Sveriges Riksbank backs proposals to mandate businesses to accept cash for essential goods.
Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, has called for urgent reforms to strengthen the country’s payment infrastructure.
In a consultation response submitted on May 19, the Riksbank backed proposals that would require essential service providers, including supermarkets and healthcare centres, to accept cash.
The central bank described the move as a critical safeguard to ensure payment continuity during cyberattacks or power outages.
“People should always be able to pay for food, healthcare and medicines both digitally and with cash,” said Erik Thedéen, governor of the Riksbank.
“The increasingly turbulent global situation, increased cyber attacks and also the major power outages in southern Europe show the importance of being able to make payments even when the internet is down.”
The Riksbank’s position is that a resilient payments ecosystem must support both digital and traditional methods. The proposed reforms also extend to financial institutions, introducing new legal obligations for major banks to offer cash deposit and petty cash services to both individuals and businesses.
The central bank also stated support for requiring banks to let private individuals deposit banknotes into their accounts.
A changing stance?
Sweden, like other Scandinavian countries, has long been a leader in the shift from cash to digital payments. While it never explicitly aimed to become a cashless society, its strong encouragement of modern payment options has brought it close.
According to Worldpay’s Global Payments Report, Sweden’s cash usage for e-commerce represents less than 1% of all transactions, meanwhile, cash is used for just 4% of in-store transactions.
At the same time, Sweden was highlighted as the country with the highest usage of BNPL, with the method accounting for 22% of all e-commerce payments in the nation.
“The cash infrastructure is currently very vulnerable and urgent legislative action is needed to protect it,” Thedéen said.
Other countries appear to be re-evaluating their stance as well, possibly due to the growing threat of cyberattacks and banking outages mentioned by Thedéen.
In April, the Bank of Ireland began upgrading its ATM network as part of a €60m investment announced last year. The initiative will see 650 new ATMs installed across the country, aimed at improving customer access to cash.
The UK has also pushed to bolster cash acceptance in recent weeks. The Treasury Committee published recommendations to limit the decline of cash acceptance within British businesses and communities on April 30.
Suggestions included a system to monitor levels of cash acceptance across the UK, as well as prompts to define what a reasonable level would look like.
“It is essential that businesses can make cash deposits and receive petty cash for people to be able to use cash in society at all. The banks should take more responsibility for the cash of both their corporate and private customers,” Thedéen said.
