If you’ve ever found yourself fumbling for coins at the checkout or been caught out by a ‘card only’ sign at your local café, you’re not alone.
The world is racing towards a cashless future. Still, as Australia debates new laws to protect cash, a surprising twist from Sweden—the poster child for digital payments—has everyone rethinking the rush to ditch notes and coins.
Sweden has long been the global leader in going cashless. With just one in ten payments made using physical money, it seemed inevitable that the country would be fully digital by 2025.
In 2018, the then-deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, predicted exactly that.
But fast-forward to today, and the Riksbank sings a very different tune. In a recent submission to the country’s inquiry on physical money, the central bank made it clear that cash still matters, and urgent action is needed to protect it.
‘People should always be able to pay for food, healthcare, and medicines both digitally and with cash,’ said Riksbank governor Erik Thedéen.
The reason? Recent global events have exposed the vulnerabilities of a cashless society.
It’s easy to take digital payments for granted—until the system goes down. Major power outages in southern Europe last year left millions unable to pay for essentials, as card readers and online banking were rendered useless.
The infamous Crowdstrike outage disrupted businesses worldwide and drove the point home: cash is king when the internet or electricity fails.
In addition to the growing threat of cyber attacks, extreme weather events, and even the spectre of war, it’s clear why Sweden’s central bank is urging a rethink.
The Netherlands’ central bank has even recommended that adults keep €70 ($123) and children €30 ($53) in cash at all times.
So, what’s changing in Sweden? The Riksbank wants the government to require all businesses selling essential goods—supermarkets, pharmacies, and health centres—to accept cash.
This is a significant shift, as a 2015 court ruling currently allows Swedish businesses to refuse cash, even though it’s legal tender.
But the proposals don’t stop there. The Riksbank is also calling for:
- Banks to provide better cash services for businesses, including overnight deposits and access to petty cash, so small operators aren’t left in the lurch after hours.
- A legal obligation for banks to let individuals deposit cash into their accounts, something that, shockingly, isn’t currently required.
As Thedéen puts it: ‘The cash infrastructure is currently very vulnerable and urgent legislative action is needed to protect it. The banks should take more responsibility for the cash of both their corporate and private customers.’
Another digital payments leader, Norway, has already updated its laws to force businesses to accept cash. The message is clear: cash still has a vital role even in the most tech-savvy societies.
Australia’s cash conundrum: Following in Sweden’s footsteps?
The government is closely watching these developments here in Australia. New legislation is in the works that would require essential services to accept cash, with some exemptions for small businesses.
After a lengthy consultation, the government hopes to enact the law early next year. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is firmly behind the move.
‘Maintaining adequate access to cash in Australia is important as cash is relied on by a significant number of Australians to make their everyday payments and participate in the economy,’ the RBA said last year.
‘Cash is also widely held as a store-of-wealth and plays a role as a backup to electronic payments.’
The debate is heating up as Australia considers new laws to protect cash. Some argue that clinging to cash holds us back, while others consider resilience and inclusion essential.
‘Australia should take note of all these countries turning back to cash,’ one person commented.
Another added: ‘As usual, Australia is so far behind these other countries that they still do these things even though they’ve been tested and shown they don’t work.’
Is cash still king in your household, or are you ready to go fully digital? Has a ‘no cash’ policy caught you out? We’d love to hear your stories and opinions—share your thoughts in the comments below!
Also read: Is Australia headed for a cashless future? Here’s what experts predict
Cash will always be KING. Electronic is good while it is working but take away the power and it is useless.
Until they can guarantee us a constant uninterrupted electricity supply cash is a necessity.
A tree falls on wires during the day – no electricity until it is fixed. Near a shopping centre, sorry customer we have no power to accept card payments even though you are right at the checkout with a full trolley.
Where we live the other side of the Blue Mountains it is not uncommon for us to lose our electricity. 3 times in 4 hours recently. And there are businesses locally that are not able to operate.
Plus, there is usually a service charge on electronic payments and for those on low incomes these can add up very quickly. No charge on cash!
We should always have the opportunity to pay cash for anything. With cards instead of cash, there’ll always be the potential and actual breakdown of electricity supplies and internet systems disabling the card system and therefore the inability to buy goods and services – bad for the customer and the suppliers.
Yes we need cash – as others have said – in case of power or internet outages which are not at all uncommon. Also security issues with online banking which with AI-savvy criminals is getting worse, including but not confined to more effective scams.
With our move to more renewable power we can expect disruptions to be more frequent. So the ability to use cash is even more necessary.