SVT Nyheter's review shows that online banks, just like the major banks they criticize, make more money the higher fees customers pay - fees that can also be difficult for the bank customer to see and understand.
- I think in principle there is no customer who knows about the gigantic commissions that online banks receive from other fund companies to mediate their funds, says Joacim Olsson, CEO of the interest group Aktiespararna.
Makes money on kickbacks
This is what it looks like: Online banks get a so-called kickback when they sell other people's funds.
This means that the online bank usually receives half of the fee back from the major bank and the fund companies.
A system where the online bank thus earns more the higher the fee is on the fund they sell to others.
According to Joacim Olsson, online banks want to appear as "savers' best friend".
- They set very low visible fees to the customer, while instead they have hidden commissions from, for example, the big banks and other fund companies, he says.
Last year, Avanza earned approximately SEK 300 million on such fund commissions.
Avanza: "Do not market funds that way"
Both Nordnet and Avanza more than tripled their profits after tax in 2020 compared with the previous year.
Today, online banks are significantly more profitable than large banks.
For every hundred kronor Avanza earns, the profit is around sixty kronor.
According to Rikard Josefson, Avanza does not highlight funds with higher fees.
- We never market funds in that way.
That you should buy an expensive one.
We market quite a lot of our own fund, Avanza Zero, which has zero fee, says Avanza's CEO Rikard Josefson.
Nordnet: "A completely transparent fee"
Nordnet's CEO Lars-Åke Norling writes to SVT Nyheter that the part of the fee that goes to Nordnet is completely transparent, and is shown to the customer in connection with an investment.
- This model is used by the majority of Swedish fund distributors, both banks and other platforms.
It is our opinion that this model is simple for our customers.
The savers only need to relate to a fee, the management fee, writes Lars-Åke Norling to SVT Nyheter.