Why Sweden is abandoning its cashless society
Sweden was predicted to become entirely cashless by 2030.
As the nation developed its personal cell fee system, known as Swish, banks slowly stopped dealing with money, and tills disappeared from outlets.
With money circulation the bottom as a share of GDP within the global community, Swedish progress was lauded, and observers questioned the way it had cast to this point forward of the remainder of Europe so shortly.
An indication on a retailer advertises it as a cash-free institution, and thanks clients for paying by card or by Swish – Belinda Jiao for The Telegraph
It all modified when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Realising that reliance on an digital fee system left Sweden vulnerable to blackouts or sabotage, the Riksbank – Sweden’s central financial institution – urged civilians to maintain 1,000 Swedish kronor (£80) per grownup at house.
The authorities issued a brochure entitled “If Crisis or War Comes” to each family, advising Swedes to make use of money recurrently to “strengthen preparedness”.
A authorities pamphlet advises Swedes what to do within the occasion of warfare or one other disaster – TT News Agency/AFP through Getty Images/Claudio Bresciani
Erik Thedeen, the Riksbank governor, instructed The Telegraph that Sweden takes the specter of Russian hybrid assaults critically.
“We ought to do no matter it takes to safeguard Sweden in varied facets, each army and civil. It’s very exhausting for anybody to be towards that, given the place we’re in these safety conditions. I believe the pushback has been very restricted,” he mentioned.
In July, the financial institution introduced that important outlets resembling grocers and pharmacies with staffed checkouts needed to settle for bodily money.
While some Swedes welcomed the return of money to reduce barriers for the elderly, the bulk say they won’t be changing their digital habits.
Erik Thedeen, the governor of Sweden’s Riksbank, says the nation takes the specter of hybrid warfare critically – TT News Agency/AFP through Getty Images/Pontus Lundahl
According to knowledge from the Riksbank, solely 5 per cent of consumers mentioned that they had paid money for his or her final in-store buy in 2025, in contrast with 10 per cent in 2023 and 40 per cent 15 years in the past.
This matches the Nordic mannequin. Only 2 per cent of Norwegians and eight per cent of Danes reported utilizing money for his or her most up-to-date in-store buy, a Riksbank survey from the tip of final yr discovered. In the euro space, money continues to be the commonest technique of fee in outlets.
“We do not deal with money however now the regulation says we must always, annoyingly,” Stefan Blomvurst, a Spanish deli store assistant, instructed The Telegraph.
“I perceive you would want money should you go to the pharmacy or large grocery store, however we’re a speciality retailer so I do not assume we must always have to just accept money.
“It’s lots to deal with and it is also unsafe. I simply really feel prefer it’s foolish and outdated. I believe possibly in just a few weeks we’ll must get a money register in. Nobody’s going to make use of it.”
Some Swedish shops have put in machines which depend cash as clients drop them in at a checkout – Belinda Jiao for The Telegraph
The majority of the deli’s clients pay by card, Mr Blomvurst, 44, says. “Maybe just a few individuals have been aggravated that we do not settle for money, however now these are the identical individuals which might be going to return again and ensure we take money now.”
He can’t bear in mind the final time he used money and feels no urgency to take action regardless of the Russian menace. “But I’m additionally fairly naive, to be sincere,” he admits. “I do not also have a card. I misplaced it. Apple Pay is all I’ve.”
Meanwhile, Mr Thedeen was capable of practise what he preached throughout a visit to the grocery store just lately, he mentioned.
The financial institution chief defined: “The cashier mentioned: ‘We cannot take any playing cards as a result of the system has damaged down, however we may settle for money.’
“I used to be the one one standing within the line after that message. But I truly had money. I may pay for my meals and go house. It is definitely good generally for resilience causes, and I do use it generally, however not fairly often.”
Inspiration from Ukraine
The nation takes inspiration from Ukraine, which quickly tailored to a brand new digital system below warfare circumstances.
Statistics from the National Bank of Ukraine present that 9 out of 10 transactions are cashless, elevating the query of whether or not a return to money is the reply.
“The Ukraine instance is fascinating,” says Mr Thedeen. “You first noticed individuals withdrawing more money, then it turned a bit of impractical so individuals began to belief the digital system, though they have been in warfare.”
In a rustic so digitalised, the place parking tickets are paid for with apps and “no money” indicators are pasted in store home windows, it can take much more for Mr Thedeen to persuade Swedes that money is really king.
Dr Anna Chotigasatien, who lives in Stockholm, says she solely makes use of money for her youngsters’s pocket cash – Belinda Jiao for The Telegraph
“I give it to my children as a weekly allowance, however I do not use money ever,” says Anna Chotigasatien, a 41-year-old physician.
“I believe companies might be annoyed by the change as a result of I believe the danger of theft and the danger of issues going incorrect presently is far much less.”
However, she says that with the rise of AI and uncertainty surrounding the digital age, there might be damaging repercussions from leaving bodily foreign money behind.
“Sweden is the sort of nation that at all times needs to be developed when one thing new comes, like we have been fairly early with iPads at school,” she says.
“Now they’ve seen that is truly not excellent, that youngsters cannot write and use, like, scissors as a result of they do not use their palms. We have tried to be a bit of bit too developed.”
Nella Lennartsson, a 21-year-old bartender, isn’t any stranger to money. “We have many elderly individuals from the outdated individuals’s house subsequent door. Everyone makes use of money,” she says.
Concerns over excluding the aged, who are likely to rely extra on money, have been introduced into debates throughout the nation’s normal elections final month, with the hard-Right Sweden Democrats calling for extra retailers and banks to just accept money as a way of fee and declaring: “We oppose a cashless society.”
A ‘Cash, sure please’ sign up a store illustrates the divide between Swedes – Marc Femenia
According to the Riksbank, virtually half of respondents in a survey from September 2025 thought-about the lowering use of money in Sweden as a “considerably” or “very damaging” improvement.
People outdoors large cities and over the age of 65 usually tend to be damaging in regards to the decline in money use. The proportion is considerably greater than in 2022, when it was at 36 per cent. This might be due to a rise in disaster consciousness following the outbreak of the Ukraine warfare.
“Cash is king,” one aged man tells The Telegraph. “When one thing is predicated on electronics, it can break ultimately.”
