Sweden On Track to Become a Cashless Society by 2023

As rare as it is to carry around cash these days, it’s still an accepted form of tender at most establishments. Colorful cash notes also make for an easy souvenir. But in Sweden, officials are planning to get rid of cash once and for all and to accept only plastic payments as early as the year 2023.

As of 2018, only 18 percent of payments country-wide are made in cash, a decrease of 15 percent compared with the previous year. Economists and retailers predict that in the year 2020, 90 percent of transactions will be performed by credit card or by a developing electronic form of the Swedish krona, known as the E-krona.

Sweden’s digital commerce is on the rise, and the Royal Institute of Technology anticipates Sweden will become the world’s first cashless society by 2023, while other entities, like the Swedish Central Bank, predict this could happen by 2030.

This may be a welcome change for travelers as more and more consumers are turning to credit cards with no foreign transaction fees for purchases abroad. Pulling out cash can come with heavy ATM fees, and with questionable exchange rates, getting rid of the money at the end of the trip can leave you with less than you originally exchanged.