refusing to accept cash

Australia just suffered a nine hour banking outage as transactions would not go through and no one was able to withdraw cash.

Sweden just republished a slightly updated WWII brochure. Note the highlighted bullet item.

Quote: IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE POPULATION OF SWEDEN: IF CRISIS OR WAR COMES

https://www.dinsakerhet.se/siteassets/dinsakerhet.se/broschyren-om-krisen-eller-kriget-kommer/om-krisen-eller-kriget-kommer---engelska.pdf

What would you do if your everyday life was turned upside down?

An emergency can result in society not functioning in the way we are used to. Climate change may mean that flooding and forest fi res become more common. Incidents in the rest of the world may result in shortages of certain foodstuffs. Disruptions to important IT systems may have an impact on the electricity supply. In just a short time, your everyday life can become problematic:

• The heating stops working.
• It becomes difficult to prepare and store food.
• The shops may run out of food and other goods.
• There is no water coming from the taps or the toilet.
• It is not possible to fill up your car.
• Payment cards and cash machines do not work. ------------------------------------------------------
• Mobile networks and the internet do not work.
• Public transport and other means of transport are at a standstill.
• It becomes difficult to obtain medicines and medical equipment.


Think about how you and people around you will be able to cope with a situation in which society

Banks in Sweden have no cash that is not in their ATMS They have very few ATMS (2,220 for a population of 10 millilon), which about 22.2 ATMS per 100,000 people. Those are the kind of numbers you see in Paraguay, Vietnam or Laos.

All the ATMs are run by one company. The primary banknote denomination in circulation is worth about 50 Euros and there are less than 7 per capita in circulation. The rest of the cash is basically ~100 Euros per capita in various denominations (i.e. mostly small bills to make change).

Quote: The Local news@thelocal.se @thelocalsweden 6 August 2013

Sweden's ATMs to be run by one company

All of Sweden's Automatic Teller Machines will soon be available to all banking customers and will be run by one company, which is promising a more user-friendly and consistent model together with all the services customers already have.

Bankomat, a Swedish company, will be taking over all the 2,220 ATMs in Sweden this year. The company has promised transactions to run more smoothly than they currently do, with many customers seeking out machines from their own banks to make withdrawals.

"The customers get access to all the services that the card-providers offer in all our ATMs nationwide, regardless of which bank you're a member of," Stefan Bergelind, the CEO of Bankomat, told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

"We've also made the machines more accessible for people with disabilities. The machines will have a speaking function, among other things."

The new ATMs will recognize which bank the customer belongs to and accordingly print a detailed statement, something which has so far been impossible when using other banks' machines around Sweden.

Customers will also be able to make account transfers, change PIN, and make cash deposits.

Bloomberg reports Swedish legislators declare a sixteen mile limit to availability of cash services even though most of Swedish economy is cash free.

Quote: Fleastiff

Bloomberg reports Swedish legislators declare a sixteen mile limit to availability of cash services even though most of Swedish economy is cash free.

The Riksbank make a survey in 2010 and then almost 40 per cent said that they had made their most recent payment in cash. In September of 2016, the corresponding figure was only 15 per cent.

What some consumers, smaller companies and local clubs often see as a problem, is not so much getting hold of cash, but being able to deposit it in a bank account.

So the sixteen mile rule may not address the real problem, which is that a business owner may have to drive much further than that to deposit his cash in a bank account since most branches do not accept cash over the counter, and most ATMs in Sweden do not accept cash deposits.

Businesses are simply finding it more cost effective to simply not accept cash. If they lose a sale they don't consider it important. A friend of mine is over there now, and he has not made a single cash payment, nor even seen local currency in over a week.

Quote: Pacomartin

most ATMs in Sweden do not accept cash deposits.

An obvious solution suggests itself.

Quote: Fleastiff

An obvious solution suggests itself.

They are circulating a very small number of banknotes per capita in Sweden. The USA has more $20 banknotes in circulation than Sweden has in all six denominations. ATMS dispense only 500kr banknotes. In Stockholm it is probably much easier to find an ATM that accepts deposits than in the small cities. About 23% of the population lives in the metropolitan area around Stockholm.

Banknotes per capita in circulation in Sweden
5 : 20 kr ~€2 -- usually a coin in most countries in Europe, Canada, or Australia
2 : 50 kr ~€5
3 : 100 kr ~€10
3 : 200 kr` ~€20
7 : 500 kr ~€50 -- most common banknote in Euro zone for ATM use
1/3 : 1000 kr ~€100

Most of the Western world has a coin for the smallest denomination. If Sweden replaces this banknote with a coin, they will only have 15 banknotes per capita in circulation. The largest denomination only circulates in token quantities, and most people never see the note anymore.

Other than replacing the 20kr banknote with a coin, it is nearly impossible to see how Sweden can have a functioning cash system if it tries to reduce their banknotes anymore. Perhaps they will introduce a 20kr, 50kr, and 100kr coin and simply do away with banknotes entirely.

Banknotes per capita in circulation
37 : $1 George Washington
4 : $2 Thomas Jefferson
9 : $5 Abraham Lincoln
6 : $10 Alexander Hamilton
28 : $20 Andrew Jackson
5 : $50 Ulysses S. Grant
38 : $100 Benjamin Franklin


There are actually a lot of $2 banknotes squirreled away in drawers and safes in people's homes.

A growing number of the food trucks around here don't take cash. I don't like it but I get it, faster service, safer for employees. However when they can't provide a printed receipt, I'm never going back. I should be able to buy a bowl of noodles without giving up my phone number or email address.

Quote: JimRockford

I should be able to buy a bowl of noodles without giving up my phone number or email address.

I think many people have things rigged so that their telephone banking is done with a special email address and a bank account that they limit to rather small sums. That bowl of noodles won't wind up costing you any more than you intended to pay and often the physical receipt is easily lost or blown away and will yield far more information than you want to reveal.

Quote: JimRockford

A growing number of the food trucks around here don't take cash. I don't like it but I get it, faster service, safer for employees. However when they can't provide a printed receipt, I'm never going back. I should be able to buy a bowl of noodles without giving up my phone number or email address.

Hello, Litecoin!

A printed credit card receipt has nothing more personal than my name. CC numbers are not included anymore (maybe the last 4 digits). I don't want to manage another email account. I just want a bowl of noodles and a printed receipt. If I could pay with cash I wouldn't care about a receipt. I'm not saying they're breaking the law or should be boycotted by anyone but me.