If there is only one major player, there are not many options if that player encounters problems and is down for a few hours, says Elin Ritola, the Swedish Central Bank's head of payment analysis and innovation.
According to a compilation made by SVT , over 180 incidents have affected Swish in the past year. Most recently, on Thursday, the payment service was down for nearly three hours. The services are used by more than 8.5 million Swedes, and the disruptions have raised the question of whether we have put too many eggs in the same basket when it comes to the digital financial infrastructure.
It is the major banks that jointly own Swish and Bank-id. In November, the Swedish Central Bank opened up its central payment system for more types of fast payments, but interest in launching alternatives has so far been low.
According to the Swedish Bankers' Association, increased competition in the area is not a solution to the problems.
"Regardless of who runs a service, everyone will have the same challenges, such as Bank-id, when it comes to cyber attacks", writes the industry organization in an email to SVT.
