Swedbank EE review

Swedbank EE lists a debit card for everyday money and, separately, a credit card for borrowing. The debit side spends straight from the balance held in the account, while the credit side lets a balance be carried and paid back over time. Different rules and different costs apply to each product.

The credit card carries an annual fee of €24, charged for holding the card rather than for spending on it. The interest free period is the reason to hold it, so the fee earns its keep only if borrowing is cleared inside that window. A card that is never drawn on costs the fee for nothing.

The APR runs 19% to 22%, so a balance carried beyond the interest free period starts costing money quickly. That rate sits in the middle of what cards charge, with 20.97% typical across the listings. Anyone who cannot clear the balance inside the interest-free window pays that rate for the privilege.

Currency conversion costs 1%, which matches the common 1% seen across the listings. That is a live cost on every foreign purchase, so frequent spending abroad adds up quickly compared with keeping payments at home. The debit card does not waive it.

The debit card is aimed at the student and kids audience, covering students and younger account holders. That shapes the product: a straightforward debit card rather than a complex account, built for smaller, more everyday spending. It works as well for a first account as for a long-standing current account.

The rewards type is none, so nothing comes back on spending. The only listed benefit is an interest free period, which takes nothing off the balance owed and instead pauses interest while it is cleared. The card works as a borrowing tool rather than a card for earning on everyday spend.

Both listed products run on the same network, mastercard, so acceptance habits carry over from the debit card to the credit card. There is no second set of places to learn and no separate card to manage for everyday spending versus borrowing, which keeps the account simpler to run.