Glossary
The words in Swedish loan agreements and representative examples, explained briefly in English, with the Swedish term in brackets.
Terms in Swedish loans and credit
- Amortisation (amortering)
- The part of the monthly payment that reduces the debt. The rest is interest and fees.
- Annuity loan (annuitetslån)
- A loan where you pay the same amount every month. The interest part falls and the amortisation part grows over time.
- Co-applicant (medsökande)
- A person who applies for the loan with you. Two incomes can lead to a yes or a lower rate, and both become liable for the whole debt.
- Consolidation loan (samlingslån)
- A new loan that clears several more expensive credits, so you have one payment and one rate.
- Cost cap (kostnadstak)
- The rule that credit costs may never exceed the original amount borrowed.
- Credit check (kreditupplysning)
- A check of your finances with a credit bureau, such as UC, Creditsafe or Dun & Bradstreet. Many checks in a short time lower your creditworthiness.
- Debt relief (skuldsanering)
- A decision by Kronofogden under which you pay what you can for a few years, after which the rest is written off.
- Effective interest rate (effektiv ränta)
- The total cost of the loan as a yearly percentage, including all fees. The figure to compare.
- High-cost credit (högkostnadskredit)
- Credit with an effective rate at least 30 percentage points above the reference rate, so 32% today. It is subject to special requirements for credit assessment and warnings.
- Interest rate cap (räntetak)
- The maximum nominal rate on consumer credit: the reference rate plus 20 percentage points, so 22.00% in the second half of 2026.
- KALP (kvar att leva på)
- Money left to live on. The bank’s calculation of what you have left after housing, loans and living costs.
- Kronofogden
- The Swedish Enforcement Authority, which collects unpaid debts. A debt there is a public or a private claim (allmänt mål or enskilt mål).
- Nominal interest rate (nominell ränta)
- The interest rate itself, without fees. Never higher than the effective rate.
- Payment remark (betalningsanmärkning)
- A note at the credit bureaus that an unpaid debt has gone to Kronofogden, for example a ruling on an order to pay (betalningsföreläggande). It stays for three years for private individuals.
- Reference rate (referensränta)
- The rate set by the Riksbank every six months that the interest rate cap is based on. 2.00% in the second half of 2026.
- Right of withdrawal (ångerrätt)
- Your right to withdraw from a credit agreement within 14 days. You pay interest only for the days you had the money.
- Setup fee (uppläggningsavgift)
- A one-off fee when the loan is paid out. It is included in the effective rate and weighs most on small loans.
- Straight amortisation (rak amortering)
- You pay the same amount of amortisation every month. High payments at first, lower towards the end.
- UC
- Upplysningscentralen, a credit bureau many Swedish banks use. You can get your own report free.
- Unsecured loan (blancolån)
- A loan for which you pledge nothing, such as a home or a car. The same thing as a personal loan.