Inside the Race to Integrate Swish and Instant Payments in Sweden

When Swish first launched, it was designed exclusively for banks—an ecosystem controlled by the largest financial institutions in Sweden. For years, this meant that fintechs and PSPs could only access Swish indirectly, relying on bank partnerships to offer Sweden’s most popular payment method. That landscape is now changing. With Getswish opening the door to PSP participation, the industry has been buzzing with announcements and speculation. Every major PSP is racing to become the first to go live with a direct Swish integration, but so far, no one has crossed the finish line. The extended timeline for setup, particularly the connection to RIX-INST, the Riksbank’s instant settlement system, has made this a hurdle that even leading PSPs haven’t cleared yet.

At Moonrise by Lunar, we know what matters when fintechs enter the Nordic market: speed, compliance, and seamless access to the payment methods that local consumers trust. In Sweden, that means Swish. With over eight million active users and more than 100 million transactions every month, Swish isn’t just popular—it’s the standard.

That’s why more and more fintechs are turning to Moonrise. We were amongst the first to open up Swish connectivity for fintechs, and today we offer one of  the fastest, most flexible ways to integrate Swish - regardless if you want to go with a simple indirect model, or if you want to go direct to Swish yourself.

Many fintechs choose to start with indirect access to Swish  through Moonrise. This model allows you to get to market quickly with minimal engineering effort: no separate Swish contract, no independent API certification, and no additional operational overhead. You integrate with Moonrise once, select your preferred Swish TSP—or act as one yourself—and we handle the rest, giving you instant access to Swish while you focus on growth and customer experience. When you’re ready, moving from indirect to direct Swish participation is a seamless configuration change on the Moonrise side, though requirements such as obtaining a BIC, joining the Nordic Payments Council, and other direct-participant obligations would still apply.

For fintechs that want full control of their Swish presence from day one, Moonrise also supports direct Swish participation combined with settlement via RIX-INST through our infrastructure. This option allows you to operate as a Swish member while leveraging Moonrise to manage connectivity, liquidity, and operational resilience. The result is the credibility and flexibility of direct participation, with a significantly lighter lift for your internal teams.

It’s worth noting that even some of the larger fintechs choose not to build a direct Swish integration themselves. The technical requirements are significant, involving real-time fraud monitoring, ISO 20022 messaging standards, and always-on operational readiness. When the commercial terms for some use cases are taken into account, the business case can be hard to justify. Rather than committing to a long and costly implementation, these companies can now choose a partner like Moonrise, as we already have the infrastructure in place. With us, they can focus on user experience and growth while we handle the heavy lifting.

At Moonrise, we provide a path that fits your business needs. Whether starting with indirect access to Swish to get live quickly or moving into direct participation with RIX-INST settlement managed by us, you benefit from a smooth, future-proof integration. One connection opens the door to the Nordics today and positions your business for the evolving instant payment landscape of tomorrow.

With Moonrise, launching Swish in Sweden takes weeks, not months, and scaling happens without disruption. For fintechs looking for a reliable partner to simplify Nordic payments, Moonrise is the obvious choice.