Sweden is set to become the world’s first cashless country, with its embrace of information technology, according to a Times of India report.
Niklas Arvidsson, a researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, which has released a detailed study on this development, said that the extensive and increasing embrace of the mobile payment system, Swish, is helping hasten the day when the country replaces cash entirely.
Swish, a direct payment app used for real-time transactions, is the result of collaboration between major Swedish and Danish banks. If Swish grows to include retail transcations and e-commerce, Sweden will likely revamp its entire payment structure, Arvidsson believes.
Bank cards are regularly used for even small purchases in Sweden, which has led to a decline in recent years in the amount of currency in circulation. There are less than 80 billion Swedish crowns in circulation, with only around half that amount in regular circulation and the rest stashed in bank deposits or people’s home, or circulating in the underground economy.
Several banks in Sweden already have 100 per cent digitalised branches that do not accept cash.
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