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A new study out of Sweden says the tiny country is on course to become the world's first "cashless society," thanks in part to a mobile payment app called Swish.
The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm released a statement in October quoting researcher Niklas Arvidsson, who said cash is an important means of payment in many countries, "... but that no longer applies here in Sweden."
Arvidsson and his team of researchers said there are about 80 billion Swedish crowns in regular circulation, down from 106 billion six years ago. "And out of that amount, only somewhere between 40 and 60 percent is actually in regular circulation. ... Our use of cash is small, and it is decreasing rapidly."
Swish has more than 3.5 million users (of Sweden's total population of 9.5 million) and nearly 4.5 billion Swedish crowns were "Swished" in October.
(Score: 2) by scruffybeard on Tuesday November 10 2015, @01:55PM
Does this happen often in Sweden? I very rarely have large amounts of cash on me, mostly because my credit/debit cards are so reliable. Yes it always works, but it can be inconvenient to carry around more than a few hundred. I feel that your risk of loss/theft is higher than prolonged blackout conditions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 10 2015, @03:22PM
Here in The Netherlands blackouts aren't so often, but electronic payment is a few times a year unavailable for one to a few hours. Yet, there is a big push here as well for electronic payment only.