In Sweden, the move towards a cashless society has been so rapid there are concerns it has resulted in financial exclusion, with buses no longer accepting cash and some other providers of basic and essential services, such as chemists, now frequently declining to accept coins.
More than half of the country's banks have stopped allowing customers to withdraw cash or pay in notes and coins over the counter, while shops and other merchants are permitted by law to refuse cash payments. It has led to unhappiness among hundreds of thousands of pensioners. A backlash got fully under way when both Ikea and the country's hospitals announced they were no longer accepting cash.
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More than half of the country's banks have stopped allowing customers to withdraw cash or pay in notes and coins over the counter, while shops and other merchants are permitted by law to refuse cash payments. It has led to unhappiness among hundreds of thousands of pensioners. A backlash got fully under way when both Ikea and the country's hospitals announced they were no longer accepting cash.
Read more