If Sweden becomes the first cashless society, could the UK be next?

a reply to: stormcell


Ultimately everyone has to do what they feel is right, giving my bank information out to be written down just seems like an unnecessary risk to me.

Much easier to keep cash on hand for emergencies.

I have lots of opinions on the banksters wanting their cashless society and the problems they need to overcome to to see this happen. Like illegal activities, drugs and prostitution etc, all require cash and are all services the rich and powerful use - Bitcoin would handle this nicely.

But it only just occurred to me the other day, what about the homeless people? Those that survive on the cash given by the public on a daily basis. It is ironic that our homeless people can give us a moral leg to stand on and fight this cashless vision that I personally don't want to see. Does Sweden not have homeless people that beg for cash? *does a quick Google*

Sweden does indeed have homeless people who beg and I found this gem!

Stockholm's homeless now accept payments - by debit card

Sweden’s cashless society
Sweden is edging closer to a “cashless society” where barely anyone below the age of 40 carries cash on a routine basis, said iZettle chief executive Jacob de Geer, who said that the public were happy to trust their card details to homeless people because they trusted the credit card chop system.

Nice puff piece for the cashless system, but I am reminded of the ole ditty, "there's a hole in my bucket.." as I wonder how their beggars survive if mostly no one carries cash there to begin with? Is it only over 40's that give money to beggars in Sweden?

a reply to: Dae

What about children and teenagers? Are they supposed to have card readers every time their birthdays come around or a relative visits?



It's a ridiculous idea to abandon cash!!

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: stormcell


Ultimately everyone has to do what they feel is right, giving my bank information out to be written down just seems like an unnecessary risk to me.

Much easier to keep cash on hand for emergencies.

It was simply the data on your debit card (name, account number and signature). They would have a digital copy anyway. The shop assistants did say, you don't need to use your real name or address, just the account number is verified.

a reply to: stormcell

*shrugs* to each their own, I do not like the idea of giving out information that can easily be pilfered.

At least in theory the digital version has a layer of protection, maybe not a great one but its there.

Something written on a notepad is something else in my book.

Either way.

originally posted by: Kandinsky
a reply to: Dae

What about children and teenagers? Are they supposed to have card readers every time their birthdays come around or a relative visits?
It's a ridiculous idea to abandon cash!!

Ach I imagine some cute App will come out, kids can level up in credit management, furthering the divorce of cash management to credit control.

I have a "penny jar" that gets more than pennies, 20's and 50's, its my way of saving for those days I need money, this behavior started in childhood with birthdays from relatives and is an important personal economic behavior. That initial saving is with physical cash, whether you spend it as cash or deposit it in bank later. That emergency cash is important! It means you can raid the penny jar without asking friends/relatives for help, or help them and raid the jar without it effecting your spends for the day. All sort of reasons!

originally posted by: Nickn3
With out cash how would I pay my bookie. bootlegger, supplier, or that working girl down the street? Oh, I see where this is going.

Email transfer.....

a reply to: Dae

Same here on the penny jar - saved an extra £200 for last Christmas.

Yep on the app idea. It'll be NFC on phones and taps to give the credits away.

Oh no!!! I've just had a flashback to that old Wesley Snipes movie...

Am I confused? Why would stores refuse cash when electronic transactions cost more? Even accounting for safety concerns, I can't see the benefit large enough to merit fees.

a reply to: Blender5L


This seems to me to be an exercise in 'opinion management' by the Swedish Central Bank.

If you read the statement carefully cash is being withdrawn centrally. The rest of the wording is couched in vagueries and "estimates".

The approach being say it often enough, and people will believe it.

So the Riksbank withdraw the highest denomination note, and count this as a reduction in the use of cash?

Whose "estimates" are that only a fifth of retail transactions are in cash? What does "a fifth? mean? A fifth in terms of money value, or a fifth in terms of the number of transactions?

What proportion of "Buses,Trains, and Resturant's" refuse cash? 100% or 10%?

How many is "many" of the country's banks don't allow deposits or withdrawl's of cash? Where are these banks? What kind of transactions do these banks typically handle? Retail? Commercial?

All in all a vague message wrapped in hot air.

The Brits tend to think the Nordics are very cool, loving everything from ABBA to the superb social welfare system, by way of 'Nordic Noir'.

So if the Swedes think its a great idea, may be the Brits should shed their stubborness and get on board?

Yeah, right....

Source:

“The declining use of cash in Sweden means that this is more of a burning issue for us than for most other central banks,” said Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor of the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank.

The amount of notes and coins in circulation in Sweden has fallen by 40 per cent since 2009, driven in part by the decision to eliminate the country’s largest denomination bill.

Rather than complaining, Swedes started using less of the second largest bill, the 500-krona note.

Now, by some estimates, only a fifth of Swedish retail transactions are conducted in cash.

Buses, trains, bars and restaurants all refuse it.

Many of the country’s bank branches don’t allow withdrawals or deposits of the hard stuff.

I think that if the British Government tried to move to a cashless economy it would be challenged almost immediately on a human rights basis. Because it would be a violation of Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, the fundamental right to privacy.

It's a pretty unwinnable argument from a Government perspective: If you make all transactions recorded and traceable, you are removing economic privacy from citizens. Financial privacy requires a portable medium, and that means cash.

(And yes, the privacy concern will still apply after Brexit, unless human rights legislation is drastically cut back).

What I can see, however, is a sort of "benign neglect" scenario in which the cash-in-your-pocket economy withers until say 2060, when it's become one of those old-fangled curiosities that fuddy-duddies queue for at the Post Office, like Premium Bonds and Postal Orders, and there's much less physical currency in existence as a result.

a reply to: DerBeobachter

That's the way it's returning yeah. Not liking it at all, the future isn't looking bright it's looking pale and gaunt.