Sparebanken Norge

The role

Through the credit tool Kred, 60 per cent of all retail loan cases are now fully digital.¹ In practice, only the deviations in today’s loan process are handled by people.²

The change

Sparebanken Norge has started a transformation programme.³ As part of it, the bank plans to reduce staffing in some divisions by between 100 and 120 full-time equivalents.⁴ The measures will be carried out during 2026.⁵ The full-time equivalents are to be cut in staff and support functions, personal banking and direct banking.⁶ Overall, the number of full-time equivalents in the bank will probably stay at about today’s level over time.⁷

The chief executive, Jan Erik Kjerpeseth, told DN that it is about profit being under pressure.⁸ He also pointed to new technology such as artificial intelligence, which he said would replace several work tasks.⁹ It could be anti-money-laundering work, spot checks or development of case-handling tools in customer advice.¹⁰

What happened next

Pål Behrens is head of working life at Finansforbundet, the country’s largest trade union in finance.¹¹ He said they believe there is no basis for dismissals, and that the bank must solve it through restructuring or voluntary severance packages.¹² The employees deny that artificial intelligence has already created a need to cut staff.¹³

Open questions

• How many full-time equivalents had gone by the end of 2026, and which divisions carried the reduction?
• What did the bank report at its capital markets day in August 2026 about the programme’s financial effects?
• Did direct banking or personal banking report longer waits, more complaints or more errors after the roles went?
• Did the anti-money-laundering work and spot checks that moved to artificial intelligence produce cases that people had to take up?
• Did the customer divisions grow as the bank said, so that total headcount stayed level?

Footnotes

1. “Gjennom kredittverktøyet «Kred» er nå 60 prosent av alle lånesaker i personmarkedet fulldigitale.” ↩

2. “I dagens låneprosess er det i praksis kun avvikene som behandles av mennesker.” ↩

3. “Sparebanken Norge har igangsatt et varslet «transformasjonsprogram» for å styrke sin konkurransekraft.” ↩

4. “Som en del av dette planlegger banken å redusere bemanningen i enkelte divisjoner med mellom 100 og 120 årsverk.” ↩

5. “Tiltakene skal gjennomføres i løpet av 2026.” ↩

6. “Det er årsverk innen stab- og støttefunksjoner, personmarked og direktebank som skal kuttes, fremgår det av meldingen.” ↩

7. “Samlet sett vil derfor antall årsverk i banken trolig forbli på «om lag dagens nivå over tid».” ↩

8. “Til DN sier konsernsjef Jan Erik Kjerpeseth at det handler om at fortjenesten er under press.” ↩

9. “Han peker også på at ny teknologi som kunstig intelligens «vil erstatte flere arbeidsoppgaver».” ↩

10. “– Det kan være antihvitvaskarbeid, stikkprøvekontroller eller utvikling av saksbehandlingsverktøy innen kunderådgivning.” ↩

11. “Pål Behrens er leder for arbeidsliv i Finansforbundet – landets største fagforening innen finans.” ↩

12. “Behrens forteller at de mener det ikke er grunnlag for oppsigelser, men at banken må løse det gjennom omstilling, eventuelt frivillige sluttpakker.” ↩

13. “De ansatte avviser at KI allerede har skapt behov for å kutte i staben.” ↩