The proposal, which was presented last year, is part of the government's work to counteract the over-indebtedness that exists in Sweden.
Now the government is moving forward with a legislative referral.
It is a significant social problem, says the minister at a press conference.
May be forced to shut down
According to Wykman, much higher demands must be placed on lenders. The government therefore wants to remove the regulation that currently applies to the so-called fast loan companies.
The regulation is insufficient, he says.
If they want to continue their business, the companies, around seventy in the current situation, will now be forced to apply for a banking license. Or they will simply have to shut down.
An application for a banking license is made to the Financial Supervisory Authority (FI) and includes, among other things, a fee of 1.5 million kronor. After the application, the FI makes a decision within six months.
Only banks should be able to provide consumer credits.
Then completely different types of requirements come into play, not least when it comes to supervision, says Niklas Wykman and continues:
Those who currently operate will be able to, in an orderly manner, reorganize.
"Strong forces"
What do you see as the effect of this change?
Here we are fighting against strong forces. With today's technology, there are enormous opportunities to reach consumers with different types of offers.
But with the requirement for a banking license, combined with other tightening measures to stop bad credit lending, the government hopes to curb the development of more and more people ending up in debt traps.
That is the goal, says Niklas Wykman.
According to the comparison service Lendo, the proposal - that credit intermediaries are forced to become banks - means, among other things, reduced competition in the market.
"With the government's proposal, we must become a bank and start lending ourselves. It would be like comparison sites for flights being forced to start an airline and sell flight tickets", the company writes in a comment.
The changes are proposed to come into effect on July 1, 2025.
