Since the mid-1990s Handelsbanken has been expanding its universal banking operations into the other Nordic countries, and also in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

In October 2021 Handelsbanken announced that it would focus on its main markets Britain, Sweden and Norway and sell its operations in Finland and Denmark.

[6] Handelsbanken began operating 1 July 1871 in rented space in the commercial and financial district in the central Old Town.

The merge of the Julius Geber & Co banking company into Handelsbanken in 1906 contributed to its prominence in the Swedish foreign exchange market.

[4] In 1922, Handelsbanken failed to show a profit for the first time in its existence and in 1922–1923 it consolidated its activities, and made some write-downs, reductions in dividends and reserved funds to cover losses.

The worldwide depression following the Wall Street crash of 1929 led to reduced profits, and problems for borrowers resulted in the bank taking over stock in several industrial companies to secure their loans.

In the 1955 to 1965 period, 157 new branch offices were opened, many of these in the newly built suburbs of Stockholm, in order to increase the number of customers and to expand deposits.

During this time, Handelsbanken was also the subject of specific criticism from media and authorities, including foreign exchange transactions in 1969 that contravened regulations.

Much of the decision making was decentralised to the local and regional level, and the financial management and control system was overhauled, by focusing more on reporting and less on central budgeting.

Payment only takes place after retirement, which means that all employees are interested in securing the long-term profitability of the bank.

[4] In 1985, many aspects of the Swedish financial sector were deregulated which led to a considerable credit expansion in the following years.

From 1990, several smaller Norwegian, Finnish and Danish banks were acquired to build up Handelsbanken's activities and branch networks in the other Nordic countries.

[9] On 31 May 2023 S-Bank announced to acquire the Finnish private customer, asset management and investment services operations of Handelsbanken.