No Cash???

                                               Summer In Scandinavia?
 Time to make those reservations, arrange the flight and check the bank account. Everyone warns us that it will be very expensive and you'll need lots of cash. Every one of those Scandinavian countries has their own currency and don’t care for the neighbor’s currency. In Norway, it’s NOK, in Sweden , it’s SEK and Denmark uses DKK! Then Finland likes the EURO. Confusion! So many changes!

Here, at home, we have had our own changes.President Nixon took us off the gold standard in the 1970s to

gold and silver, but everyone likes the ‘US Greenback’. Then it was “The Bit”! The ‘Bitcoin’ was the new currency in 2009 and an easy way of paying debts and saving money using electronics. However, it also turned out to be a good way for drugdealers and moneylaunderers to avoid detection. Hackers pulled $103,000.00 out of a security-protected account.  But now, I hear Swedish banks are making a change.              What’s happening in Sweden?

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The Swedish central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, recently has declared it's benchmark interest rate  to be a -35%., negative interest! What is

‘negative interest’? Apparently, this is a kind way of banks saying “ "Those  fees you pay when you use  bank services help us maintain  accounts rather than have the bank pay you interest”, while reminding  us to “Save money. Online services are available for your transactions.” Sweden have remained interested in the larger financial markets, but uninterested in cash. Sweden is becoming the closest country on the planet to becoming an all-electronic cashless society.

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The rumor is that if you use too much cash, Swedish banks might call the police because they think you might be a terrorist or a criminal. Due to the lack of use,  Swedish banks have started removing cash ATMs from rural areas, annoying some people and farmers. Credit Suisse says the rule of thumb in Scandinavia is: “If you have to pay in cash, something is wrong.”

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 Sweden was the first European country to implement paper money; and now it is the first to eliminate it. In Scandinavia,you might  find a small  sign saying "Vi hanterar ej kontanter" ("We don't accept cash"). Four out of five purchases in Swedish shopping areas are

made electronically. Plastic is preferred in the retail markets where 95 percent of all sales are handled with cards. Between 2010 and 2012 alone, more than 500 branches have gone cash-free and  900 cash"By 2030 we will be completely cash-free," says Niklas Arvidsson, adjunct professor at the Royal Institute of Technology .
machines have been removed,

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Many Scandinavians have not carried any cash or been to a bank in years.  In Norway, seven-year-olds are 

allowed to pay with a debit card and children have pocket money transferred into their accounts,  Norway’s largest bank DNB wishes to stop using cash as a means of payment in the country. The Chamber of Commerce of Denmark has also proposed to allow most retailers (except for essential services like hospitals, post offices, etc.) to make all money transactions electronically and ban cash.

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No cash? No problem — in Sweden at least, where cellphone and credit-card payments are quickly replacing coins and bills. "Sweden has always been at the forefront of financial innovation," said Teigland, a professor of business at the Stockholm School of Economics. Public

buses in Stockholm will not take bills or coins.  A fashionable coffee chain with locations in Sweden's largest cities, recently announced it was no longer accepting cash at its stores.  Others are finding it more difficult to adapt to the move away from cash.

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Many elderly people  prefer cash because it is easier for them to handle: They can feel the amounts involved by the different sizes and colors of bills, whereas with card transactions they are never totally confident they are paying the right amount. Only one Nordea branch, Oslo Central Station, still handles cash over the

counter.  Cash will still be available through cash machines (ATMs). No cashless systems have fully replaced cash and credit cards yet, but many influential technology and finance companies believe that this is the next big thing.    Nordea ,the Swedish bank, described the move in a statement as an “important strategic step into the digital world”.  Björn Eriksson, former head of Sweden's national police and now head of Säkerhetsbranschen, a lobbying group for the security industry, told The Local, "I've heard of people keeping cash in their microwaves because banks won't accept it."

  Debit cards and credit cards (MasterCard, Amex and Diners) are widely accepted in all three countries. However,  grocery stores might only accept debit cards and not credit cards.

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 But to protect everyone’s electronic transactions, security measures are constantly being developed. Hackers  have been  known to have the ability  to access accounts.

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One new method of security involves “Biometrics”.

IBM has developed a method that uses a person’s unique biological signature to verify their identity. Data is  created using a person’s fingerprints, eyes, face, or voice. IBM believes that in the near future, people will be scanning their eyes to withdraw money from an ATM, for example, and when  accessing accounts. IBM’s research suggests that this is a technological trend that is finally on the move in the United States.      Currently, Sweden is setting the stage!

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So, you can leave your greenbacks home, but your credit cards, and debit cards will be happily accepted. You may have to look into the Scandinavian ATM monitors or put your fingerprint on a touchpad  while saying a special code word, but you can probably use your debit card in most Scandinavian ATMs!

Prepare, if you see the sign:

You have entered a Cash-free Zone. Credit cards appreciated.