Back to cash: life without money in your pocket is not the utopia Sweden hoped [View all]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/16/sweden-cash-digital-payments-electronic-banking-security

Back to cash: life without money in your pocket is not the utopia Sweden hoped

Nordic countries were early adopters of digital payments. Now, electronic banking is seen as a potential threat to national security

Sun 16 Mar 2025 02.00 EDT
Miranda Bryant
…

Such is the perceived severity of the situation that the authorities are trying to encourage citizens to keep and use cash in the name of civil defence. In November, the defence ministry sent every home a brochure entitled If Crisis or War Comes, advising people to use cash regularly and keep a minimum of a week’s supply in various denominations to “strengthen preparedness”.

In its report, the central bank says: “Measures need to be taken to strengthen preparedness and reduce exclusion so that everyone can pay, even in the event of crisis or war.” For years, it says, efficiency has been the priority for payments, but now safety and accessibility “are at least as important”.

In December the government published the findings of an inquiry that proposed that some public and private agents should be required to accept cash – a recommendation that the central bank says the authorities should implement.

…
Sweden is not the only Nordic country backpedalling on plans for a cashless society. Last year Norway, which has a popular equivalent to Swish called Vipps MobilePay, brought in legislation that means retailers can be fined or sanctioned if they will not accept cash. The government has also recommended that citizens “keep some cash on hand due to the vulnerabilities of digital payment solutions to cyber-attacks”.

… more …

(Cash is king. Again)