by learning patterns in data using neural networks and algorithms.

• Nordiska uses AI to enhance security, efficiency, and customer service – never to replace human decision-making.

• All AI use is governed by GDPR, Finansinspektionen’s regulations, and the forthcoming EU AI Act.

• Nordiska monitors the development of global AI models (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, and others) and adopts only secure, compliant solutions.

A bank, such as Nordiska, is authorised by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) to conduct banking operations under the Banking and Financing Business Act (2004:297).
This means the bank has the right to offer savings, lending, and payment services, but the range of products and services varies between banks.
Customer funds are normally covered by the Swedish deposit guarantee.
Banks are supervised by Finansinspektionen and must comply with strict rules on capital, security, and consumer protection.

At Nordiska, all savings accounts are covered by the Swedish government deposit guarantee, which is administered by the Swedish National Debt Office (Riksgälden).
This means that the state guarantees your total deposits with Nordiska up to SEK 1,150,000 per customer.
More information is available on Riksgälden’s website: Bankaktiebolaget Nordiska (publ) – accounts covered by the guarantee

A neobank is not a legal banking term but refers to new, digital financial institutions that provide bank-like services entirely online, often through apps or web platforms.
Some neobanks hold a banking licence within the EU and are supervised by a national financial authority, while others operate as payment institutions or fintech companies without a full banking licence.

This means that regulation, consumer protection, and deposit guarantees may differ between neobanks.
Neobanks without a banking licence are not covered by the Swedish deposit guarantee, and for banks licensed in another EU country, the deposit guarantee in that country applies instead.

BankID is an electronic identification (e-ID) used to securely verify your identity and sign documents digitally with companies, authorities, and banks.
With BankID, you can log in to your bank, access government services, or sign agreements online – securely and legally binding.

BankID is issued by Swedish banks that are part of the BankID system.
Examples of banks that issue BankID include:
Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, ICA Banken, Länsförsäkringar Bank, Nordea, SEB, Skandiabanken, Sparbanken Syd, Swedbank and the Savings Banks, and Ålandsbanken.

More information is available at bankid.com.

About Nordiska

Nordiska is a Swedish bank that provides innovative financial products for both businesses and consumers.
The bank offers savings, lending, and payment services, both under its own brand and through partners, as well as sustainable savings covered by the Swedish government deposit guarantee.
Nordiska is supervised by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) and licensed to conduct banking operations under the Banking and Financing Business Act (2004:297).

At present, Nordiska does not issue BankID.

Inflation means that the prices of goods and services increase over time, which reduces the purchasing power of money.
For example, if inflation is 4 % per year, something that cost SEK 100 last year now costs SEK 104.
This means your money loses value if your interest rate is lower than the inflation rate.

Why does inflation occur?

Inflation happens when demand exceeds supply, or when production costs rise.
Common causes include:

• Consumers and businesses buying more than what’s produced (demand-pull inflation).

• Higher costs for raw materials, energy, or wages (cost-push inflation).

• A weaker currency, making imports more expensive.

A small amount of inflation is normal – the Riksbank’s target is around 2 % per year, considered a healthy and stable level for economic growth.

How does inflation affect savings and interest rates?

For savers, inflation means that money loses value in real terms if the savings rate is lower than inflation.
For example, if you have SEK 100,000 at 2 % interest while inflation is 4 %, your balance grows to SEK 102,000,
but since prices have risen by 4 %, your purchasing power has effectively fallen by 2 %.

Inflation directly affects the Riksbank’s policy rate:

• When inflation is too high, the rate is raised to cool the economy.

• When inflation is too low, the rate is lowered to stimulate demand.

Banks like Nordiska are affected by these changes — when the policy rate rises, funding costs increase, leading to higher savings and lending rates.

How banks are affected by inflation

Inflation impacts banks through:

• Higher funding and capital costs.

• Lower loan demand when borrowing becomes more expensive.

• Increased demand for savings accounts when interest rates rise.

• A changing real value of deposits, since deposits are bank liabilities.

Stable inflation is therefore essential for both banks and customers.

Security at Nordiska

At Nordiska, all savings accounts are covered by the Swedish government deposit guarantee,
which protects your total deposits up to SEK 1,150,000 per customer, administered by Riksgälden.
This ensures your savings remain safe, even when inflation or interest rates fluctuate.