Before you start

Kennitala from Registers Iceland
Passport and residence permit
Employment contract or other documentation of your reason to be here
An Icelandic address

Step-by-step

1
Get the kennitala first, and register legal domicile
Banks require the identity number, and legal domicile registration makes the rest of the relationship straightforward. Both come from Registers Iceland.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
2
Open an account at a branch and ask for electronic ID at the same time
Rafræn skilríki is issued after an in-person identity check and is normally arranged through your bank. It can sit on your SIM or in an authenticator app. Ask for it in the same appointment; going back later is an unnecessary trip.
In personWho: YouWeek 1–3
3
Register on Ísland.is and turn on the digital mailbox
Ísland.is is the national portal for tax, healthcare, vehicle registration, permits and municipal services, and it is genuinely one of the better government digital services anywhere. Official post arrives in its mailbox.
OnlineWho: You
4
Set up claims and direct debit for bills
Icelandic bills are issued as claims (kröfur) into your online bank rather than as invoices in the post. Set up direct payment so they are not missed — unpaid claims go to collection quickly and collection charges are steep.
OnlineWho: You
5
Think about currency exposure deliberately
The króna is one of the smallest independent currencies in the world and moved dramatically in 2008 and since. Holding all savings in ISK is a real concentration of risk for someone who may leave. Foreign currency accounts are available at Icelandic banks.
OnlineWho: You
6
Expect to be asked for your kennitala constantly
Shops, pharmacies, libraries, gyms and loyalty schemes all ask for it routinely, and it is not treated as sensitive the way an identity number is in most countries. It is public information in Iceland, which is disorienting at first and entirely normal here.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Kennitala
Passport
Residence permit or EEA registration
Employment contract
Icelandic address confirmation

Things most newcomers don’t know

Your kennitala is public information here, which is genuinely disorienting.

Icelandic identity numbers are not secret. They are searchable, printed on receipts, asked for at the pharmacy counter and used as a customer reference by ordinary shops. Because the number encodes your date of birth, this also means your age is effectively public. People arriving from countries where an identity number is guarded like a password find this alarming; in Iceland the security model relies on electronic ID rather than on the number being secret.

Source: Registers Iceland

Electronic ID tied to your SIM breaks when you change mobile operator.

Rafræn skilríki can be held on your SIM card or in an app. The SIM version is convenient until you switch operator or replace a lost phone, at which point it stops working and you are locked out of Ísland.is, your bank, your tax account and your health records simultaneously. The app version is more portable. Whichever you choose, know how to reissue it before you need to.

Source: Ísland.is

The króna is a very small currency and that is a real financial fact, not a curiosity.

Iceland has one of the smallest independent floating currencies in the world, and it lost a large share of its value against the euro during the 2008 banking collapse, with capital controls in place for years afterwards. Salaries, savings and pensions denominated in ISK carry a concentration risk that a euro or dollar earner does not have. For someone who plans to leave eventually, holding some savings outside the króna is a considered decision rather than a paranoid one.

Source: Central Bank of Iceland

Iceland is close to genuinely cashless, further along than most of the Nordics.

Card and contactless payment is accepted essentially everywhere, including small rural stops, public toilets and car parks, and Icelanders use cards for very small amounts as a matter of course. Cash is unusual enough that some businesses do not keep change. Arriving with a stock of króna notes, which travel guides still recommend, is unnecessary — a working card and a phone are all you need from the airport onwards.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Attempting to open an account before Registers Iceland has issued the kennitala.
Leaving the bank appointment without arranging electronic ID.
Changing mobile operator and losing SIM-based electronic ID without reissuing it.
Missing bank claims and collecting steep collection charges.
Holding all savings in króna without thinking about it.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.