Cashless Sweden

[kochleffel]

One often-asked question is whether to obtain local currency, especially in a European trip including some countries that don't use the Euro, when you're only going to be in the country for a day.

 

Here's an interesting article about Sweden's rapid move toward a cashless society, and the resistance to it (links to nytimes.com).

 

For the record, I am not planning to have a microchip implanted in my hand (or any other body part).

 

[Hlitner]

We salute Sweden for trying to reduce the use of cash, but like anything that revolutionary it does have some growing pains.   In August 2017 we were in Helsinki and decided to visit a popular local museum.  DW was carrying a large purse and the museum required that purses/packages be secured in a locker.  But the lockers (in the main lobby) were the old type where you had to insert a coin in order to retrieve the key.  And, of course, we did not have any Swedish coins (or bills).  The Information counter folks simply gave us a coin and begged us to later return the coin since they said they only had a limited amount of coins which kept disappearing.  

 

But their experiment does work and saves their government and banks lots of money in not having to print lots of cash and deal with handling of cash.   But I must admit that it felt strange using a credit card to buy a single cup of java :).  Then again, we now see that in many Starbucks within our own country. 

 

Hank

[ljandgb]

I've been to Iceland twice, and needed cash exactly none of the time.  Copenhagen required cash for one hot dog stand in a 3 day stay.  We ate in a restaurant in Amsterdam that advertised "card only - cash not accepted."

 

So, it's happening all over Northern Europe, but yes, Sweden is at the forefront of it.

[Ine]

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 In August 2017 we were in Helsinki and decided to visit a popular local museum.  DW was carrying a large purse and the museum required that purses/packages be secured in a locker.  But the lockers (in the main lobby) were the old type where you had to insert a coin in order to retrieve the key.  And, of course, we did not have any Swedish coins (or bills). 

LOL Hank! You probably werenot in Helsinki (Finland) which takes Euros, but in Stockholm ((Sweden) for Kroner......

And yes in The Netherlands nowadays more people use cards which one of the reasons why banks will close more ATM's. 

[Hlitner]

On 11/22/2018 at 9:39 AM, Ine said:

LOL Hank! You probably werenot in Helsinki (Finland) which takes Euros, but in Stockholm ((Sweden) for Kroner......

And yes in The Netherlands nowadays more people use cards which one of the reasons why banks will close more ATM's. 

It turns out it was not Helskini or Stockholm :).  I checked with the "boss" and she assured me it was in Gothenburg at their Museum of Art.  These "senior moments" are a real pain.  Hope we can find our condo this winter :).  And by the way, Gothenburg was a really nice port for a visit.  I am surprised that few ships have it on their itineraries.

 

Hank

[Lagerta]

As I see it, there are generally "cash people" and "card people". I know some folks who still prefer cash everywhere, although I find cards much more convenient. Not sure if I would like a microchip implanted in my hand though...

For just one day I think there is no need to obtain local currency. You can easily use CCs everywhere. However, in Finland there are still public bathrooms where you need to insert a coin to get in.

[dsrdsrdsr]

The one thing Sweden has not yet solved is how to receive money.  Not normally a problem for tourists, but at present the only cashless way to receive money as opposed to spending it, is to buy a very expensive internet-enabled mobile phone.