1824 - The first local office opens
To facilitate the handling of cash and loans, the Riksbank opened regional offices in Göteborg and then, just afterwards, in Malmö.
The first regional office was opened in 1824, among other reasons to fill the gap left when the early form of commercial banks, known as discount houses, went bankrupt. In the 1890s, the Riksbank was the largest bank in the country in terms of providing loans to the business sector and general public. By 1910, following the heavy expansion and after the Riksbank gained its monopoly on the issuance of banknotes, there were 24 offices.
Until the start of the 1980s, the Riksbank had 23 offices, basically one in each county. About 500 people worked in the regional offices.
The offices conducted cash and lending operations to the general public, purchases and sales of premium bonds and the national debt account, administration of different types of investment accounts for companies and, of course, cash handling, as well as stock-keeping, distribution and authenticity and quality controls.
Ten or so committees of inquiry, between 1930 and 1980, questioned the tasks, number and organisation of the offices. The question was whether any private agents existed who could do this more efficiently. However, no decisions on major changes were taken. It was not until 1984, following yet another inquiry, that the regional offices started to be closed.
The reduction of the number of regional offices would allow the market to take responsibility for a larger share of distribution. The recirculation of cash would thus take place outside the Riksbank.
At the end of the 1990s, in conjunction with a new inquiry, the remaining offices were closed to the public.
In 2014, the office in Tumba was closed. And in the same year, the cash handling office in Broby was opened, at that time the only local office of the Riksbank (in the spring of 2021 a local office is opened in Jönköping and in 2022 another local office will be opened in Falun).
Start/closure
- Göteborg, 1824 - 1995
- Malmö, 1824 - 1999
- Luleå, 1872 - 1999
- Östersund, 1880 - 1994
- Växjö, 1881 - 1999
- Visby, 1851 - 1994
- Jönköping, 1885_ 1999
- Linköping, 1887- 1999
- Karlstad, 1889 - 1999
- Härnösand, 1890 - 1999
- Falun, 1892 - 1999
- Örebro, 1894 - 1999
- Umeå, 1896 - 1994
- Kalmar, 1897 - 1988
- Mariestad, 1897 - 1972
- Gävle, 1898 - 1997
- Karlskrona, 1899 - 1984
- Halmstad, 1901 - 1988
- Kristianstad, 1901 - 1984
- Nyköping, 1901 - 1988
- Västerås, 1902 - 1996
- Vänersborg, 1902 - 1995
- Uppsala, 1903 - 1996
- Sundsvall, 1905, - 1952
- Norrköping, 1910 - 1952
- Skövde, 1972 - 1996
- Borås, 1980 - 1986
- Mölndal, 1995 -1999 och 2004-2013
- Tumba, 2004 -2014
- Broby, opened 2014.