High-tech Sweden edges closer to becoming cashless society

High-tech Sweden edges closer to becoming cashless society

www.canadianbusiness.com

“STOCKHOLM - Sweden was the first European country to introduce bank notes in 1661. Now it's come farther than most on the path toward getting rid of them.
"I can't see why we should be printing bank notes at all anymore," says Bjoern Ulvaeus, former member of 1970's pop group ABBA, and a vocal proponent for a world without cash.
The contours of such a society are starting to take shape in this high-tech nation, frustrating those who prefer coins and bills over digital money.
In most Swedish cities, public buses don't accept cash; tickets are prepaid or purchased with a cellphone te

(visit the link for the full news article)

I did a search, but couldn’t find anything on this topic. If it already exists, then please Mods, remove this thread. Thank you!


So, it is getting closer and closer, no more coins, no more bill, just cold hard plastic.
I know several older folks who would be absolutely lost when this cashless payment plan comes in effect here.




www.canadianbusiness.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by CB6699

Eek! A cashless society, hell no! Then again, Sweden has one of the highest rates of income tax in the world but still, major government control. Down with Sweden and it's Stockholm Syndrome.

How do I pay someone who is not approved under this scheme as I would currently do with cash?
Am I now forced into barter which will also become illegal due to health and safety concerns?
What if I become "unlicensed" and no longer approved to receive fantasy payments?
Am I forced to become criminal to survive once exiled from this riduculous system?

Or will my fears be unfounded and alternative payment methods will be permitted and endorsed equally? HA!

they just want to be able to see what everyone is doing with their money.

for the same reasons they want to spy on us with every single new device coming out and digital boxes on our TV's and warrantless searches of our internet history.

NO BIGGIE GUYZ

The flip side is the risk of cybercrimes. According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention the number of computerized fraud cases, including skimming, surged to nearly 20,000 in 2011 from 3,304 in 2000.

Interesting article. Someone is making a "cut" from all of those plastic transactions. Give me a minute. Let me think. Ah, yes--the Banks! The other criminals they didn't mention.

So, a newspaper advert where someone wants to sell, say a fishtank for $100 on the secondhand market.... Little Timmy can't get a tank because private sales will be kaput!! Little Timmy cant even learn about saving with coins, something thats physical and meaningful!

This Swedish report isn't anything newsworthy, in fact it's really old news to be quite truthful.
Here in Australia, it was determined as far back as last year that we, plus New Zealand and Canada, were well onto our individual paths of moving away from the use of hard cash and favouring electronic forms of monetary transactions.

I never heard of this to come into effect in Canada anytime soon.
As for Sweden, according to the article, it states that “Bills and coins represent only 3 per cent of Sweden's economy”.
And according to ABBA’s Bjoern: “ Three per cent is still too much”.

Personally, I don’t like this scenario. I rather pay in cash, since I have the option this way to keep my transaction fees down.
I can just envision, little kiddies equipped with banking cards , just to go and buy an ice cream or a pack of gum. Price of gum, 85 cents, transaction fee, $1.50.


It seems to be turning into reality now, at least in Sweden.
But once one country is putting this into effect, other countries are soon to follow.

And yes, I just have found another article about this from 2010, so now I’m asking myself if this story is just being warmed up, or are we actually now a step closer to being a cashless society, sort of, a heads up warning?

This is happening everywhere. Simply as a matter of convenience and efficiency it makes sense that technologically advanced nations are slowly emerging into a more technology-dominated culture, this involves things ranging from social networking to a decrease in the use of coins/notes as currency. It's a sign of progress.

Canada? We use more coins as money than anywhere isle I think. Our ones and twos are coins.

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
reply to post by CB6699

 

Eek!

A cashless society, hell no! Then again, Sweden has one of the highest rates of income tax in the world but still, major government control. Down with Sweden and it's Stockholm Syndrome.

edit on 17/3/12 by LightSpeedDriver because: Typo

Hehe, I never thought of it that way- that we Swedes suffer from a Stockholm Syndrome in that sense that the gov't it keeping us hostage (which is a totally valid argument when it comes to citizens and governments world wide). Still, the government influence over us has dimished dramatically over the last 20 years. Most of it is on the private market now- healthcare, pharmacies, public transport, railroad traffic...even telecommunications and electricity, lol!

But seriously, the non-cash deal on the buses and such has more to do with the rate of violent crime that was aimed at busdrivers a few years back. It has stopped completely now, for obvious reasons.

Originally posted by CB6699
I never heard of this to come into effect in Canada anytime soon.
As for Sweden, according to the article, it states that “Bills and coins represent only 3 per cent of Sweden's economy”.
And according to ABBA’s Bjoern: “ Three per cent is still too much”.

Personally, I don’t like this scenario. I rather pay in cash, since I have the option this way to keep my transaction fees down.
I can just envision, little kiddies equipped with banking cards , just to go and buy an ice cream or a pack of gum. Price of gum, 85 cents, transaction fee, $1.50.


It seems to be turning into reality now, at least in Sweden.
But once one country is putting this into effect, other countries are soon to follow.

And yes, I just have found another article about this from 2010, so now I’m asking myself if this story is just being warmed up, or are we actually now a step closer to being a cashless society, sort of, a heads up warning?

You are right about this.. i didnt think about the children who only want to buy a 60p sweet.... surely some cash will have to stay in circulation for these reasons as children arent allowed bank cards until they reach 16 or so... i can imagine a 9 year old at the shop with a payphone but wont know how to use it.... are shopkeepers going to help all these kids out with their payments when their parents aren't around????

As for me, i prefer cash still... i dont like to use cards just to pay for the food or buy a pair of shoes or even pay for my travel.... i don't want people knowing where i am at any given point when i use my card or phone to pay for something....

Although i do see the ease of use by swiping your phone ... i dunno....

What about when you go away for trek in the mountains and you stop off at a mini cafe... are they going to have this technology? You've gone to the mountains to get away from cctv and other tech yet they will still know where you are when you swipe your phone!!

reply to post by Raud

I can understand them wanting to stop busdrivers and suchlike from being robbed but like so many government actions they are not curing the problem but only treating the symptom. Not to mention using (what I assume is still) a well-known and loved star to sway public opinion in favour of their proposed solution. Ugh, and a vicar too.

Personally I believe that banks and governments are one and if not it is at least a symbiotic if not parasitic relationship. The measures proposed will only serve to give them more control and insight into peoples personal finances and habits and I don't like that at all. Rest assured you are not alone, Holland will be making electronic travel cards compulsory by the end of this year but you can buy an "anonymous" card over the counter which i linked to nothing. Using this card costs money (7.50 to buy the empty card) and using it on public transport is more expensive (slightly) than the old methods they had here. (I won't mention the fact that the chip used (Mifare) in our cards has known and exploitable weaknesses)

I see a cashless society as a bad thing because it limits our personal freedoms. No more personal transactions between citizens would be possible. Drug dealers would find something else to use as "currency" (did you read the thread recently about Tide washing powder? ) and other criminals would do the same. Plus, who's to say that they don't just make "money" some worthless thing that they are free to create as much as they want with little or no oversight? Sorry governments worldwide, you forced the money on the people, then you removed the backing of it with precious metals and now you want to take it all away? Strange days indeed...

As someone in his early 20:s living in Sweden, I have mixed feelings about this motion towards a cashless society.
I am personally quite annoyed when smaller stores & kiosks do not accept cards, as I rarely carry cash with me, with the exception of some meal vouchers (roughly translated to national coupons, however they are paid out by employers as a part of your salary to give cheaper lunches, generally accepted by most restaurants). The downside is that I find an immaterial form of money easier to spend carelessly (much like your bailoutees across the pond, I guess).

As for the people complaining about private sales becoming harder; The article did mention a popular startup from over here, named iZettle, which addresses this exact problem. The idea is to enable small transfers between two individuals or smaller businesses.
They also state that:

iZettle meets all the requirements of the card payment industry. We are EMV approved and comply with PCI-DSS regulations. No sensitive data is ever stored on the mobile device, and all data traffic is encrypted.

Source: www.izettle.com...

All in all, I believe that cash playing a smaller role in the ever digitalizing society, is a natural step, and I for one welcome the convenience.

reply to post by aboveGoos


Is it free, or do they charge a fee?

We should not have to pay a fee to a third party just to make a private transaction. It's another one of those hidden bank taxes, making money per transaction.

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
reply to post by Raud

 

I can understand them wanting to stop busdrivers and suchlike from being robbed but like so many government actions they are not curing the problem but only treating the symptom. Not to mention using (what I assume is still) a well-known and loved star to sway public opinion in favour of their proposed solution. Ugh, and a vicar too.

I would argue that a vicar being used in a Swedish context, a country generally referred to as one of the most atheist countries on earth, is more about the fact that even the church, an entity generally a few years behind in technology, has adopted this solution, than it is about swaying opinion by means of love or respect. I'm not saying Swedish people don't respect their vicars, it's just that they don't play the same role as they might have done in other, more theistic nations.

Originally posted by TKDRL
reply to post by aboveGoos

 

Is it free, or do they charge a fee?

We should not have to pay a fee to a third party just to make a private transaction. It's another one of those hidden bank taxes, making money per transaction.

edit on Sun, 18 Mar 2012 11:16:56 -0500 by TKDRL because: (no reason given)

As it is a private startup, I would be surprised if they didn't. Everyone wants to make a profit, and no one would spend the time and money of making such a service, only to give it away free.

Their site states:

There are no hidden fees, monthly contracts or lengthy sign-up processes with iZettle. The iZettle chip-card reader and app are free and we only charge per transaction. The price per transaction varies between countries but is approximately €0.15 + 2.75% of the transaction amount.

And that would be about 4.25 kroners out of a 100 kroner transaction. (or about 60 cents out of a $15 transaction)

With what will they fill the brown envelopes when it comes time to bribe some public official?

You can't put an electronic payment in an envelope. There will always be cash.

I love this idea!!!

If everybody could get on board, then we could advance as a society...a global society.

I support this.

Originally posted by lifeissacred
This is happening everywhere. Simply as a matter of convenience and efficiency it makes sense that technologically advanced nations are slowly emerging into a more technology-dominated culture, this involves things ranging from social networking to a decrease in the use of coins/notes as currency. It's a sign of progress.

I agree!!

I also see this as a sign of progress, and all nations should get on board.

I am not sure why a global state or NWO is still looked at with a negative connotation....I have come around to seeing how a NWO would progressively gear us to becoming a Type 1 Civilization.

I love this